How Farmed Fish Degrades Our Health and the Environment – Better Options Included

More than 1 billion people across the world rely on fish as their main source of protein. Consequently, the world’s oceans are in trouble with marine life plummeting. More than 80 percent of the world’s fisheries are either considered fully exploited or overfished and on the brink of collapse. People who are dependent on the sea for income and food are left increasingly vulnerable. Our oceans are radically depleted. A decade-long international survey of ocean life completed in 2010 estimated that 90% of the ocean’s big fish have disappeared.

Aquaculture seems to be a sustainable solution to overfishing, but the reality is that fish farms are causing huge problems. As typical with big business, profits are more important than ecological sustainability or our health.

As the world began to attempt to limit overfishing the aquaculture industry boomed. Between 1980 and 2015, the total amount of fish production from aquaculture increased more than 16 times from 4.7mn tonnes to 76.6mn tonnes. If you eat seafood, unless you catch it yourself (or ask the right questions), it probably comes from a fish farm. More than half of the fish we consume is farmed. The aquaculture industry is growing faster than any other animal agriculture segment, overtaking beef production in 2012. A report by the Earth Policy Institute in Washington DC reported that farmed fish production reached 66 million tonnes in 2012, while beef production was at 63 million tonnes.

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Why Farmed Fish Are So Toxic To the To Us and the Environment

One study showed that aquaculture in Sweden “is not only ecologically but also economically unsustainable.” Another report looked at farmed fish in Chinese lakes and concluded that  it is an “economically irrational choice from the perspective of the whole society, with an unequal tradeoff between environmental costs and economic benefits.” Aquaculture harms the environment, which eventually costs a lot of money. In the U.S., fish farming is responsible for roughly $700 million a year in environmental costs. Fish farming operations typically generate more costs than profit.

Abhorrent Conditions

Research has shown that fish feel pain and stress. Large-scale fish farm operations have fish living in extremely crowded conditions, often leaving each fish less space than the size of an average bathtub. Living in this close proximity increases infection and disease, which leads to antibiotics which further pollutes surrounding waters.

Farmed Fish Eat Their Own Shit

The feces concentration is often so great as to cause the fish to ingest their own poop, increasing the likelihood of disease. The fish poop also promotes algal growth and reduces the oxygen content in the water, which makes it harder to support life. Fish waste and uneaten feed litter the sea floor beneath fish farms contaminates the area and generates bacteria that consume oxygen vital to shellfish and other bottom-dwelling sea creatures. Reportedly, the Israeli government closed two fish farms in the Red Sea after discovering the farms were causing algal growth that was harming coral reefs.

A Cesspool of Disease

Pathogens from farmed fish pools can spread rapidly to contaminate any wild fish swimming past. Sea lice, a type of crustacean that finds captive fish on farms to be an easy target, have become huge problems for the industry. And the increased prevalence of these crustaceans due to fish farming is being blamed for reduced numbers of wild pink salmon, as well as the species that eat them, including bears, eagles, orcas and others.

Lethal viruses that are known to spread from fish farms are being detected in wild populations. Salmon leukemia virus is said to act like HIV, in that it depletes the immune system leaving animals susceptible to other infection. Infectious Salmon Anemia Virus (ISA) is also known as salmon influenza. It’s highly lethal Piscine reovirus, which degrades salmon’s heart health, causing heart attacks and preventing salmon from swimming upriver.

Toxic Antibiotics, Pesticides & Other Chemicals

Concentrated levels of antibiotics, pesticides and other chemicals used to fight infection are found in farmed fish. The effects these practices have on our environment are only beginning to be understood. One study found that a drug often used to kill sea lice will also kill other marine invertebrates, and contaminates waters at least up to half a mile away.

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Farmed Fish Food

Many farmed fish are being fed genetically modified corn and soy. Some report that in China farmed fish are often feed animal feces. One report from the USDA from 2009 stated,

[It] is common practice to let livestock and poultry roam freely in fields and to spread livestock and poultry waste on fields or use it as fish feed.”

Carnivorous Fish Farms Eat Too Much Fish

Many fish require a fish-based diet, and can require much more food than they produce. Now anchovies and herring and other small prey are being dangerously overfished to the brink of extinction in order to meet the growing demands of aquaculture. Tuna and salmon consume up to five pounds of fish for each pound of body weight.

We have caught all the big fish and now we are going after their food,”- Oceana

It’s been shown that every pound of farmed salmon needs five pounds of smaller fish to feed it.

Oceana blames aquaculture for declines in whales, dolphins, seals, sea lions, penguins, albatross and many other species.

Rather than relieving pressure on wild fish, growing these large carnivores [salmon and tuna on fish farms] requires a steady supply of prey that are caught and ground into oil and meal. As the industry grows, it is straining the existing supply of prey fish, putting additional pressure on populations that cannot supply the demand.”

Toxic, Diseased, & GMO Farmed Fish Escape

Many fish farms use netpens to confine fish in open waters. These systems are susceptible to being ripped from predators and due to storms. In the North Atlantic region alone it’s said that two million farmed salmon escape their farms each year. The result is that at least 20% of wild salmon caught in the North Atlantic are actually of farmed-fish origin. Farmed fish that escape will breed with wild fish and compromise the gene pool. Embryonic hybrid salmon, for example, are far less viable than wild salmon, and the resulting adult hybrid salmon routinely die much earlier than true wild salmon. This also harms predator populations that rely on fish like bears and orcas.

More Fat, but Less Omega 3s and Other Nutrients

Farmed salmon, for example, is much fattier than wild salmon, but it contains FAR LESS healthful omega-3 fats and less protein. The omega-3 levels in farmed salmon keep dropping with each new study.The International Fishmeal and Fish Oil Organization (IFFO) says that today’s farmed fillet contains as little as half of the omega-3s the fish had less than a decade ago. Salmon farmers in New Zealand were caught overstating the omega-3 fat levels of their fish.

Farmed salmon that is high in omega 3s get their higher levels from being fed fish oil. Like with the prey fish, the demand for fish oil is outstripping supply. This practice is becoming too expensive, and many fish are being fed cheap GMO oils to fatten them up.

Farm-raised tilapia is one of the most highly consumed fish in America. Studies show that tilapia has very low levels of beneficial omega-3 fatty acids and very high levels of inflammatory omega-6 fatty acids that may cause an “exaggerated inflammatory response.”

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More PCBs

A report published in 2003 by the Environmental Working Group found that seven out of ten farmed salmon purchased at grocery stores in Washington DC, San Francisco, and Portland, Oregon contained PCBs at levels that raise health concerns. It’s a safe bet that these statistics have only grown worse as plastic continues to pollute our planet.

It’s said that farmed salmon are likely the most PCB-contaminated protein source in the U.S. food supply chain.

Farmed salmon are fed contaminated fishmeal. Farmed salmon are fed from a global supply of fishmeal and fish oil manufactured from small open sea fish, which studies show are the source of polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, in most farmed salmon. In three independent studies scientists tested 37 fishmeal samples from six countries, and found PCB contamination in nearly every sample.” – Environmental Working Group

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China…

Chinese farmed fish accounts for about 60 percent of farmed marine products worldwide. China is the leading provider of farmed fish to the US. If you’re buying tilapia, it’s probably from China.

Excerpt from The Disgusting Truth About Fish And Shrimp From Asian Farms:

  • Tilapia in China’s fish farms, are fed pig and goose manure — even though it contains salmonella and makes the tilapia “more susceptible to disease.”
  • In Vietnam, farmed shrimp bound for the US market are kept fresh with heaps of ice made from tap water that teems with pathogenic bacteria.
  • Bloomberg also notes that at the same company “there’s trash on the floor, and flies crawl over baskets of processed shrimp stacked in an unchilled room.”
  • Like US meat farmers, Asia’s shrimp farmers rely heavily on antibiotics, many of which are banned for use in the United States.
  • In May, ABC News bought 30 samples of imported farmed shrimp from across the country and had them tested for antibiotic traces. The result: Three of the samples contained detectable levels of these dangerous antibiotics.
  • According to a recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a quarter of the food-borne illness outbreaks caused by imported food from 2005 to 2010 involved seafood — more than any other food commodity.

Fish To Avoid and the Better Seafood Choices

Bivalves, such as oysters and mussels, can be farmed in an environmentally conscious manner because they are “filter feeders,”; they actually make the water in their ecosystem cleaner, and they are much easier to contain due to their lack of mobility. But, this means that the environment bivalves grow in should already be fairly clean, or else the seafood can transfer pollutants and other toxins to the consumer.

Alaskan salmon is not permitted to be farmed. Sockeye salmon cannot be farmed. Atlantic salmon comes from fish farms. Farmed salmon is rife with chemical contaminants ranging from pesticides and antibiotics to PCBs.

In restaurants, mislabeled salmon will typically be described as ‘wild’ but not ‘wild Alaskan.’ This is because authentic ‘wild Alaskan’ is easier to trace. The term ‘wild’ is more nebulous and therefore more often misused. In many ways it is very similar to the highly abused ‘natural’ designation. – Dr. Mercola

Atlantic Flatfish, including sole, flounder and halibut, are high in contaminants and they have a long history of being radically overfished. Pacific halibut is a safer and more environmentally friendlier option.

Almost 90 percent of catfish comes from Vietnam – a country with loose regulations on the use of dangerous antibiotics and other chemicals. Like catfish, Pollock is a mild, white fish with a delicate flavor that’s naturally low in mercury. Look for pollock from the US, Canada, and Norway which provide the most eco-friendly harvesting.

Eel, also called unagi, is primarily farmed in China.  A powerful carcinogen called nitrofuran, and many other drugs and pesticides, are used to control disease in eel farms. Eel also has plenty of mercury and cancer-causing PCBs. Squid is an eco-friendly alternative to eel.

Imported & Farm-Raised Shrimp is one of the dirtiest seafood sold. Chemical residues, antibiotics, and an assortment of other contaminants have been found in farmed shrimp. While avoiding imported, farmed shrimp can greatly reduce your exposure to contaminants, it’s important to note that 70 percent of domestic shrimp comes from the Gulf of Mexico. With the recent oil spill, this raises concern for the health of these shrimp stocks. Your best bet is MSC-certified wild-caught Pacific shrimp from Oregon.

Atlantic bluefin tuna is said to have the highest levels of mercury and they have plummeted to near-extinction levels. The eco-friendly tuna varieties (like albacore or yellowfin) areproblematicc as well. Oceana collected 1,215 samples from seafood vendors from 2010 to 2012reported that 59% of fish labeled tuna is not just mislabeled but it is almost entirely compromised of escolar, which is not likely a fish we want to be eating:

To be frankly and bluntly specific — and I’m sorry for this — consumption of escolar causes explosive, oily, orange diarrhea. People have reported that the discharges are often difficult to control and accidents can happen while passing gas.” – The Kitchn

A good alternative to tuna is the Atlantic mackerel or try sardines.  They both are high in omega-3s, and they don’t have the high levels of mercury and other contaminants that tuna accumulates.

Tilapia from overseas fish farms have a bad reputation due to the aforementioned practices, but tilapia farmed in the U.S. and Canada typically use closed recirculating tank systems that alleviate many of the problems like water pollution and fish escapes. In Ecuador, tilapia are typically farmed in low-density freshwater ponds, which eliminate overcrowding and reduces disease. Tilapia are fed a mostly grain-based diet, so they don’t deplete prey-fish resources.

Farmed Seafood Documentaries

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GMO Apples Are Sold On Amazon

GMO Arctic apples are being sold on Amazon. There is no notice that the food is GMO. There’s nothing illegal about this; GMO foods do not have to be labeled.

If you’re wondering what they look like and what to watch out for, here they are:

Arctic apples have been genetically engineered not to brown. They are devoid of the enzyme that causes apples to oxidize when the flesh comes in contact with air. Retailers, restaurants, and other foodservice sectors have expressed interest in using the GMO apples. Expect to see them in hospitals, restaurants, schools, vending machines, and anywhere you may see presliced apples.

Right now three new genetically engineered, non-browning apples have been approved: Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, and recently the addition of the Fuji. Gala apples are next. Only Goldens and Granny trees have been in the ground long enough to produce fruit in commercial quantities by next fall.

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Coffee, Glyphosate Levels, and Shorter Pregnancies

Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, is the most commonly used herbicide in the world. Nearly 300 million pounds of Roundup is sprayed on U.S. farms every year. A small Indiana study found that more than 90 percent of pregnant women had glyphosate in their urine. They also found that higher concentrations of glyphosate correlate to earlier deliveries.

Researchers recruited 71 pregnant women in central Indiana. The women provided two urine samples and two drinking water samples from their homes and answered questions about what food and beverages they consume and the kind of stress they deal with, as well as where they lived. Researchers tested the water and urine samples for glyphosate. Then researchers divided women into four groups based on how much glyphosate was in their urine. Researchers later used medical records after birth to determine their pregnancy length.

The study found that 93 percent of the women had detectable glyphosate in their urine and those who lived in rural areas more glyphosate in their urine than the suburban residents did.

Related: Holistic Guide to Healing the Endocrine System and Balancing Our Hormones

The study also found that women who drank more than 24 ounces of caffeinated beverages daily had shown greater levels of glyphosate. The good news is that none of the drinking water samples had detectable glyphosate levels in them, but this looks like bad news for coffee addicts.

Only two of the women in the study gave birth prematurely, but researchers found that women with more glyphosate in their urine delivered earlier than women with less, on average. Glyphosate was not found to lead to correlate with low birth weight or head circumference.

It was mind-boggling that glyphosate was so prevalent in urine samples . . . but it was a pleasant surprise that none of the drinking water came out positive,” – Lead author Shahid Parvez

The link between caffeine intake and high glyphosate levels in urine surprised the researchers.

Related: Glyphosate Drenched Crops

It makes sense to us since there are many different food products imported from Southeast Asia and South America but we don’t know what they contain. It indicates a need to think about these food products, such as coffee beans and other drinks that we import.” – Parvez

Most of the women were white. The sample was small. The study is limited by its small size and lack of geographic and racial diversity.

More research needs to be done, but the precautions are common sense. Be vigilant and careful, especially those living in areas where corn and soybeans are grown.”

Related: Monsanto’s Glyphosate, Fatty Liver Disease Link Proven – Published, Peer-reviewed, Scrutinized Study
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GMO Corn Bathed in Glyphosate is Now Vermont’s Top Crop

Vermont’s Agency of Agriculture, Food, and Markets eventually released the data from January in response to a public records request after three years of not publishing the information. The newly published data covers the years 2014-2016 and reveals a dramatic growth in pesticide use on Vermont’s dairy farms, particularly with GMO cornfields. Glyphosate use more than doubled in the last three years, while total corn-related pesticide usage climbed 27 percent.

GMO corn is growing on 92,000 acres in Vermont, making it the state’s number one crop by far. The corn is not for human consumption; it’s being fed to the state’s 135,000 cows.

Related: The Difference Between Heirlooms, Hybrids, and GMOs

In 2016, Vermont’s GMO corn plants acquired a 194,631 pound bathing of pesticides, a poisonous stew that comprised 34 distinct goods, everything from atrazine into 2,4-D. The most heavily employed cornfield pesticide in 2016 has been glyphosate, with 62,458 pounds used, over doubling the 27,440 pounds used in 2014.”  – Michael Colby

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Read More: Cornucopia Institute

Related: Understanding and Detoxifying Genetically Modified Foods


Record Levels of Antibiotic-Resistant Superbugs Found in Grocery Store Chicken

Researchers in the United Kingdom have found that supermarket chickens have a higher proportion of Campylobacter bacteria than they did ten years ago. Drug-resistant Campylobacter is a major cause of concern for health officials, with more than 300,000 infections a year in the U.S. causing symptoms like diarrhea, fever, abdominal cramps, and temporary paralysis. The elevated levels of this pathogen in supermarket protein confirm what scientists and medical professionals have increasingly been saying – treating food animals for long periods with antibiotics intended for human use has caused a major health crisis.

Dangerous Practices

If we are unable to find an answer to antibiotic-resistant pathogens, the World Health Organization predicts that they will kill more people than cancer does by the year 2050. Even major pharmaceutical companies like GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer are beginning to recognize the severity of this issue, removing or adjusting sales incentives related to the sale of antibiotics. Yet British and European authorities still allow chickens to be treated with fluoroquinolone antibiotics, that have been restricted by the FDA for human use.

The Tipping Point

Pharmaceuticals have been slow to develop new antibiotics, and farmers continue to use medication intended for human use on their food animals. At some point, something will need to change. So what can you do right now?

The easiest and most obvious way to protect yourself is to avoid antibiotics, through what you consume and the medications you take. Conventionally raised meat and dairy are a key factor in the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and should be avoided.  While antibiotics may be necessary in some cases, they are prescribed far too often in the modern medical system. Fortifying your immune system decreases the likelihood of catching a bug that would need antibiotic treatment.

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GM Rice From China – They Don’t Want It, So We’re Getting It?

Genetically modified rice developed in China has passed safety inspections by the U.S. FDA, the first step for the rice to be exported to the U.S. The good news is that neither China nor the U.S. has approved the genetically modified rice for mass cultivation. The FDA’s letter says that the agency has reviewed the data submitted and has no further questions at this time.

[The letter] also reminds the developer that it is responsible for ensuring the safety of any food it puts on the market – thus absolving the FDA of all responsibility if anything should go wrong!” – GM Watch

Related: The Difference Between Heirlooms, Hybrids, and GMOs

The insect-resistant rice called “Huahui 1” passed FDA safety and nutrition inspections. The rice had previously passed safety inspections by the EPA regarding pesticide residue levels.

Having passed safety inspections by the FDA and EPA, Huahui 1 and its products are able to be exported to the US for consumption. It suggests safety evaluations by Chinese testing institutes of Huahui 1 have been fully recognized by institutes in the US.” – ChinaDaily

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The species is said to be able to resist destruction caused by insects such as larva, and can “greatly reduce the use of pesticides during production.” Huahui 1 was successfully bred by a university in China in 1998 and was awarded with a biosafety certificate by China’s Ministry of Agriculture in 2009, following safety evaluations that lasted for almost 10 years, according to the university.

Related: Understanding and Detoxifying Genetically Modified Foods

GM foods including this rice breed is not likely to win approval in China for large-scale production any time soon; the Chinese population has no interest in GMO foods. Researchers in the university are looking to the US for commercial use. China Daily also states,

China has the world’s most strict safety evaluation system for GM products, and all GM products that have passed inspections by the authorities in China are safe, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.”

Related: How to Avoid GMO Apples


Your Grass-Fed Beef is About to Get More Expensive

More people want to consume meat in a more humane or ethical way, and grass-fed beef has been a large part of that equation. The grass-fed beef market is on the verge of a crisis though, as the levels of protein in the grass for grazing have decreased by 20 percent over the last twenty-five years. Jonah Ventures of Boulder, CO analyzed 50,000 cow pies from Texas and found that the nutritional content of the grass is down, leading to smaller cattle. According to Joe Craine, the co-owner and a researcher at Jonah Ventures, “If we were still back at the forage quality that we would’ve had 25 years ago, no less 100 years ago, our animals would be gaining a lot more weight…”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmKhFDYLDWw

Two Likely Reasons

Researchers haven’t pinpointed the exact reason for the declining nutritional content of grass, but there are two likely suspects. Grass-fed, grain-finished cattle are moved from the prairie to a feedlot for the last 90 to 160 days of their lives. This move takes away cow pies, the best means of returning valuable nutrients back to the soil.

Another reason for the decline of nutritious? The increasing amount of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere is causing plants to grow larger, more quickly with the same nutrient content. According to Irakli Loladze, a mathematician studying the effect of CO2 on pants for 15 years, “Every leaf and every grass blade on earth makes more and more sugars as CO2 levels keep rising…We are witnessing the greatest injection of carbohydrates into the biosphere in human history―[an] injection that dilutes other nutrients in our food supply.”

It All Begins With Food

There aren’t many people talking about what happens when our food is no longer able to sustain us. As many beef farmers are now finding out, that time is fast approaching. It doesn’t really matter why the grass is no longer as nutritious. The most important thing here is that it’s happening to the cows, and it will happen to us.

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