Ecology Body Warns Of Dangers From Fish Farms
8-13-3
GENEVA (Reuters) -- The explosion in fish farming in
coastal waters around the world is a mounting danger to
the environment and to the survival of wild species, the
conservation organization WWF-International said on
Monday.
...
"The spread of the aquaculture (sea farming) industry
must be controlled to avoid physical damage to coastal
ecosystems and wild species and to lessen negative
environmental impacts on coastal communities," WWF
expert Simon Cripps said.
Farm-free zones and marine protected areas should be
set up around coastlines to protect vulnerable species
and the environment in which they lived.
The statement from the body -- known generally as the
World Wide Fund for Nature but called the World Wildlife
Fund in the United States -- was issued in advance of a
major gathering of industry representatives in Norway on
Tuesday.
...
"The industry, which provides one third of the fish
consumed globally, has been allowed to grow unchecked,
resulting in an increasing number of environmental problems,"
...
In 2002, the WWF said, more than 630,000 farmed salmon
had escaped in Norway alone -- more than the total number
of the already-endangered wild Atlantic salmon spawning in
its rivers.
"Interbreeding with escaped farmed salmon is expected to
alter in wild salmon the unique genetic makeup which allows
them to migrate from freshwater to the ocean and back to
freshwater to spawn," the statement added.
Fish farms on coastlines, the WWF said, can damage the
environment by releasing food waste, pathogens and chemicals
into the water and air. This had already caused damage to the
habitat of other animals and fish in Scotland and Norway.
.....'
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=scienceNews&storyID=3257866
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