Do salmon farms affect the sea floor beneath farm sites?
(Adapted from the British Columbia Salmon Farmers Association) While all types of agriculture have some effect on habitat, aquaculture has the lightest effects of any form of large-scale food production. Salmon farms have minimal impacts on the surrounding marine habitat. These effects are limited largely to the ocean floor in the immediate vicinity of salmon farms, and they have been found to be small-scale, short-term, and fully reversible. The salmon aquaculture industry has worked closely with government and researchers to develop performance-based standards that address waste control and ocean-floor impacts. For instance, during 2001, intensive research was conducted at six BC salmon farm sites to obtain the data and detailed information that was used in the design of these standards (Brooks, 2001). As the industry grows, salmon farming will continue to leave a very light footprint within the marine environment. Salmon feces and uneaten feed can fall to the bottom under a farm fas
Aquaculture has the lightest environmental effects of any form of large-scale food production. These effects are limited largely to the ocean floor in the immediate vicinity of salmon farms, are short-term, and fully reversible. Salmon waste and uneaten food on the ocean floor can cause temporary oxygen reduction and other chemical changes as they decompose. For this reason, salmon farms are situated in deep waters over sand and silt sea bottoms with low fauna diversity. Some of the organisms that live in these soft sediments in fact thrive under salmon farms because the wastes are a source of food for them.
