Over ten thousand people from all around the world have now taken the pledge not to eat farmed salmon. Launched in November 2018, 'Take the Salmon Pledge' has attracted support from Alaska, Argentina, Belgium, British Columbia, Chile, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Maine, Newfoundland, New Zealand, Norway, Nova Scotia, Scotland, Sweden, Tasmania, United Kingdom and Washington.
The latest video pledges include The Meikleour Arms in Perthshire, Scotland. "We never ever serve farmed salmon," says owner Claire Mercer Nairne. "We will not feed farmed salmon to our children. We're certainly not going to feed farmed salmon to our customers."
Meikleour Fishings Tweeted:
The menu at The Meikleour Arms proudly declares: "No Farmed Salmon in Our Kitchen".
Ghillie (fishing guide) Calum McRoberts explains why farmed salmon won't feature on his family's menu. "It's a nasty business," he says standing on the banks of the River Tay in Scotland. "The fish are disease-ridden. The farms are a state. They're spilling toxic waste into the sea lochs. Sea lice are everywhere - they're killing our native fish, our juvenile fish when they leave the river system. I don't understand why the consumer buys the stuff. I wouldn't feed it to my family. I wouldn't feed it to my animals. You shouldn't eat the stuff - you really shouldn't."
Katie Tunn on the Isle of Skye in Scotland explains her ten reasons not to eat farmed salmon. "I will never eat farmed salmon again," says Katie (an ocean advocate and Scotland representative for Surfers Against Sewage). "Wild salmon are being really badly affected by sea lice coming off the salmon farms. Salmon farms are also displacing the creel fishing industry."
In Iceland, citizens are concerned about the rapid expansion of salmon farming with a new 'Against the Current' campaign launched recently. "I pledge not to eat farmed salmon raised in open net pens," says Fridleifur Gudmundsson, Chairman of the North Atlantic Salmon Fund. "Open net pens pollute and challenge the integrity of wild salmon stocks. They're just a terrible business and nobody should touch this product."
Swedish film-maker and fisherman Mikael Frödin is keen to spread the word against farmed salmon. "I've made the decision not to eat salmon from open pens," says Frödin who has filmed inside a salmon farm in Norway. "I've seen what they do to the wild stocks and the ecosystems and I've decided I don't want to be part of that. Please join me to stop this madness and force the industry to go into closed systems. Please."
A Wild Salmon Nation event in Seattle, USA, added their voices to the chorus of disapproval against farmed salmon. "We're all working together fighting fish farms," says John Foss. "I pledge not to eat or buy farmed salmon," says the crowd in unison.
"80% of our farmed salmon from B.C. ends up on the supermarket shelves in California and they don't even know," says environmentalist and snow-boarder Marie-France Roy from 'The Radicals'. "They're like: I've been eating this for years, I thought it was good for me!"
In British Columbia, fishing guide Geoff Gerhart and wild salmon champion Michelle Young explain why they don't eat farmed salmon.
Hundreds of people in British Columbia have taken the pledge - including Jackie Campbell, Chief Bob Chamerlin, Grand Chief Stewart Philip, Dawn Morrison, Eddie Gardner, Terry Dorward, Jay Peachy, Tavish Campbell, Ernest Alfred, Sabra Woodworth, Molina Dawson, Laterra Lawson, Anissa Reed, Freya Reed and Alexandra Morton.
In Alaska, Sara Erickson (producer of 'A Fishy Tale') has taken the salmon pledge. "I will never eat farmed salmon," she says. "I hope to God everyone boycotts farmed salmon. It's devastating to our oceans."
Captain Paul Watson, CEO and founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, as well as Rod Marining of Sea Shepherd Canada and celebrity supporters Martin Sheen and Pamela Anderson have all pledged not to eat farmed salmon.
Watch a video message from Pamela Anderson pointing out the problems with salmon farming and why she is boycotting farmed salmon - online here
In South America, too, there is a surge of opposition against farmed salmon. In Chile, biologist Hector Kol explains why he won't eat farmed salmon.
Juan Carlos Cardenas, Director of Ecoceanos in Chile, explains his reasons for joining the boycott against farmed salmon.
In Argentina, celebrity chefs have joined the boycott against farmed salmon (#NoAlaSalmonicultura).
In Australia, Tasmanians are rising up against the expansion of salmon farming and have taken the salmon pledge in their droves.
On the East coast of Canada and in Maine, citizens are speaking out against farmed salmon.
Video pledges and online pledges have flooded in from Ireland.
Elisabeth Anethe Olsen from Norway explains (in Norwegian) why she's avoiding farmed salmon.
She is joined by Kurt Oddekalv, leader of the Green Warriors of Norway.
Philip Lymbery, Executive Directive of Compassion of World Farming, explains why he's boycotting farmed salmon.
Anna Rodgers in the United Kingdom explains why she's putting farmed salmon in the bin.
Families - and even puppets - are rising up against farmed salmon.
Broadcaster and former newsreader Jan Leeming has Tweeted her support:
Hear the call of the wild salmon people and pledge your support against farmed salmon!
Watch more video pledges online here and online here
Download stickers and graphics online here
Read more via: Salmon Pledge Goes Wild Around the World
