Here's a press release from the Real Salmon Farming Resistance (17 March 2023):
Last month (16 February 2023), Living Oceans Society championed land-based salmon farming in a post on Facebook:
The North Atlantic Salmon Fund (NASF) admit on their website that they “promote cleaner, more sustainable alternatives” to open net cage salmon farming. NASF’s ‘Seafood Summit’ took place this week (16/17 March 2023) in Iceland - including presentations by pro-salmon farming businesses and advocates:
The ‘Seafood Summit’ – opened yesterday by the President of Iceland (Gudni Th. Johannesson) – included a discussion on “alternatives to open net pen salmon farming”:
Download press release in full online here
Here's another graphic for the Real Salmon Farming Resistance:
Here's correspondence with the Global Salmon Farming Resistance:
From: Don Staniford <[email protected]>Date: Sun, Mar 19, 2023 at 9:37 AMSubject: Re: The Real Salmon Farming Resistance - new group fighting ALL salmon farmsTo: @gsfr.com
Many thanks to everyone who is joining the Real Salmon Farming Resistance in our global campaigns against all salmon farms (including closed-containment, semi-closed containment and land-based systems). We now have a new logo and Facebook page via https://www.facebook.com/groups/1593534851154844
A recent Facebook post by Ruben Oddekalv of the Green Warriors of Norway (who attended the recent NASF 'Seafood Summit' helpfully illustrates the difference between the Global Salmon Farming Resistance (who has members advocating support for land-based salmon farming and closed containment salmon farming) and the Real Salmon Farming Resistance (who advocates for a zero tolerance to salmon farming - in any shape or form):
Speaking personally, I struggle to see how a group can give an 'absolute demand' for a ban on cod farming but not campaign for a ban on salmon farming.
People with memories like elephants and those who have been in this fight for a long time will remember meeting in Chile in 2007 at a summit hosted by Douglas Tompkins (Captain Paul Watson, Kurt Oddekalv, Bruce Sandison, Juan Carlos Cardenas, Catherine Stewart, Jay Ritchlin and others were in attendance). This summit was followed up by another summit in Norway hosted by Kurt Oddekalv in 2008 and another in British Columbia in 2008 when an 'International Declaration Against Unsustainable Salmon Farming' was signed by Chief Bob Chamberlin, Alexandra Morton, Stan Proboszcz, Craig Orr and others: https://www.aquafeed.com/documents/24/1226108419_1.pdf
A press release issued in November 2008 included:
While some would like to see salmon farms in closed tanks, Dr. Wolfram Heise of Chile states: “It’s simply not possible to produce salmon in a sustainable way. You will never get it into ecological balance. There is no right way of doing the wrong thing!”
Suffice to say that over the last 15 years the debate has raged on with the transition from open net cage salmon farming to land-based salmon farming and closed containment systems gathering pace (and mass mortalities and welfare abuse from land-based systems piling up higher and higher).
Back in 2010, when I was employed by Pew Environment Group's 'Pure Salmon Campaign' I was an advocate of closed containment as an alternative to open net cage salmon farming:
"In an act of solidarity, we're asking consumers to 'migrate' away from farmed salmon raised in British Columbia and eat something else," said Don Staniford, global coordinator, Pure Salmon Campaign. "Open-net cage salmon farms in British Columbia waters jeopardize the future of wild salmon populations. These industrial-scale feed lots should be transferred to land. And the five farms in the Wild Salmon Narrows should be some of the first facilities relocated."
However, evidence gathered over the last decade has shown that closed containment salmon farms - on land and in the sea - are a welfare nightmare. Damning video footage shot in 2019 by Compassion Over Killing (Animal Outlook) at a land-based salmon farm operated by Cooke in Maine was crucial evidence against land based salmon farming and shows the contradiction in campaigning against open net cage salmon farming but not against land-based salmon farming: https://animaloutlook.org/investigations/aquaculture/
In the UK, the move towards land-based salmon farming is attracting significant opposition and I am supporting this work:
I certainly do not think it is a defensible position in 2023 - and beyond - to advocate for closed containment salmon farming in any shape or form. Hence the strategic switch.
Further context is outlined below. This helps explain some of the reasoning behind the launch of the Real Salmon Farming Resistance.
If anyone has any questions please email me directly - there will be a Zoom call next month to discuss future work. The first action of the Real Salmon Farming Resistance will be a protest against land-based salmon farming (probably in May).
I will obviously continue to campaign vocally against open net cage salmon farms and will happily feed into any information networks.
Best fishes,
Don
Founder, the Real Salmon Farming Resistance
From: Don Staniford <[email protected]>
Date: Fri, Mar 17, 2023 at 5:15 PM
Subject: Re: The Real Salmon Farming Resistance - new group fighting ALL salmon farms
To: @gsfr.com
Since a significant number of the current members of the GSFR do not resist salmon farming (Living Oceans and NASF actively promote salmon farming for example and Patagonia seem to advocate land based salmon farming too) perhaps you should change your name to the Global Salmon Farming Resistance to Open Net Cage Salmon Farming?
That way there would be less confusion but it is a bit wordy.
I've spoken to several people today on this issue and would be only too happy to communicate further on the matter.
Perhaps you could ask GSFR members to publicly identify their position on closed containment, freshwater salmon farming, semi-enclosed containment and land based salmon farming to gauge the extent of the group's differences?
I would bet that all the animal welfare groups inside the GSFR have difficulty with the promotion of land based salmon farming.
This was a discussion we had on email and in person via Zoom over the last few years - and it has obviously not been resolved.
I don't think that members of the Global Salmon Farming Resistance can remain involved if they advocate (as Living Oceans do) for the promotion of salmon farming. That's an obvious disconnect and does not seem to be a tenable position.
The word "resistance" means not compromising and blocking salmon farming. I don't think the French Resistance advocated against the Nazi takeover of France but said publicly that it was OK for the Nazis to take over the UK.
That doesn't seem a logical or reasonable position to take in a resistance movement. By the same token, the GSFR (if they are to be true to their name) must resist all salmon farms. If not, then you have a huge credibility problem.
Speaking personally, I don't have a problem working with groups all along the green spectrum but I don't think every group fits into the Global Salmon Farming Resistance.
Best fishes,
Don
From: Don Staniford <[email protected]>
Date: Thu, Mar 16, 2023 at 2:12 PM
Subject: The Real Salmon Farming Resistance - new group fighting ALL salmon farms
To: @thegsfr.com
Suffice to say that $camon $cotland is inviting people to join the Real Salmon Farming Resistance.
This new group - spawned from frustration with NGOs giving implicit or explicit support for closed containment or semi-enclosed salmon farming - will campaign against all salmon farms.
Put simply, salmon farming is an ethically and environmentally bankrupt industry whether it is in the sea or on land. Cramming a migratory species such as salmon in cages - whether in the marine environment or freshwater - is an ecological and welfare nightmare.
I understand that different groups take varying positions on closed containment and land-based salmon farming within the broad coalition of the Global Salmon Farming Resistance. However, the Real Salmon Farming Resistance will advocate for the end of ALL salmon farming globally - not just open net cages in the sea.
Speaking personally, I've campaigned long enough on the salmon farming issue (and adopted various shades of green at various times) to come to the conclusion that a zero tolerance approach is the only way forward for me. There is no 'pure' salmon in my view other than wild salmon (certainly not lab grown salmon; not GE salmon; and not salmon grown in cages, tanks or closed containers).
I respect the fact that others do not share this view and people are obviously free to collaborate, compromise and coordinate with pro-salmon farming interests. I will not be party to such discussions but am always available to provide input to any discussions aimed solely at stopping salmon farms in the sea or on land.
The ongoing shift from open net cages towards semi-enclosed and land-based systems is attracting growing criticism:
'Flawed' & 'Failed' Semi-Closed Containment Salmon Farming is a "Viral Super-Spreader"!
"Fish farm protest staged at Grimsby football match" (Fish Farmer)
The Ferret reported (10 March 2023):
"Dr Nick Palmer, head of Compassion in World Farming UK, told The Ferret that RAS systems “typically use very high stocking densities and confine fish to barren tanks devoid of environmental enrichment” meaning their behavioural needs are not met.
Palmer also pointed out that the salmon reared at in Grimsby will be given feed containing wild-caught fish. “This practice puts additional pressure on our already overfished wild populations and impacts other wild animals that rely on those fish to survive,” said Palmer, who urged North East Lincolnshire Council to reject the project.
“There are other environmental concerns too – RAS are energy intensive, and many systems also rely heavily on precious resources like freshwater. It is estimated that to produce one salmon fillet in a RAS system, it takes as much freshwater as one person would drink in a whole year.”
Please message me if you're interested in supporting this new initiative - there will be a Zoom call next month as the group gets off the ground.
Best fishes,
Don
