The New Fish: The Truth About Farmed Salmon and the Consequences We Can No Longer Ignore

Journalists Saetre and Østli make their English language debut with this eye-opening overview of the damage salmon fisheries inflict on the environment and public health. Chronicling the industry’s early days in the authors’ native Norway, they describe how in 1970 brothers Sivert and Ove Grøntvedt established the first salmon farm after putting a large net filled with 16,000 young fish in the sea, and how in 1971 researcher Trygve Gjedrem started a breeding program that still provides much of the world with its salmon stock. According to the authors, the work required to sustain salmon farms had far-reaching if unintended consequences. The tight quarters led to the proliferation of salmon lice that threatened wild populations when captive fish escaped, but delousing agents proved deadly to marine life near the farms. Humans were affected, too: Farmed salmon have gray meat unless they’re fed a synthetic compound that, when consumed in large quantities, can cause vision problems in people. The detailed history of salmon fisheries is a bit niche, but the authors succeed in highlighting how small decisions can have big ecological consequences. It’s a smart if somewhat narrow appraisal of humanity’s complicated relationship with nature. Photos. (July)