THE WORLD AQUACULTURE INDUSTRY
The emergence of aquaculture is changing the fish and seafood industry. With growth at 11% a year over the past decade, it is the fastest growing sector of the world food economy. Aquacultured or farm raised fish produces about 31% of the total world seafood supply.
Aquaculture is the process of growing fish, shellfish and other aquatic animals in a controlled environment. With the growth of this industry, we recognize that the practice of farming fish can come under fire by environmental activists and raise questions with consumers.
Our stance
At Morey's our purpose as an organization it to provide value-added services and products which enhance the experience while increasing the consumption of fish and seafood. Through this purpose and with our industry, we at Morey's are responsible for protecting our oceans and their inhabitants. As a distributor of fish and seafood throughout the US we strongly believe in environmentally responsible aquaculture practices. We carefully choose our suppliers to ensure they are highly reputable and act in accordance with any and all regulations developed for farming fish.
Issues
The aquaculture industry has received a great deal of attention from various environmental groups, and of particular interest is Salmon farming. We address three of the common issues below:
• Concern for the accidental escapement of Atlantic Salmon into the wild.
While it is possible for farmed Salmon to escape net pens, the percentage that has escaped has dramatically decreased over the past years. Regulations are in place to reduce the number of escaped Salmon and measures have been developed that outline how to handle any escapement.
Furthermore, the environmental risks associated with the release of Atlantic farmed Salmon into the wild are negligible. Studies show that domesticated (farmed) fish are not capable of adapting into the wild population to compete with wild Salmon. This finding is supported by over a hundred years of federal attempts to purposely introduce Atlantic Salmon into the wild. None of these attempts successfully colonized the farmed Salmon into the wild.
• Aquaculture is a source of ocean pollution.
The amount of waste produced in Salmon pens are closely monitored, regulated and studied by various agencies. Contrary to some reports, the amount of pollution to our oceans from Salmon by-product is very small. To put into perspective, the amount of Salmon by-product that enters the water is the equivalent of 2 tablespoons for every 360,000 gallons of ocean water flushing through the pens. Additionally, since the eighties, aquaculture production has over tripled, yet the waste levels are less than 1/3 of what they were then.
• Large amounts of antibiotics fed to Salmon damage the wild environment and/or are residual
in the fish's meat.
The use of antibiotics in farm raised Salmon is low. Less than 2% of feed given to farmed Salmon worldwide is medicated with antibiotics. Controls have been put into place to limit the types and amount of drugs Salmon can receive.
Additionally, farmers are vaccinating Salmon prior to stocking and are using disease-free stock to reduce the need for antibiotics. Farms are stringently monitored, so that if an infection does occur they can quickly take actions to prevent it from spreading.
Summary
Aquacultured fish and seafood is a healthy protein choice for today's consumer. It is an environmentally safe product that does not affect the sustainability of our oceans.
Again, we at Morey's are responsible for protecting our ocean and their inhabitants. As the consumption of fish and seafood increases because of its health benefits and delicious flavor, we will continue to choose responsible farmers that uphold the most stringent farming practices. We can count on regulatory agencies across the world to continue to closely scrutinize the industry to ensure farming is done in an environmentally responsible fashion, in accordance with regulations. | 
