Target pulls farmed salmon from its stores

[SallyMander]

MINNEAPOLIS - Target Corp., the nation's second-largest discounter after Wal-Mart Stores Inc., said Tuesday that it pulled all farmed salmon from its stores as it looks to be more environmentally conscious.

The retailer said it will no longer carry farmed salmon in its fresh, frozen or smoked seafood sections. The move impacts national brands and the chain's own Archer Farms and Market Pantry brands, which will now use wild-caught Alaskan salmon.

Target said sushi carried in its stores that currently use farm-raised salmon will switch to wild-caught salmon by year's end.

...

Companies have increasingly shifted away from farmed salmon due to pressure by consumers and environmentalists, who want wild-caught salmon used because it can help preserve salmon levels as well as species health and doesn't hurt local habitats.

Salmon farms are viewed by these parties as hazardous due to the pollutants and chemicals they can emit as well as the potential dangers of farmed fish escaping and intruding on native salmon.

Edit -- forgot the original news story link :blush: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35080249/ns/business-consumer_news/


Greenpeace is applauding this effort and calling on Trader Joe's to do the same: http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/news/target-discontinues-farmed-salmon

[louis-t]

1. Good. I avoid farmed salmon like the plague.

One less foodsource with dye in it.

[kstewart33]

2. Bravo Target! nt

[elocs]

3. I read about it here just after noon:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=115x227685

[jaksavage]

4. Farmed salmon sushi !!!!

eee gad.

[Chulanowa]

5. Farmed salmon is ecologically harmful

Basically the pens are breeding grounds for disease, which is treated with chemicals of course. All the filth from thousands of fish makes the water below toxic and the seaflor unable to sustain bottom-living fish and crustaceans, and smothers mollusks. Escapes from these pens (and there's lots of these) are larger and healthier due to their steady diet and disease treatment, and cannibalize the fry of wild salmon. Many of the farmed fish in the pacific are actually Atlantic salmon, a different speciews and one that competes for food and habitat.

On top of that, fish farming puts wild fishing out of business. Many communities along the upper Pacific coast, from Oregon north to Alaska, depend on fishing season for their towns' economies. Fish farms, manned by a handful of people owned by a corporation, outcompete the fishermen, in addition to the problems caused by the farms themselves harming the wild populations. As a result, many Northwestern and Pacific communities are starting to fall apart.

And to top it all off? Farmed salmon still manages to be an inferior product. Lower-quality taste and texture, and it's a dull grey-pink color unless they dye it - then it's hideously day-glo.

[MidwestTransplant]

6. I wish TJs would. Also that they would stop selling foreign seafood.

[renate]

7. FYI--Costco's salmon patties come from wild-caught salmon

And one of their varieties of shrimp (but not all) is from Canada, I think--anyway, from one of the few places that's supposed to not be a festering pool of antibiotics and shrimp poo.

I'm surprised that all of Trader Joe's salmon isn't wild caught--but they do have one or two varieties that are, thank goodness.

[BonnieJW]

10. Canned salmon is wild too.

If you can't afford fresh or frozen wild salmon, be advised that all canned salmon is wild. They tried to can farmed salmon, but the result was awful.

[roguevalley]

15. I beg and plead with my family to fish for me. There is NOTHING like wild

salmon and the salmon from around Greenland is the best for your health I am told. I have a lot of salmon and I cook it and leave it in the fridge for snackies. Its like candy for me. :-D

[Earth_First]

8. ...so now they are going to compete for wild-caught salmon resources?

...in order to become more "ecologically conscious?" I understand that aquaculture is a deeply ecologically unsound practice, however, the competition for an already eradicated species is hardly the answer either...

[bertman]

23. I'm thinking along your lines, Earth_First. We're REALLY gonna have to step up the

the efforts to control the wild salmon fishing. The only place anyone is having any success regulating ANY fishing seems to be within the U.S. territorial waters, and that does not include a very high percentage of the oceans' waters.

Too many people going after those delicious and healthful salmon. And tuna. And sharks. ETC. ETC.

[taught_me_patience]

9. I like farmed salmon

Much cheaper and higher in Omega 3 than wild caught.

[GoCubsGo]

19. Not true....

Wild salmon has higher Omega 3, which they get from their natural food sources, such as krill. Farm-raised fish eat fish pellets, which are lacking in it.

[timeforpeace]

11. We have to go to farm raised seafood if we want to protect the wild stocks.

[SallyMander]

12. Honestly i don't know much about this topic

which is why i found the article interesting -- it surprised me that farming salmon is considered to have a more negative environmental impact than wild-caught. I'm a vegetarian, so i don't keep up on this as much as i should, since i don't eat fish.

[timeforpeace]

13. It doesn't if the continued existence of wild stocks is considered paramount.

[uppityperson]

14. I think farmed is ok IF they farm atlantic in the atlantic, not out here in pacific

Had a long discussion with a fish farmer in Europe. He said farmed is better because you know where they were raised, what they ate, etc. I said wild is better because they roamed all over rather than having any particular place or food overdone in their bodies.

I like pacific salmon in the pacific, he was raising atlantic in the atlantic. Raising atlantic fish in the pacific is bad because there will be escapees, and can have cross contamination if/when there are health issues.

I have no problem with farmed salmon, provided that you raise them with good food in good water and in the ocean they normally live in.

[GoCubsGo]

18. Most of 'em are not raised in good water

That's one of the big problems with just about all farm-raised seafood. They tend to be higher in PCBs, mercury, dioxin, and other toxins, as the farms tend to be in coastal areas, which are often polluted. Farm-raised fish also are fed pellets made of things like genetically-modified grain, chicken shit, and antibiotics, not to mention chemicals to enhance the color of their flesh (salmon). They are also far more prone to disease due to crowding.

Farm-raised freshwater fish, such as catfish and tilapia don't have the same problems as their marine relatives. They tend to be lower in pollutants. Freshwater fish are raised in man-made ponds, rather than in enclosures in the ocean. The farmers have more control over water quality here.

[paulsby]

16. i don't eat farmed salmon because it's not very healthy

at least not compared to "real salmon"

it doesn't have the superior fatty acid profile of real salmon, or the same flavor

which is not surprising considering the farm raised salmon don't eat krill, etc. which gives salmon its rich hue (farm raised salmon are DIED pink).

[Agony]

17. Salmon farmer "choose the color of your salmon" color chip fan.

The average american prefers a salmon color of "32".




Always nice to know stuff, eh?

Agony

[Liberal_in_LA]

20. lol n/t

[SallyMander]

22. ...

:wow:

[The Midway Rebel]

24. mmm.... yummy #32.... n/t

[bullwinkle428]

21. AWESOME. I buy salmon for myself all the time, and try to avoid

that farmed stuff like the plague! Nice to see such a major retailer taking steps toward making it irrelevant.