http://www.mbayaq.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/sfw_hd.asp http://www.salmonfarmers.org/media/recent.html I think there are a lot of good topics that are in this chat- The ecologically issues surronding aquaculture, the socioeconomics of aquaculture, the health of aquaculture, and finally the differentiation of farmed vs wild fish. The first topic can be elucidated using the first link- It is the monterey bay aquarium and discusses what fish are able to self sustain and the fish that are being extremely overfished. Also discusses the dredging which is a HUGE issue in my world. The socioeconomics can be seen with the disaster in Thailand and that area- Most shrimp farms are in that region and they have gone in a began purchasing the coastline land that was destroyed to put in more farms- The cost- Vital tourism which is so critical to so much of the economy- The nail is driven home in the recent movie Darwins Nightmare. Health- technically speaking the farm raised salmon is higher in pcb's but still 100's of times below the federal health risk criteria- Wild salmon is 10000's less. Wild is also much higher in omega 3's and other vital antioxidants. The differentiation! Wow- What a huge ethical issue- From chefs passing farmed off as wild- Or purveyors doing the same- Shady and it all comes down to the bottom line- Here is what I look for when I get wild Salmon in my restaurant. 1st- Color, size, and finally I will eat a piece of it raw in front of the delivery driver- I just shave a piece off- Wild salmon as a very unique taste- It is gamier- Now- Differentiating Farmed organic from Farmed regular- You cannot by sight and you would be hard pressed by taste- You just have to trust someone- My thought- If you are going to shell out for Organic try to go the next step and get WILD. Copper River, Snake River, Etc etc- These are all high end Wild salmon that will come availble at the end of the summer- Folks this is a great topic and eco awareness surrounding fish farming is so critical to our future- Get involved- Ask questions- Ask where your fish came from, how was it caught, things like that- for numbers people check out this site- http://www.st.nmfs.gov/st1/market_news/index.html pretty insane Jason
