Chilean Salmon

[liuzhou]

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The country is the world’s second-largest producer of the popular fish, and the biggest supplier to the US, but ...

 

Having salmon for dinner?  You might want to read this first.

 

‘Those who eat Chilean salmon cannot imagine how much human blood it carries with it’ | Chile | The Guardian

 

 

 

 

[Alex]

I also read this today. I promptly sent a message to our local fish and seafood wholesaler; they supply our major supermarkets:

 

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 I have a salmon-related question. I know about Verlasso salmon -- they do a good job of marketing their product -- but I was wondering about the other Chilean salmon you carry. Might you be able to tell me the farm or farms you source them from -- or if not, the name of the company you buy them from? Thank you.

 

Their marketing manager promptly replied: 

 

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Thank you for reaching out to us regarding the Chilean salmon we purchase.  We do purchase from various suppliers, but one that we use quite frequently is the parent company of Verlasso, called AquaChile.  They sell other Chilean salmon that isn't under their Verlasso brand.

 

Here is their website:  https://en.aquachile.com/quienes-somos/

 

I then replied with the URL from the Guardian, and asked: 

 

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Do you have any information about how the non-Verlasso fisheries are managed and what the working conditions are like?

 

That was about 1:30 this afternoon. No response yet. 

[Anchobrie]

I have a research project in Patagonia (in terrestrial agriculture-sheep-pumas) and I have sometimes seen something that if not slavery, was close to...

 

I am not surprise at all that salmon industry is similar. In fact, Norwegians are partially responsible of it when moving their farming operations to Chilean fjords.

[Alex]

9 hours ago, Alex said:

I also read this today. I promptly sent a message to our local fish and seafood wholesaler; they supply our major supermarkets:

 

 

Their marketing manager promptly replied: 

 

 

I then replied with the URL from the Guardian, and asked: 

 

 

That was about 1:30 this afternoon. No response yet. 

 

He replied this morning: 

 

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Thank you for sharing this information about the Chilean fisheries. We understand your concerns regarding working conditions and the broader issues surrounding salmon farming. While I don’t currently have detailed information on the specific companies and farms supplying our Chilean salmon, I will be looking into this further. I want to assure you that sourcing high-quality fish is a priority for us, and that includes not only the product itself but also the farming practices behind it.

 

The Monterey Bay Aquarium is a nonprofit organization dedicated to ocean conservation, and one of its key initiatives focuses on reducing antibiotic use in Chilean farmed salmon—the Chilean Salmon Antibiotic Reduction Program (CSARP). More information about this project can be found here: https://www.seafoodwatch.org/our-projects/farmed-salmon-in-chile. Several producers are actively participating, including Cooke and Camanchaca, both of whom are among our primary Chilean salmon suppliers.

 

That said, we recognize the importance of gaining a deeper understanding of the farming practices used by the companies we partner with. I will be reaching out to our buying team to gather additional information and ensure we are aligned with responsible and sustainable sourcing standards.

 

I sent an appreciative reply.

[weinoo]

Eat wild salmon from Alaska.  Why anyone buys farmed salmon is beyond me.

[rotuts]

$ .

[weinoo]

Well, it was kind of a rhetorical question.

 

But if people (here) are buying fancy steam ovens, fancy induction burners and ranges, multiple InstaPots and Cuisinart steam girls, Vitamixes, Bamixs, Japanese knives, etc. etc., then buy wild salmon.

 

I’ll add fancy indoor smokers to the above!

Edited 2 hours ago by weinoo (log)

[Alex]

A further reply: 

 

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Other than AquaChile, here are a couple of our other main supplier of our Chilean salmon. [I've simplified the URLs.]

 

Patagonia Sea Farms

http://www.patagoniaseafarms.com

 

BluGlacier

https://bluglacier.com/

 

[Dr. Teeth]

30 minutes ago, weinoo said:

Eat wild salmon from Alaska.  Why anyone buys farmed salmon is beyond me.

I read this comment out loud in my best Thurston Howell voice.   I found it tremendously improved the accessibility of the comment

[ElsieD]

25 minutes ago, weinoo said:

 

But if people (here) are buying fancy steam ovens, fancy induction burners and ranges, multiple InstaPots and Cuisinart steam girls, Vitamixes, Bamixs, Japanese knives, etc. etc., then buy wild salmon.

 

I’ll add fancy indoor smokers to the above!

 

May I respectfully suggest that not everyone finds any or all of these items affordable and therefore farmed salmon is all they can afford?  I'd add that in Canada even farmed salmon is not cheap.

[rotuts]

i would eat fresh fish frequently

 

if it was the sort that I get down @ CapeCod  while visiting @ WHPS.

 

Im very fortunate that I can afford it.

 

when visiting my father , years ago , Id get fresh wild salmon 5 days a week ,

 

frim Cook's Seafood in Menlo Park.   getting there in the morning , I could see

 

the owner looking over several fish , some still wiggling  ( all most )

 

its my favorite fish .   The seafood outlet in Falmouth had salmon , but it was not local .

 

so i got the freshest local and enjoyed every bite.

 

Id pay quite a bit more where live , there is a large fish market one town over 

 

but the fish there is not fresh.   

 

now , in thinking about irt

 

I might look into wild salmon on line :

 

your favorites sites are :

 

 

 

 

thank you .

[weinoo]

53 minutes ago, Dr. Teeth said:

I read this comment out loud in my best Thurston Howell voice.   I found it tremendously improved the accessibility of the comment

I’m pretty sure that Thurston Howell (the third, I believe) was eating nothing but wild fish on that isle.

 

43 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

 

May I respectfully suggest that not everyone finds any or all of these items affordable and therefore farmed salmon is all they can afford?  I'd add that in Canada even farmed salmon is not cheap.

 

You may, but it seems like everything I mention in my post is stuff that gets discussed here, so I don’t agree with that assessment.

 

32 minutes ago, rotuts said:

I might look into wild salmon on line :

 

your favorites sites are :

Great Alaska Seafood…https://www.great-alaska-seafood.com

[blue_dolphin]

As the Guardian article the OP shared and @Alex’s follow-up details, it’s important to learn about the sources of fish and seafood available to us.

By and large, US fisheries are quite well managed and provide good options for those of us in this country. For anyone looking for local fish and seafood options in the US or Canada, make sure to check out your options at https://finder.localcatch.org and filter by your criteria. 

I’m lucky to live in an area of the country with good options (availability of local seafood far from the coasts is understandably sparse) and privileged that I can afford to participate in a weekly delivery of fresh fish caught by local fishers.  Every week, I receive info about the fishers who caught that week’s fish, their fishing methods, which port their vessel brought the fish into and background on the fishery for that species. 

Since the commercial salmon fisheries off California have been closed for a few years due to concerns of overfishing, the wild-caught Alaskan salmon we get is procured from companies that process and freeze salmon caught by local SoCal fishers (and others) that sail up to Alaska for the season. 

Edited to add that not all the seafood I get is wild-caught. We’ve gotten locally farmed mussels, oysters, shrimp and abalone, all sustainably farmed.

 

 

 

Edited 27 minutes ago by blue_dolphin
To add comment on farmed seafood - it can be done well (log)