A new online campaign by opponents of salmon farming has prompted a sharp response from industry leaders. In this article, Tom Taylor of the Atlantic Canada Fish Farmers Association answers the claims.
Atlantic Canadians take great pride in producing safe, sustainable, and high-quality farmed salmon enjoyed by consumers around the world. As a 25-year veteran of Atlantic Canada’s salmon farming sector and on behalf of the members of the Atlantic Canada Fish Farmers Association, I cannot allow the publication of a deceptive new website “salmon.info” to go unchecked, especially at this time when Canada’s food security and economy need to be strengthened.
Salmon.info, operated by well-known anti-salmon farming activist groups the Atlantic Salmon Federation (ASF) and the North Atlantic Salmon Fund, presents itself as an “evidence-based resource hub” created “to inform people about the wide-ranging impacts of salmon farming and the facts about Atlantic salmon fillets sold in North American grocery stores.”
But upon closer review, a more apt name for this site is ‘Salmon.misinfo’. The sources cited are carefully chosen to support their anti-salmon farming agenda, many are outdated, selectively interpreted, or link back to ASF’s own network of advocacy content or organizations with financial stakes in land-based aquaculture ventures – including Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard, a major ASF donor and investor in land-based salmon farming. Masquerading as a neutral resource, this site pushes tired myths about salmon farming and cherry-picked science as part of a well-funded, U.S.-backed campaign to undermine ocean-based salmon farming and the communities behind it.
Ignored science
For example, how can a self-proclaimed resource hub about salmon not contain references to these articles and studies, just to name the first five that come to my mind:
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Dr. Stefanie Colombo (Dalhousie University 2021): This study found significant differences in nutritional value between species of salmon – but not between farmed and wild salmon.
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Dr. Jon Grant (Dalhousie University, 2019): The most in-depth examination of its kind, this peer-reviewed study found that aquaculture operations had no impact on lobster abundance, size or growth.
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Dr. Benjamin deJourdan (Huntsman Marine Science Centre 2024): The study found that anti-sea lice treatment in sediment had no harmful effects on the adult lobsters or their young.
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Simon Jones (2025): A scientific paper in the Journal of Fish Diseases further dispels the widely repeated assumption that the removal of salmon farms results in a decline in sea lice numbers on wild Pacific salmon.
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Coller FAIRR Protein Producer Index (2023): New Sustainability Index Ranks 7 Salmon Producers Among Top 10, with producers having operations in Canada at #1 and #3.
Farmed salmon is safe and nutritious
There are far too many inaccuracies on ASF’s website for me to list in one post, but if you’re standing at the seafood counter wondering whether farmed salmon is safe to eat, the answer is yes. Not only is it safe, it’s also one of the most nutritious, sustainable and climate-friendly proteins available today.
Atlantic salmon is one of the highest sources of heart-healthy omega-3s (DHA, EPA). Including salmon in your diet weekly can help prevent heart disease, lower cholesterol and blood pressure, boost your brain function and reduce the risk of cancer, stroke, depression, Alzheimer’s disease, arthritis, Crohn’s disease and asthma. The Canada Food Guide labels salmon as a “part of a healthy eating pattern.”
In Atlantic Canada, every farmed salmon is raised under strict federal and provincial oversight, backed by agencies including the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), Health Canada, and Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Each fish is fully traceable from hatchery to harvest – including what it consumed and how it was cared for. In reality, PCBs and microplastics are ubiquitous in nature and farmed salmon meets or exceeds all food safety standards in Canada, the U.S., and globally.
Efficient, low-impact protein
Farmed salmon has one of the lowest carbon footprints of any farmed animal protein, uses far less freshwater than livestock, and is highly efficient. Today’s salmon farming uses fewer antibiotics than any other livestock sector – and only under veterinary prescription and supervision when required. Our industry uses alternative technologies including warm water treatments, and broodstock selection, to manage fish health and sea lice. No preventative antibiotics are used, and any treatments are subject to strict withdrawal periods and government oversight. Farmers as well as government agencies conduct regular monitoring of the ocean floor to ensure farms meet high environmental standards.
Critics often point to the “fish in, fish out” (FIFO) ratio to argue that farmed salmon consumes more protein than it produces. This argument is simply outdated. In Atlantic Canada, current FIFO ratios are between 0.6 and 0.7 – meaning farmed salmon now provides more marine protein than it consumes. This is thanks to years of innovation in aquafeeds now using alternate proteins from plant-based ingredients, human-food industry by-products, and minimal marine ingredients in formulations, of which all ingredients are approved by the CFIA.
Feeding the future
As the global population climbs to 8.5 billion by 2030, we urgently need more food – especially healthy protein. Farmed salmon isn’t a drain on resources – it’s a smart, efficient way to feed the world. More than 50 per cent of seafood consumed today is farmed. Salmon farming delivers 18 billion meals globally each year – including 323 million right here in Atlantic Canada. Without this reliable, responsible source of protein, how exactly do we plan to feed a rapidly growing population? And how do we expect to help protect Canada’s food security or support our coastal communities if we allow activist misinformation to derail an essential industry?
At a time when the world is facing rising food insecurity and urgent climate challenges, responsible salmon farming isn’t the problem. It’s part of the solution. Atlantic Canada’s salmon farmers are committed to growing healthy, sustainable food, protecting our marine environment, and supporting local communities. While activist websites like salmon.info try to sow doubt with outdated studies and misleading claims, the facts – backed by science, regulation, and decades of experience – speak for themselves. Farmed Atlantic salmon is safe, nutritious, and essential to feeding a growing world population.