“We wonder why a US politician would travel across continents providing false statements on national television to promote clothing manufacturer Patagonia’s anti salmon propaganda campaign.”
Washington state’s Commissioner of Public Lands, Hilary Franz’s recent appearance at the launch of clothing brand Patagonia’s new anti-salmon farming film has sparked controversy in Iceland.
Earlier this month, SalmonBusiness reported on the launch in Iceland of the outdoor clothing brand’s latest anti salmon film, “Laxaþjóð: A Salmon Nation”.
Watch here: Patagonia’s new film on Iceland’s salmon industry
Franz was a keynote speaker in Reykjavik at the launch of the film, which is part of a campaign to end netpen salmon farming in Iceland.
Now, an interview with Icelandic broadcaster Stöð 2, seems to have tipped some people over the edge.
“We wonder why a US politician would travel across continents providing false statements on national television to promote clothing manufacturer Patagonia’s anti salmon propaganda campaign,” wrote shareholder in Arnarlax and MD of Markó Partners Kjartan Olafsson in an email to SalmonBusiness.
Olafsson refers to comments by Franz in the interview in which she cites the fear of mixing with local populations as amongst the reasons that Washington decided to ban net pen farming of Atlantic salmon.
In fact, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife acknowledges Atlantic salmon as an invasive species but finds no evidence of them threatening native fish through crossbreeding or disease.
Her claims were further challenged by local expert Dr. Ólafur Sigurgeirsson, an assistant professor at the University of Hólum’s Department of Aquaculture and Fish Biology, who also pointed out that Atlantic salmon do not breed with Pacific salmon.
As Dr. Sigurgeirsson said in an article for bb.is, Atlantic salmon have been added to rivers on the West Coast of North America by anglers since at least 1905, but have shown no signs of interbreeding with Pacific salmon, nor in establishing themselves in the local ecosystems.
Franz, a Democrat, who is an advocate for land-based salmon production in Washington state, dropped out of the race for governor to run for the state’s 6th Congressional District — with the endorsement of U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer, the Gig Harbor Democrat who abruptly announced in November he won’t seek a seventh term.
“The challenges we face extend beyond the borders of Washington, and so must our solutions. I am running for Congress to bring my vision for bold, transformative action to our nation’s capital and keep fighting for families across our region,” she said in the announcement and in a new campaign video.
