Demand for fish feed is driving a devastating new wave of extraction from Africa
Demand for fish feed is driving a devastating new wave of extraction from Africa
When shoppers buy a farmed salmon product in the UK they may think that they are not having a negative impact on wild fish stocks. This is encouraged by unscrupulous retailers such as Marks and Spencer who brand their farmed salmon "responsibly sourced". Sadly the reality is that consuming carnivorous farmed fish has a much bigger impact on the ocean than just eating a single line caught fish.
Each farmed salmon is fed up to 200 wild caught fish.
Aquaculture is a booming industry bringing to market choice fish products in unprecedented quantities. It has turned salmon from being a delicacy to being a household staple. This seeming miracle of modern science is actually based on grossly inefficient and damaging processes. Vast quantities of feed fish are hoovered up around the world and then transported to fish farms.
Industrial aquaculture, in its current form, represents a catastrophic ramping up of unsustainable extraction from the oceans.
In this video the journalist Ian Urbina investigates the human and ecological cost of the booming farm fishing industry in the smallest country on mainland Africa.
A recent report from Feedback Global highlights the unsustainable business model behind the expanding aquaculture industry that is plundering our oceans, breaking marine ecosystems and putting people at risk of food insecurity.
Fishmeal Factories in the Gambia | Mini Docu: Nation Of Destruction
Nation of Destruction is mini documentary made through the eyes of the locals. The people in Kartong, Sanyang and Gunjur are facing a massive environmental disaster since Chinese owned fishmeal factories started operating along Gambia's beaches.
Especially in Kartong it is difficult for the locals to enter the beach where the factory is operating. The Chinese are very hostile against everyone who is trying to make pictures or images. A fishing rod and an Iphone brought us very far. We are now able to show the people what is going on in their backyard.
We filmed JXYG Fishmeal Factory in Kartong and Golden Lead Factory in Gunjur together with the locals.
