U.S. grocery chain targets B.C. aquaculture practices

Scott Simpson
CanWest News Service
Friday, May 13, 2005

VANCOUVER -- B.C.'s salmon-farming industry was hit Thursday by a fresh wave of bad publicity with revelations that a major U.S. supermarket chain has serious environmental concerns with the way the industry produces its fish.

In an April 6 letter to lobby group Salmon of the Americas, the Albertsons grocery chain said it wants a number of changes, which, if adopted, could make it prohibitively expensive for the industry to continue.

The letter -- released by the New Democratic Party, and separately obtained by CanWest News Service -- reveals the company has been encouraging salmon farmers since December 2003 to address a series of environmental problems, and stated it would "monitor the progress of the industry" toward solving them.

"Unfortunately, since then, the environmental problems of farmed salmon have become an even more conspicuous issue. Due to the values we hold as a food retail leader, we remain concerned about these problems," wrote Albertsons vice-president Jim Smits.

The letter listed five concerns, including a virtual rejection of the industry's traditional practice of raising fish in open-net pens in protected waters along the B.C. coast.

The grocery chain suggested "adopting technology that eliminates disease transfer and farmed salmon escapes so that wildlife is not harmed as a result of salmon farming."

That would likely mean changing to land-based "close containment" systems that would prevent escapes and potential transfers of sea lice to wild salmon. The B.C. Salmon Farmers Association said closed containment is unproven, and rejected the call for a switch.

Albertsons also called for the elimination of antibiotics -- which are critical to fish health when a population is raised in close quarters.

Albertsons did not respond to interview requests Thursday.

B.C. is North America's biggest-volume producer of farmed salmon, and sells about 90 per cent of its annual output to grocers and other fish marketers in the U.S. Idaho-based Albertsons is one of the three largest grocery retailers in the U.S., with 2,300 stores in 31 states.

B.C. industry representatives, noting they were previously aware of the letter, said the company's concerns are misplaced because salmon farmers are already making changes that should satisfy consumers their production methods are environmentally responsible.

Environmental groups countered the letter shows the industry is losing public support and won't recover without a complete makeover.

Salmon of the Americas executive director Alex Trent said the letter was a "rehash" of industry criticisms that had previously been expressed by the B.C.-based Canadian Alliance for Aquaculture Reform, a coalition of B.C. environmental groups opposed to salmon farming.

Trent was taken aback by Smits's letter, adding that Salmon of the Americas is already working with Albertsons and other retailers via the U.S. Food Marketing Institute to develop a quality certification program that should quell consumers' concerns about farm-raised salmon.