The Good, the Bad & the Ugly of the Fish Industry

Nicolas Daniel’s documentary Fillet-Oh-Fish takes a critical look at the fish industry, featuring exclusive footage from fish farms and factories across the globe. You can watch it for free by clicking on the link below.

Some of challenges that the fish industry of today faces, includes; overfishing, chemical pollution, genetic mutations from toxic exposures, overuse of antibiotics and genetically modified fish.

Even with all of these problems, the fish business is a booming industry. Much of their success is due to the fact that the majority of the public is clueless, when it comes to them actually knowing what they are eating.

Farmed Salmon is One of the Most Toxic Foods in the World:

On the ocean floor under a salmon fish farm, there can be a layer of waste up to about 15 meters high. This pile of debris is chock full of decaying feces and organic matter, bacteria, drugs and pesticides. The entire ecosystem of the sea floor in these areas has been destroyed. Since the farms are located in open water, the pollution from these farms dissipates.

Salmon farms can hold two million salmon in a relatively small amount of space. These crowded conditions result in disease, which spreads rapidly among the overstressed salmon.

The result, according to Oddekalv, can be sea lice, Pancreatic Disease and Infectious Salmon Anemia Virus. A number of dangerous pesticides are also used in an effort to reduce disease.

Overall, farmed salmon is five times more toxic than any other food product tested. In animal feeding studies, mice fed farmed salmon grew obese and grew thick layers of fat around their internal organs. They also developed diabetes. Wild salmon contains about 5 to 7% fat, whereas the farmed variety can contain anywhere from 14.5 to 34%. Wild salmon also have a much higher proportion of omega-3 fats.

Genetic Mutations & Other Abnormalities:

In addition to keeping parasites such as sea lice in check, the pesticides used also cause DNA mutations, as shown with the deformed cod in the film. About 50% of the farmed cod are deformed in this manner. The female cod can also escape from farms to mate with wild cod, spreading the genetic mutations and deformities into the wild population.

Toxic Fish Feed:

Pollutants found in the fish feed can include dioxins, PCBs, a number of different drugs and chemicals.

A Norwegian fish pellet plant uses eel as the main ingredient for their fish pellets, because of their high protein and fat content. Since the Baltic Sea is highly polluted and the eels come from the Baltic Sea, . the pellets are also highly toxic.

The pellets also have an “antioxidant” called ethoxyquin added to them. According to the filmmaker, this is one of the best kept secrets of the fish food industry. Ethoxyquin was developed by Monsanto in the 1950s as a pesticide. They add it to the feed to prevent the fats from oxidizing and going rancid.

Victoria Bohne, Ph.D. a former researcher in Norway, made a number of disturbing discoveries, including the fact that ethoxyquin can cross the blood brain barrier and may have carcinogenic effects.

What Fish to Eat?

Fish can be one of the healthiest foods you can eat, but you must be careful about choosing the right type of fish to eat.

Fish fraud is commonplace. Investigations have shown that one in three fish labels are false or misleading. Typically, an inexpensive fish is mislabeled as a more expensive one. Some farmed fish are also passed off as wild caught. You must either trust your source or catch your fish yourself!

Unfortunately, the vast majority of fish , even when wild caught, are too contaminated to eat on a frequent basis. Most major waterways in the world are contaminated with mercury, heavy metals, and chemicals, such as dioxins, PCBs, as well as by agricultural chemicals.

The best fish choices are:

1. Wild caught Alaskan salmon, which are not allowed to be farmed.

2. Small fish with short life cycles, such as sardines and anchovies.

3. Wild caught herring.

4. Wild caught caviar.

Just make your fish is not from the Baltic Sea.

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