Aerial footage of a fish farm in Bayswater, N.S. (Image: Steve Lawrence/CBC)

Cooke Aquaculture gets improved sustainability rating, but groups dispute findings

The following is an excerpt from an article published by CBC News:

Improved 'yellow light' assessment for Nova Scotia salmon farms has environmentalists seeing red

Cooke Aquaculture salmon farms in Nova Scotia received an upgraded sustainability rating in an international assessment, but three environmental groups are wary of the findings.

California-based Seafood Watch said it's recognizing reduced use of pesticides, low levels of sea lice and few escapes in Nova Scotia over the past five years, especially when compared to other provinces.

The assessment was part of a Seafood Watch report released this week evaluating salmon farming production areas around the world.

In Nova Scotia and Maine, where Cooke Aquaculture is the lone operator, salmon farms were given a yellow light rating, indicating production is generally having a moderate impact to the ecosystem but can't be considered fully ecologically sustainable.

Seafood Watch said for consumers, the scoring means the salmon is recommended as a "good alternative."

From red to yellow

On the Atlantic coast of North America, Seafood Watch scored Newfoundland and Labrador and New Brunswick as red (avoid), meaning it believes the salmon farms are having significant impacts on the environment.

"Those were kind of the major impact areas that separated out Nova Scotia and Maine from Newfoundland and New Brunswick," said Taylor Vorhees, global aquaculture initiatives manager for the Seafood Watch program at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California.

Nova Scotia fish farms were rated red in the last assessment in 2016.

Vorhees said fish farms across the country need to do more work to achieve a green rating, "which is our ultimate bar of environmental sustainability." (continues...)

Author/Source: Paul Withers · CBC News | Read the full article by clicking the link here

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