New Zealand Farmed Salmon.

Hi Lisa, 

By way of introduction, my name is Sarah – I work here at Pead PR for New Zealand King Salmon (NZKS).

We spotted your blog on Farmed Salmon and wanted to share a few details on NZKS’ product as a FYI. Seeing as your blog goes so in depth into this industry, we thought this may be of interest to you 😊

Salmon farming is one of the most efficient forms of animal production in the world. Globally it is a sunrise industry that produces low CO² emissions compared to the farming of other protein sources. NZKS’ current farms operate on a very low environmental footprint, which have seen the company achieve global recognition from the highly respected Seafood Watch program, where NZKS has become the first and only ocean-farmed salmon to achieve the Green/’Best Choice’ rating.

It’s also worth noting that there aren’t any wild salmon suppliers here in NZ, so any salmon bought would be farmed salmon.

I noticed you were interested in the amount of Omega 3 in salmon products. NZKS gets its fresh salmon tested for total fat and fatty acids every month.  The average results for 2018 for 3-6kg gutted and gilled were:

Omega 3 = 3.18g/100g
Omega 6 = 3.24g/100g

Then we spotted your comment around the assumption that salmon aren’t fed seafood due to sustainability and wanted to clarify reasonings around feeding salmon animal protein.

The reason animal based protein is used in salmon food is because there is only a limited amount of fishmeal available (fisheries are limited, and there is a growing need for more fish). The feed industry uses by-products from animals which are grown for human food – these by products are highly digestible and are a great use of what would otherwise be a waste stream. From an animal’s point of view – it does not matter where the protein comes from, as proteins are broken down into amino acids, then re-built in the form that the salmon needs.

Finally, I wanted to touch on your point on overcrowding in salmon farms. NZKS farms are 98% water, 2% fish. The company is however campaigning to have salmon farms relocated to open ocean sites, like what is currently used in Norway. I encourage you to read more about open ocean farming and the interim goal of potential relocation of NZKS’ farms here.

If you’re ever in the Marlborough region, NZKS would love to host you on a familiarisation tour of their farms and sites to demonstrate their farming practices.

Do let me know if you have any questions on the above.

Kind regards,
Sarah
Account Manager

Hi Lisa,

Adam Hicks here. I’m the communications manager for Aquaculture New Zealand. We are the industry representative body for the country’s mussel, salmon and oyster farmers.

I’m writing in response to your blog ‘I’m slamming farmed salmon’. I appreciate your concern about the salmon farming industry so there’s a couple of things I wanted to clear up.

Firstly, a quick history of the New Zealand industry: King salmon were introduced into New Zealand in the early 1900s as eggs from the Sacramento river in California, to establish a recreational fishing run. Commercial farming of the species began in the ‘70s and that paved the way for a retail supply to New Zealand customers. There has never been a commercial wild New Zealand salmon fishery nor a retail supply of wild New Zealand salmon. It is actually illegal to buy or sell wild salmon caught in New Zealand so the chances are that the salmon you’ve been buying in New Zealand has always been farmed – unless you’re buying tinned salmon. So rest assured you haven’t missed any memos on this.

While aquaculture is a relatively new primary industry, there is nothing new about domesticating wild animals (cattle were domesticated over 10,000 years ago) for food security, safety and consistency. You don’t see hunted pork or foraged apples in the supermarkets these days as the majority of produce available in supermarkets in the western world is raised/grown on farms and given nutrients by a farmer.

Wild fish is of course the exception to this, but wild stocks alone are not a long-term sustainable solution to feeding the word. Wild harvests have been stagnant for the past 10-15 years as fisheries are maxed out or declining, while at the same time as demand for quality, safe seafood is sky rocketing as the global population expands. Aquaculture has evolved as genuine solution to filling this void.

You made it clear you’re not concerned about these sustainably issues, so I won’t labour these points (except to say that New Zealand aquaculture is one of the most sustainable and most efficient forms of protein production on the planet) but your google research into salmon feed needs further context. As you rightly pointed out, NZ salmon are fed a carefully blended diet, from responsible producers like Skretting, Ridley and BioMar. These companies have invested hundreds of millions of dollars researching salmon to understand their optimum diet for health and growth. These diets include terrestrial proteins (some of which is by-products from meat industries) and although this might make your ‘butt clench’ the people who create these diets celebrate it as a terrific story of sustainability. We investigated this subject for our industry magazine in Feb 2017, which involved interviewing Dr Leo Nankervis from Skretting who’s dedicated most of his career on this subject. No one knows more about fish nutrition than Leo and this is what he said:

“The basis for our work is to make sure that everything that’s required for the fish is there – for optimal growth, welfare and quality at the end,” Dr Nankervis said.
“From there we look at ways to optimise sustainability and cost within those boundaries.
“A lot of the work we do is understanding the raw materials and what the fish need from those raw materials.
“The fish don’t require raw materials, they require nutrients, so we need to know what nutrients the fish needs and the best way for them to get it. “
“We’re making an appropriate use of limited resources and keeping valuable nutrients in the food chain,” Dr Nankervis said.
“Humans are very selective about what part of an animal they want to eat. “But there are some really valuable nutrients in the so-called waste food chain that’s left over – like feathers, frames, viscera and blood etc.
“What we do is take elements that would typically go to waste, and release the nutrients in a form that salmon are able to utilise.
“It’s making the most of nutrients available – which is responsible food production.
“If we are going to feed more and more people, we need to be utilising feed sources that are available. Just because it’s not part of human feed sources doesn’t mean we shouldn’t use it. We need to be targeting more food sources that would not otherwise make it into the human food chain.”
“Feathers by themselves aren’t bioavailable. When cooked under high temperature and pressure and ground into meal, it releases valuable nutrients that we can utilise as good feed ingredients,” Dr Nankervis said.
“It doesn’t matter to the fish where the protein comes from. They digest it and assimilate it into fish proteins according to their own genetic code. As long as traceability and food safety are there, it is a perfectly legitimate food source and a clever use of resources.”
And the proof is in the eating – both the feed and the fish.
“We have studied everything you could possibly think of that could go wrong and found nothing,” he said.
“Salmon love to eat the feed. They grow at least as well as those with a higher fish-meal diet. We’ve analysed every single element of the fish health you could imagine, as well as the quality of the finished product and can confirm there are no discernible negative impacts to the animal or the quality of the finished product.” And while marine resources remain ingredients in their feed, Skretting will only purchase them from sustainable sources.
“Skretting Australia utilise several sources of marine ingredients. Two of our main sources are South American anchovies, and by-products of responsible tuna fishing sectors,” he said.
“The Peruvian anchovy fishery is one of the best managed fisheries in the world. They have a strong focus on the health of the fishery and have successfully combined stock monitoring with a quota system that limits catch volume and reduces juvenile catch rates. The consequence however is that this fishery is limited in volume and suitable alternatives are required, whether they be other fish meal sources or other proteins. “We also utilise the by-products from various tuna fisheries, but exclude threatened or endangered species. Again, these are by-products of the human food chain that would otherwise go to waste.”

The feed also contains essential nutrients, which I can confirm includes astaxanthin which NZ farmed salmon get their colouring from.

“Astaxanthin is an integral part of their lifecycle and essential nutrient for the fish,” Dr Nankervis said. “It would be really unethical to not have it in their feed because we would be compromising the health of the fish dramatically. “If you don’t have it, salmon are much less robust and immune system compromised. If you limit it, their protection is limited. “The reason it gives salmon colour is because they have a natural ability to take it up and deposit in their flesh as a natural protection against disease. It also plays an irreplaceable role in their natural reproductive cycle, ensuring egg quality and survival.”

I agree that you shouldn’t be recommending NZ salmon as a dietary source of iodine – and the industry has never suggested that you should (although, as a sideline NZ Greenshell mussels are an excellent source of iodine.)

With regards to the culinary aspects of your blog, I’m sorry to read it was not to your tastes, but there are plenty of people who love it and quality chefs around the world seek out New Zealand salmon for the same reasons you’ve slammed it: rich marbeling, high fat, buttery texture. The piece of salmon you’ve taken exception to, is a cut from the belly of the salmon which is naturally higher in fat to cushion the organs of the fish. I personally prefer the leaner cuts, but these pieces are considered a delicacy in Japan.

But culinary disappointment aside, I’m alarmed to read your remarks in the comments section inferring that salmon is making people sick. I’m keen to understand the your reasons behind these comments and would appreciate it if you could share the evidence you have to support this.

As I said in the beginning of this letter, I do appreciate your concern about the industry and welcome any questions you might have about it. We’re quite open about the issues you’ve raised and would be happy to address them in person. The next time you’re in Marlborough, I’d be happy to arrange a farm visit for you and put you in contact with the experts in this field. In the mean time please feel free to contact us if you want to discuss any of this issues.

Kind regards.
Adam Hicks
Communications Manager