Mark Muller
Mark Muller is the director of IATP's Food and Justice program and coordinates the IATP Food and Community Fellows."Are we replicating the worst problems of factory farms on land in our marine environment?"
This is the question that Anne Mosness leaves listeners with from her recent interview on public radio. Huge commercial salmon farms have changed the marine ecosystem off of Bainbridge Island in the Puget Sound. The open sided cages do little to confine the pollution and pathogens in the fecal matter of these salmon farms. In fact, the farms have a difficult time even confining the fish.
Anne spent several years as captain of a commercial salmon fishing boat. She and her fishing colleagues continually struggled with the environmental and economic assaults of the fish farming industry. Anne started the "Go Wild Campaign" to educate consumers, media and policy makers about impacts of marine feedlots and how to make health enhancing and environmentally sound seafood decisions.
Anne recently gave a presentation at Western Washington University on these aquaculture issues. In the presentation she describes the social justice impacts of the growing consumption of high trophic level fish like salmon, which require an enormous amount of fish as feed.
Thanks to Anne for reminding us of the importance of what happens unseen below the water's surface.
