By PAUL FUHS
Gov. Mike Dunleavy is a very brave man. When he asked whether Alaska should consider fish farming, he must have known the world would come crashing in, but he said it anyway.
The public reaction, according to Anchorage Daily News reporter Julia O’Malley, was nothing less than damning for his statement — a statement that we ought to at least think about it. There are some misconceptions in her article that need to be cleared up if we want to have an intelligent conversation about this issue. Farmed salmon will continue to impact us, whether we engage in it or not.
I am not an advocate for “salmon farming.” However, I am deeply involved in shellfish mariculture and was the founding president of the Alaska Mariculture Association in the 1980s. Therefore, I know a lot about the maricuture industry.
At that time, I was mayor of Dutch Harbor and we could see the future impact on Alaska’s salmon industry, from a salmon producing system that could provide fresh fish all year round, that could be harvested in a way to maximize quality, could be processed in a way that preserves the highest quality, and that could be competitively priced.
While we were seeing this clearly, what has happened in the market is far beyond anything we could have imagined: 2.8 million metric tons of farmed salmon produced last year compared to 220,000 tons of salmon produced in Alaska. (About a third of Alaska’s production is from Alaska’s mariculture-based farm ranching hatchery program.)
At that time, we theorized that if we combined wild and farmed salmon, given that Alaska is in the center of the biological range for salmon, we could supply product year round and rule the world.
We never got the chance to even discuss it. The reaction was swift and brutal and in 1990 a law was passed to prohibit salmon farming. I remember Alaska’s fisheries Czar Clem Tillion, in classic Clem style, telling me “Its like having your only son neutered.” Sport fishing leader Bob Penney also lamented the decision.
So we just went on to develop the shellfish mariculture industry which has been quite successful.
As humans, we crossed the neolithic threshold on land to agriculture 12,000 years ago, but a hunting and gathering activity like commercial fishing wasn’t about to let go. Besides this cultural outlook, there were also issues of disease transmission, cross breeding, and the market, all of which I address without prejudice in this article.
Ms O’Malley’s article states that it is rare to find “farmed salmon” in Alaska, but that is just not true. Every single sushi restaurant in Alaska is selling farmed product as “salmon” on the menu.
This sushi, and most of what is sold worldwide by Norway, Scotland, and Canada, isn’t even salmon. It is trout, genus/phylum salmo salar. Basically, it’s farmed steelhead trout. There are fish farmers who do grow actual salmon of the salmon genus oncorhynchus, species like Coho salmon primarily in Chile and King salmon in Canada. I haven’t seen that product here in Alaska.
Farmed trout have been available in the market for many years, and no one thought anything about it. But these large-scale trout operations, listed as “Atlantic salmon” do pose a threat to Alaska’s salmon industry in the context of the market. The label as ‘salmon’ produces the confusion we see in the market.
Why is this a threat when we have the healthiest and best wild salmon runs in the world? Is it just a labeling issue or something more? Here are some of the reasons.
When fish are harvested in a net, they go into flight panic mode. This triggers a hormonal response, similar to adrenaline in humans, which then releases cortisol , the primary stress hormone in fish, into the blood stream and through out the flesh of the salmon. This impacts quality.
These cortisol increases, up to 100 times normal, lead to increased plasma glucose and lactate levels which affects post mortem muscle biochemistry metabolic processes and degrades the fillet’s texture, color and water holding capacity. The subsequent elevated pH also promotes faster bacterial growth, leading to a shorter shelf life for the fillet. Loss of ability to hold water affects cooking quality with dryness characteristics.
A salmon that has struggled for hours in a gill net or crushed in a seine will be affected. To offset these processes in aquaculture, farmers will super saturate the water in their pens with oxygen nano bubbles, so tiny that they do not come out of solution. The salmon are pacified in the heightened oxygen environment and do not panic while being harvested
Upon being delivered live to the fish plant they are thoroughly bled while the heart is still beating to remove as much blood as possible, which is the medium for bacteria growth. This extends shelf life. (It’s why you will see any experienced sport fisherman bleeding their catch as soon as they are caught). With the exception of troll caught kings, its difficult do that with other netted Alaska salmon. I do not say this to degrade the quality image of Alaska salmon, it is a great product. This is just a fact of fish post mortem biochemistry.
Any salmon intended to be eaten raw must first be frozen to kill the parasite roundworms and flatworms that are indemic to ocean fishes. This once frozen fish is called “sushi grade” and it is what you will get at a sushi restaurant. If it is to be cooked, freezing is not necessary, allowing for fresh farmed salmon to be marketed year round. To preserve quality when fish are frozen (as is the case with most Alaskan seasonal salmon) it must be frozen quickly at -40F and then held to at least to -20. As water freezes, it expands and tears apart the flesh of the fish. The quicker and colder the freezing process, the smaller the ice particle.
Recognizing the issue of “fresh versus frozen”, the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute has launched a “Cook it Frozen” campaign to promote the quality of Alaskan frozen salmon.
If you are seeing fuzz on your ice cream, your freezer is too warm. Turn it down as low as it will go. (The ingenious Japanese are using the waste cold of an LNG regas operation at -260F, creating the best frozen product in the world.)
And DO NOT make your own sushi with unfrozen salmon that you have caught or bought or you will get parasites.
The main advantage of farmed fish is that they can be produced fresh, year round, in many cases not even being harvested until they are sold. This is important to restaurants and other market venues.
Where does the color in farmed salmon come from? Are they dyed? No, their food includes natural ocean elements like shrimp shells and red algae, just like natural salmon. The occasional white flesh king salmon is not genetically different. It has been eating only squid.
Regarding cross breeding, it is impossible for an Atlantic “salmon” (trout) to breed with a pacific
‘real salmon’ due to at least 3 chromosomal blocks. This was recently tested again by Europeans concerned about pacific salmon reaching their shores and impacting their Atlantic salmon as our salmon move further north due to global warming and could cross the Arctic. (The people in Utkiagvik have been catching chum salmon the past few years.) The European study again found cross breeding to be impossible.
Regarding disease transmission from escaped net pen operations, it is a real issue. However, we are also doing this in our own hatcheries, where we intentiionally relase ‘farmed’ juvenile salmonids to comingle with willd stocks. While it is a concern, Alaska Fish and Game does provide pathology testing prior to their release to reduce this possibility. Other concerns about the impact of hatcheries, (which are farm ‘ranching’ operations), on wild stocks overall are also being raised.
For net pen farmers, their concern is about transmission of diseases from wild stocks to their caged fish. Due to the density in their pens, this can spread to their entire population.
We did have a situation in Chignik, where we were able to match farmed salmon harvesting and processing advantages. The fleet was overcapitalized so they came up with a plan where half the fleet would stay on shore and the rest would go fishing and then share the proceeds with the others. Less fuel burned, less maintenance, less crew etc. The Coho salmon were round hauled and towed to the cannery live where they were properly bled, then filleted into IFQ shatterpaks with plate freezers down to -40F. When they hit the market they were getting top dollar.
Sounds like a wonderful plan, right?
Not to a particular fisherman who challenged the setup with the Limited Entry Commission. He claimed that this was destroying a “lifestyle” and he missed the competition with the other fishermen, corking them off, running over their nets, etc., just like the good old days. On a technicality, the case was decided in his favor and the whole operation was shut down.
Is our fishery a lifestyle or is it a business? It must be both if we are to be successful. This is an essential question facing our commercial fishermen, processors, and our politicians, as they struggle to put together a viable industry in a changing market. This is true with or without any consideration of salmon farming in Alaska.
As I said, Gov. Dunleavy is a very brave man for even raising the subject. I hope my contributions here help elevate the discussion.
Paul Fuhs is Former Mayor of Dutch Harbor, an active Geoduk farm diver, and is currently the President of the Shellfish Grower’s Cooperative in Southeast Alaska.
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Well Fuhs was mayor of Dutch, I was the Fisheries Trooper in Charge of Dutch and associated area’s, and have been assigned to Petersburg, Yakutat, Homer, Cordova, Valdez and other areas of the State over the Decades. I strongly disagree w/Fuhs opinion. Commercial Salmon fishing is more than an industry, its significant segment of Alaskan Culture. A lifestyle that has been passed over the generations.
Don’t screw with it.
That’s exactly what the author said… commercial fishing has to be a business and a lifestyle to be successful. Good article all around, despite the fact that Alaska can never risk wild salmon stocks with pen raised salmon or steelhead trout. The disease risk is far too great and always will be.
Fisheries Trooper?
That’s the same wording candle makers said when the electric light bulb came out…
With all due respect Capt. Lewis “it’s a lifestyle and don’t screw with it” seems incredibly short-sighted. An industry that does not adapt or innovate is bound to lose out in the end.
Your comment also ignores the actual proposal of the governor. He envisioned inland farming (on isolated lakes or in tanks) of other species like Tilapia or trout, not the standard open ocean farming seen around the world. I could see a bush community investing in a fish farming operation to not only diversify their food sources, but also as a commercial economic endeavor to provide income and jobs to the local residents.
Why can’t we do both?
Inland fish farming is much more environmentally friendly than ocean fish farming but unfortunately, requires access to a lot of inexpensive energy to run the necessary pumps, heaters and other infrastructure in such a closed system. Alaska does not currently have cheap electricity and any large-scale inland enterprise would not be competitive in the marketplace. As with so many other plans coming out of Juneau, they have put the cart before the horse again!
FFF thank you for this insight. Cheap energy is indeed needed to make this work, however that should not be a reason to throw up your hands and just give up. I believe it is high time that we look at better energy production for all Alaskans not just those on the rail belt. (Fairbanks being a inland city would also be a great location for fish farming). There are micro reactors, small hydro stations, methane power from trash (like the Anchorage Landfill), geothermal and on the North Slope more gas than you can shake a stick at. Don’t talk to me about wind and solar though, too unreliable. I am not sure if the emphasis initially here is to compete on the world market or start slow to have a resource for the state, if the big one strikes.
It is already being “screwed with.” Farmed salmon is 10 times more than “natural.” Consumers can have it year around and with high quality. Farming is happening whether it is done in Alaska or not. Why not have both? Why not leverage our processing capability that sits idle for nine months? If the only way commercial fishing survives is by banning competition eventually that will fail. It would be better for them to combine efforts and expand the total production. Just like Pebble Mine it doesn’t have to be one or the other, the “either or” messaging is all coming from commercial fishing and in the end that is not a long term solution.
Joe, exactly right. Well argued. Thank you.
If we continue to let the special interests and their teams of lobbyists keep Alaska out of fish farming, we will pay a price. Alaska will continue to lose market share to the intelligent countries that encourage fish farming.
Alaska being a state that does everything possible to discourage innovation or competition will continue to fail, and lose population.
Seems like Dunleavy is actively trying to develop Agriculture in AK907. I believe there’s great opportunities in mariculture to play an important role in that endeavor. Current mariculture farming operations include:
… Oysters
… Blue Mussels
… Clams
… Scallops
… Seaweed
Given our very large coastal areas, as well as UAS academic programs in Applied Fisheries and Marine Biology, we could successfully farm salmon too without harming the natural run salmon. At least no more harm than trawler fishing!
Dunleavy isn’t brave, the guy is stupid and he does stupid! He is the bane of good governorship and management that has caused damage to people, state government and private industry that will never be recovered. He is slow and just dumb. No excuse for what he is and does.
Let the industry live or die on its own. They clearly will not budge politically, so let the dogs eat each other as foreign fish farmers hand them their economic fannies. They can produce outstanding fresh fish during the migratory season, and can provide low quality canned pink salmon for fertilizer, dog food, and third world starvation prevention programs. Economic reality will trim the industry much better than state politics can. However, don’t let the sport and subsistence industries die with them. The commercial side got control of the hatcheries, and an ignominious industrial death could lead to ecological system collapse.
Mr. Fuhs, ‘salmo salar’ is in fact ‘salmon’, Atlantic Salmon, not steelhead trout. Steelhead is a migratory rainbow trout, Oncorhynhus mykiss. This is a well established fact, please educate yourself before writing anymore artcles. And no, I am not a biologist or a scientist. I do however know how to read.
niggling differences. Atlantic ‘salmon’ are the atlantic version of steelhead which we are more familiar with. These are the main species in the market we are competing with. And the steelhead is just the migratory version of the Rainbow which we would certainly call a trout. Steelhead are also being raised in captivity. I am not promoting salmon farming, just pointing out what is happeneing in the market that we can’t ignore. We need to take every step possible to improve quality of our fish incuding harvesting, processing, freezing, tansportation, etc. or we will be left behind. I might add just one more economic factor which is that fish farms can keep a year round processing staff whereas in Alaska, thousands of workers have to be flown in and kept in camps for two months at a huge cost. No way around this one. We have to somehow be more efficient.
Paul, you might want to look into why White Kings are, well, white. I believe it has nothing to do with diet. It is a genetic variation wherein they do not retain keratin.
White kings are not common outside of certain systems in Southeast Alaska and B.C. in fact one tributary of the Frazierriver is totally comprised of White Kings.
Squid has nothing to do with it.
BTW… I caught many White Kings on a cut plug herring.
Robert, I think this is fairly new DNA information, and it doesn’t explain why white kings have a higher oil content. My understanding is that is because of them eating squid. I have also caught kings that were in between white and pink which would point toward a diet issue. Whatever, they taste great! Regarding farmed steelhead, it is available at Fred Meyer. Has similar oil content as white kings.
Capt.,
With all due respect, you completely missed the point Paul was trying to make.
There’s a reason farmed fish controls 70-80% of the market.Theres a reason salmon prices basically haven’t gone anywhere in 30 something years.Commercial fishing won’t go away per se, there will just be less reason to go and make mediocre $’s.And the employment data agrees with that.The gross stock will just continue to get eaten up by expenses.
Salmon fishing in particular has always had a quality problem, the various fleets had to be drug, kicking and screaming into a better quality control (icing or slush icing, troll caught not withstanding).
This coming from a person who lived before the mast, long lining for 24 years,on old style ice boats.
I think it would be safe to say that salmon farming has probably done more to improve the quality of Alaska salmon than any other program. Right up to the late 80s dry boats were delivering salmon in the early stages of decomposition. Today, all boats have ice or RSW just so they can sell their fish.
Absolutely disagree with ALL salmon farming! No FRANKENFISH!!
We quit market hunting wild game over100 years ago. Why are we still market hunting fish? The margin is no longer there folks. Time to conserve.
Citizenkane is correct, farmed salmon are indeed salmon, Atlantic salmon. They are most certainly not steelhead, which a Pacific species. Also, Salmo salar is the genus and species, not genus and phylum. Atlantic salmon, steelhead, and people are in the phylum Chordata. Also, white kings are have white flesh because they genetically lack the ability to process carotinoids.What else is Mr. Fuhs wrong about? Unfortunately, I can’t believe anything he wrote because he has zero credibility after showing us many things he believes to be true that are not.
Agreed – his ignorance of the disastrous state of the Yukon River salmon overfishing at sea by foreign interests hardly inspires confidence in the rest of what he says. Wild salmon stocks are threatened.
No Frankenfish is right. The author is biased and not objective. This article is plenty long enough that it should have covered the effects of consuming GMO fish that were raised on the same omega 6 based food that makes bacon unhealthy. The farmed salmon have much lower heart healthy omega 3 fatty acids due to this fact. If you want to eat this garbage, get it somewhere else. Dunleavy is not brave, he’s just selling us out for outside corporations to exploit Alaska. The author’s ignorance is obvious from his statement that lactic acid causes an increased pH. Guess he doesn’t understand what lactic acidosis is, nor what pH is. Probably never took a single chemistry class. Let’s keep this disaster out of Alaska.
Very informative overview on a topic few really understand.
Pretty good discussion about offshore fish farming. Don’t forget onshore RAS (recirculating aquaculture systems) as another, completely self-contained alternative. You just need a water source and energy to run one of them.
The only alternative commfish and its supporters have to the ongoing economic destruction of the industry here in the state is to embrace and adopt fish farming, leaving the wild fish to sport, non-commercial subsistence, personal use and the wildlife (bears and whales).
Dunleavy’s proposal earlier this year was an expansion of the hatchery stocking program for lake fishing, a timid first step, but a first step nonetheless. We should have at least had the discussion.
As to commfish as a lifestyle, it should have no more nor no less importance to the legislators than someone chasing fish with rod and reel, handheld nets or fishwheels. Commfish problem is that for the last 35 years, they have acted with utter disregard to the needs, wants and rights of anyone else chasing fish. And now those people, who outnumber commfish by at least an order of magnitude, now have the same opinion of them. Good luck living under your new rules, guys. Sad though, as we could have been mutually supportive rather than mutually destructive. Cheers –
“It is trout, genus/phylum salmo salar. Basically, it’s farmed steelhead trout. There are fish farmers who do grow actual salmon of the salmon genus oncorhynchus, species like Coho salmon primarily in Chile and King salmon in Canada. I haven’t seen that product here in Alaska.”
Genus Salmo is the genus of Atlantic Salmon and Brown Trout. Genus Oncorhynchus is the genus of all five Pacific salmon, rainbow trout, and cutthroat trout. So, his statement of, “Basically, it’s farmed steelhead trout” is dead wrong as steelhead are merely sea-run rainbow trout, which is genus Oncorhynchus.
We’re expected to take his word when he can’t even get basic taxonomy right?
This is a really good piece, Paul. Congratulations on pushing the discussion forward a bit. Progress. What a concept. Cheers –
If farm raising North Pacific king salmon works well in New Zealand, and it does, it’ll work well here too.
If it’s ok to have a bay sized oyster farm just outside of Seldovia why isn’t it ok to farm fish, too?
Oysters filter sh$t, fish farms produce sh$t! Lots of it!
I appreciate your excellent article. I think there’s a definite divide on this issue. I can see the practical sustainability of fish farming. I think it’s important for Alaska’s salmon industry.
I also feel that taking some pressure off the wild salmon is important. There are some positives that yield real tangible returns for Alaska. Farming will yield more year round jobs. It would improve wild salmon stocks.
Improvements could be seen in Alaska’s tourist patronage because there would be more fish, and that would yield higher demand for sport fishing guides and outfitters. Resulting in more lodging and more restaurants needed. Alaska would have more grocery stores or at least more product movement in existing stores. This all results in more Alaska State revenue and prosperity.
Higher demand for rental vehicles, as well as fish processing for the tourist, more flying in and out of Alaska. There’s also a reduced amount of habitat damage, from troller dragnets. Bycatch loss and waste would be reduced. The sport fishing industry here in Alaska would dramatically increase.
Imagine being able to come to Alaska and actually catch a king salmon that was 50-60 pounds again like in years past. I think farming is the future, and Alaskans should jump on the opportunity.
Fishing commercially is very expensive and requires the right equipment and knowledge. This is a tuff nut to crack. It can be hit or miss, depending on what happened in the ocean, 3-5 years ago. But also remember that ocean salmon caught in Alaska’s waters, are actually properly of the Sate of Alaska, and belongs to the Alaskan people. This means that the public resource doesn’t belong to the commercial fishing industry. The industry only catches fish with the permission of the Alaskan people, in the way of a state permit.
Sometimes it feels like the commercial industry takes it for granted and believes the Alaskan fish resource belongs to them, and that’s not the case. I’m concerned that this feeling of entitlement has tainted their feelings towards fish farming in Alaska. This is short sighted. The farming process could afford year round employment and yield better financial returns for the State of Alaska.
The states return for the commercial fishing industry is substantially less than say the tourism and charter industry. There’s much more economic activity from tourism dollars versus commercial fishing dollars. Add in commercial farming operations, that would be more income for state coffers, from the economic growth.
Just because it’s been an economic model of the past, it doesn’t guarantee that commercial fishing industry get’s what it’s had in the past. It’s like any other industry, it must adapt to new technology, market conditions and changes.
Alaska State should put in place reasonable rules and standards to insure there’s no impact on wild salmon runs. There should also be a restriction on commercial fishing within 40 miles of shore lines. There needs to be a better balance between sport fishing and commercial fishing, as to access to the Alaska fish resources. Too often it feels like the State Fish Department has had “Emergency Openings” in favor of the commercial side of the issue and screwed over the sport side of the equation. This impact’s tourism and directly killings the sport side of the industry. It’s not fair, nor is it equal.
There should be restrictions on trawler methods, those found using the stripping fishing methods should be fined. Also requiring the commercial fishermen to have their by catch counted against them, and impacting their ability to fish in the future.
The by catch shouldn’t be wasted or thrown back into the ocean. It should be utilized and monitored by a State or Federal observer’s and logged, in the observation report. That information should end up in the State’s and Federal official records. With commercial fishermen who abuse that resource being heavily fined. Only then will they change their harvesting methods. Passing rules that eliminate the stripping method, and stop destroying fish habitats is crucial.
I think the Governor should lobby the Washington DC/President Trump for Federal funds to kick start the Fish Farming Industry here in Alaska. If they can do it for green houses, why not for fish farming. Food production is very important for America’s future, and farmed fish if done right, is a guaranteed source of protein that America can count on year round.
Commercial fishers are self-serving resource rapists. They take what belongs to all of us to line their pockets in the summer so they can head off to South America for the winters. When runs are good, they greedily take as much as they can without concern for the future; When there is a poor run, they scream for government bailouts; They contribute to Alaska’s boom/bust and seasonal depression economic cycles and consequent social ills; They demand state subsidized loans and marketing programs; They bully Alaskans pursuing sport or subsistence uses; They buy politicians and infiltrate regulatory entities to stack the deck in their favor; They engage in activities that indiscriminately kill non-target species (seining, gillnetting, trawling); They expect and demand first position over all other Alaskan industries and lifestyles.
When have you ever heard of a commercial fishing organization doing something to benefit the community? Who in their right mind thinks commercial fishing is a “lifestyle” that Alaskans should protect?