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Salmon Feedstock

To alleviate the pressure of declining fish stock and increasing consumer demand, hatcheries were formed in order to create more avenues of supply for tribal, commercial, and recreational harvest. According to an article from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife , the number of smolts that an average hatchery raises and releases can be as much as a million yearly. The majority of hatcheries are state or tribal operated, which creates problems with budgeting over fish feed.

Natural vs Artificial

Though the choices on types of feed range from the natural (fish or shrimp) to artificially engineered products, the cost of feed can be quite expensive when raising literally tens of thousands of fish. The yearly budget cuts to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife don’t help support the cost of maintaining these operations (WDFW 2009). This raises a conflict of staying within restricted budgets and meeting the nutritional demands. It forces a great deal of pressure on hatcheries to seek cost-effective alternatives. In order to reduce the cost of hatchery operations, they often turn to suppliers outside the United States that sell cheaper, artificially engineered feed. Insofar, this presents two additional incentives for buying on the cheap: rapid growth for the young fish and ease of storage. Typically, these artificially engineered feeds take the form of dry pellets. Because of its low price and wide availability, it makes a cost-effective option over natural feed.

Harmful Chemicals

The ingredients of the engineered feed contain many livestock by-products that are not even fit for human consumption. Some examples include artificial colors, preservatives, animal tongues, hog spleen, tripe, ground bones, and a host of chemical additives (Consumerreports.org 2007). One predominant ingredient is a generic-sounding component called animal liver, which contains high fatty amino acid and iron content. There is also a growing concern regarding the use of melamine, a substance commonly found in the ingredients of household cleaning products, fertilizer, and pesticide. According to a Time magazine article, melamine has been linked to hundreds of pet food poisonings in the United States in 2007. Melamine is technically classified as a protein, which makes livestock feed appear more nutritious. Supposedly, such substances are designed to increase the consumption of oxygen, stimulate growth, and support the overall health of hatchery salmon. Even more troubling is the fact that the majority of imported artificial feedstock is from China, the country that is considered to be a predominant source for mass quantities of feed for fish, dogs, cats, and other kinds of animals. Yet, due to their lack of quality control or health regulation, there have been numerous recalls on animal feed. This includes salmon hatchery food that was imported to the Norwest region. Cases of animal food poisoning as well as contamination have been reported, including one such case where formaldehyde was discovered (Seattle Times 2008). Despite China’s protest on the use of poisonous ingredients such as melamine, there has been evidence of a “wheat-based gluten” alternative. Given the past history of incidents, this alternative should be scrutinized more closely.