| In
2002, salmon farms produced 1.4 million metric tons of salmon,
60 percent of the world supply. With 530,000 metric tons, Norway
was in the lead, followed by Chile, United Kingdom, Canada,
the United States and Japan.
In the 1990s, Chile’s rapid expansion of salmon farms
was blamed for driving down the prices of salmon. This led
to many other salmon farms losing a great deal of money. However,
this did not stop the industry from growing. Many countries
were in competition and this led to many environmental problems
such as waste, disease, contaminated fish and most recently
the finding of lice on the tail of farm-raised salmon.
In 2003, consumers and environmental groups are taking action
by holding demonstrations in front of grocery stores urging
people not to buy farm-raised salmon, saying they are tainted
by chemicals and antibiotics and are full of dyes.
To resolve this, the industry will begin establishing criteria
for independent certification in spring 2004.
Seattle
Times December 15, 2003
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