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0:00I eat meat. I also eat a lot of other
0:02things, which makes me an omnivore like
0:04a lot of people. But lately, I've been
0:07wondering, is it even possible to be an
0:09omnivore responsibly? I mean, is it
0:11possible to eat meat and still care
0:13about this planet? I've been hearing a
0:15lot about farming fish as one of the
0:17most sustainable and ethical ways to
0:19produce animal protein. So, I decided to
0:21do a deep dive on the most consumed fish
0:23in the US, salmon. I personally eat a
0:27ton of salmon, and I'm not alone. The
0:30average American consumes 3.2 lbs of
0:32salmon a year. So, how exactly does
0:34salmon farming work? I'll explain the
0:36impact it has on our planet and our
0:38future, and maybe most importantly, what
0:41it means for the salmon themselves.
0:47So, first things first, wild or farmed
0:50salmon? Wild does sound a lot better to
0:53me, but it turns out there's a very real
0:55limit to how much wild salmon we can
0:58>> We're unfortunately at this state right
1:00now where to put it simply, the wild
1:02fish stocks are just maxed out or almost
1:05at, you know, their sustainability
1:06limits. Um, and to meet the rising
1:09demands for seafood, you know, we need
1:11to not deplete the oceans anymore. We
1:13need them to be thriving and to be, you
1:15know, full of biodiversity and and
1:16that's where agriculture can come in.
1:18So, if we want to eat salmon at the
1:19scale that we do, well, it kind of
1:21sounds like it has to come from
1:24>> Salmon has only been farmed since the
1:261960s, and it's grown fast. Since the
1:2980s, global consumption of salmon has
1:31tripled, and over 70% of that salmon
1:35>> So, salmon farming takes place in
1:37coastal regions around the world. You
1:38know, salmon really like that cold,
1:40clean, fresh water where they like to
1:42grow best. That's Sophie Ryan, CEO of
1:44Global Salmon Initiative, a
1:46collaboration between some of the
1:47world's biggest salmon farming
1:49companies. Most salmon is farmed in
1:51Norway, Chile, the UK, Canada, and the
1:54>> The process really begins in what we
1:56call a freshwater hatchery. So, this is
1:59locations on land where the salmon are
2:01small eggs and they're monitored closely
2:04when they hatch and then they're put
2:06into tanks. So, on land in fresh water.
2:08Once they've re kind of reached
2:10maturity, they're transferred out to
2:13ocean farms. So, this is those open
2:14ocean pens where they're really in that
2:16cold, fresh water that they like. And
2:19they stay here until they're ready to
2:20harvest, which usually takes about 18
2:23months to 2 years. So then when they
2:25reach that fully grown stage, they're
2:28harvested, taken to a processing
2:30facility, and then distributed to
2:32consumers, restaurants, and retailers
2:34around the world. And that's how the
2:36world produces almost 3 million tons of
2:38salmon each year. But is it actually
2:40more resource effective to farm this
2:42much salmon versus other protein like
2:44chicken? To try and answer that, let's
2:46start with the big picture. By current
2:48projections, we'll likely need to feed 2
2:50billion more people by 2050.
2:55But how can we do that without further
2:57depleting Earth's resources? Well, some
2:59people opt to go vegan for that exact
3:01reason. And recent studies have shown
3:03that a plant-based diet could lower your
3:05climate impact. But only 1% of Americans
3:07are vegan. And while up to 46% of
3:10Americans said they would consider a
3:11plant-based diet if it helped reduce
3:13greenhouse gas emissions, that still
3:15leaves over half the country reliant on
3:17animal proteins like salmon.
3:18>> Agriculture has huge potential to really
3:21play a role. And what that means is it
3:23requires less land and less fresh water
3:26and also has a lower carbon footprint
3:28than many of the animal kind of proteins
3:31>> But there are other factors related to
3:33farming salmon at such a large scale. It
3:35turns out we also need to look at the
3:37amount of resources needed to feed the
3:38fish. Here's marine biologist Ray
3:41Hillborn on what it takes to feed all
3:43>> Most of their feed is coming from
3:45plants. So typically soybased plants,
3:49that's where the big impact is. The
3:51downsides of soy farming have been well
3:53documented and honestly that could be
3:55its own video. To sum it up, soy farming
3:58can be a major cause of deforestation,
4:00water pollution, and biodiversity loss.
4:03And a lot of the demand is driven by a
4:05need to feed farm animals. But in the
4:07wild, salmon are carnivores. So for
4:09farm-raised salmon, this soybased diet
4:11is supplemented by feeding them other
4:13fish. There are some fish that are
4:16salmon that are raised without any fish
4:18meal and fish oil, but um I think most
4:22farm salmon use fish meal and fish oil
4:24to some extent. Some of this fish meal
4:26does come from fish byproduct and scraps
4:28from other fish that have been processed
4:30to be eaten, but most of it comes from
4:32wild caught fish that are being caught
4:34just to feed the salmon. So, the effects
4:36of salmon on the environment ripple out
4:38far beyond the farms themselves to the
4:40soy farms and fisheries that feed them.
4:42But even still, Professor Hillbornne
4:44argues that farming salmon is more
4:46sustainable than farming other land
4:48>> So, it takes less feed to make a pound
4:51of salmon than it takes to produce a
4:54>> In other words, despite the impact that
4:56salmon feed may have on the environment,
4:58it still takes less of that feed than it
5:00would for other livestock. When you zoom
5:02out, salmon aquaculture looks like a
5:04better alternative to land-based farming
5:06and even wildcaugh salmon. But there's
5:08another dimension to this that might tip
5:09the balance. What is salmon farming like
5:11for the salmon themselves?
5:13>> So, uh, in salmon farming, there are
5:15many things that are done to the animals
5:17that are invasive. And so, they are
5:20handled, they are size graded, they're
5:22pumped up into tubes.
5:23>> That's professor Lynn Sn, a researcher
5:26who has spent her career studying fish
5:28behavior and in particular answering the
5:30question of whether fish can feel pain.
5:32It's a question a lot of us never
5:34>> Many people don't spend time with fish.
5:36the only time they might see them is,
5:38you know, in a a a shop where, you know,
5:41they're buying fish to eat.
5:43>> But for those who do consider whether
5:44fish can feel pain, there doesn't seem
5:47>> So, the scientific evidence shows that
5:49fishes have no receptors, receptors for
5:52pain, that they um have the neural
5:54apparatus to detect and process it. They
5:58suspend feeding. They don't behave
6:00normally. And yet when you give them
6:03painkillers, we prevent all of those
6:07>> So if fish can feel pain like pigs,
6:10cows, chickens, and other animals that
6:12we already farm, what does that change?
6:14Well, it complicates this widely held
6:16notion that farming salmon is good for
6:19you and for the planet. On the one hand,
6:21we need to feed a growing population
6:23that is likely going to remain meat
6:25eaters. And salmon farming is more
6:26efficient and less land inensive than a
6:29lot of the alternatives. But knowing
6:30that the fish can clearly feel pain and
6:33even feel stress makes me think a lot
6:35more about their welfare. Especially
6:36given the fact that salmon farming
6:38requires catching other wild fish to
6:40feed to the salmon. And like any other
6:42form of animal farming, there are
6:44repercussions. Salmon farms pose threats
6:47to various marine organisms through
6:50transmission of parasites like sea lice
6:53um diseases in some case
6:55>> and there have also been cases where
6:56salmon escape the pens and interbreed
6:58with fish in the local ecosystem as an
7:00invasive species. It was these reasons
7:02that led to the banning of net pens in
7:04Washington state just this year. In the
7:06end, I think there's unfortunately this
7:08very real trade-off between
7:09sustainability and ethics because
7:11feeding a growing population responsibly
7:13will often come at the expense of the
7:16animals involved. But I also think
7:17there's a silver lining because the
7:19conditions that those animals are in can
7:22improve. Take chickens and eggs for
7:23example. Over the last 20 years,
7:25pressure from the public and politicians
7:27impacted the egg industry when people
7:29became widely aware of the factory farm
7:31conditions that chickens lived in. In
7:332006, 5% of eggs were cage-free. Now
7:36that number is 45. And maybe a similar
7:38mindset can be adopted for farming fish.
7:41>> Fish welfare is so critically important
7:42because we're raising animals. You know,
7:45we want healthy fish in healthy waters.
7:47>> So, by safeguarding the welfare of fish,
7:50I think it benefits everyone whether you
7:52care about the fish themselves or not.
