Blog

4

Does anyone know if Pacific or Alaskan Salmon production has been affected by the Tsunami? I have not bought Salmon since early march, prior to the tragedy in Japan, so if anyone has bought since then, please advise.

flag
Good question. I am still buying wild caught salmon here in VA. But it's "previously frozen", so it probably wasn't caught after the tsunami... I would think supply would be up from people being nervous, like after the gulf oil spill. Unless you think there might be some die-off from the tsunami? That seems unlikely to me, but I'm no fishery expert. – Dave S. Mar 28 2011 at 17:03

1 Answer

1

Wild salmon would not have been affected; however, this statement will not be truly known until the runs start to come in (summer). I am sure that the industry will be monitoring this like crazy this year. The life cycle of the salmon is well known, but the range of the salmon once they leave the rivers and streams is not well known at all (meaning that salmon that originate from the West coast of North America could travel as far as Japan and back in their at-sea life - the scientists just dont know) And since depending on the species of Pacific Salmon (the at-sea life ranges from 2-5 years) we wont know if there are any radiation effects for up to 5 years.

I am not sure as to the effects on the farmed salmon industry; however, since the tsunami did not impact the coast much (about 3 feet waves here) I doubt as to whether the farmed industry was hit at all.

But in my opinion buying farmed salmon is worse than conventionally farmed beef. So support the fishermen!

link|flag
It looks like Salmon could have its risks no matter where you get it from. I'm also wondering if supply will be affected by fishing boats being damaged. It may be time to start looking into more freshwater fish. – StalkingMySupper Mar 28 2011 at 19:28
To my knowledge - none of the northern pacific fleet (us and canadian) got damaged (I only know about the seine and gill-nets). I see from your profile that you live in Colorado - so it should be fairly easy for you to source your salmon from the west coast of North America. And remember - fresh wild salmon is season dependant - otherwise it is frozen wild. – Thumper Apr 4 2011 at 18:57

Your Answer

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.