Farms at Sea
In the wild, Atlantic salmon spawn in rivers such as the Saint-Jean in Quebec’s Gaspe region, depositing their fertilized eggs in the gravel of the riverbed. The fry spend one to three years in fresh water before swimming far into the open ocean, returning at about age seven. At salmon farms, smolts are transferred at 18 months from freshwater feeding tanks to the salt water in open cages. Over the past 30 years, stocks of wild Atlantic salmon have plummeted in their natural range. In 1994, escaped farmed salmon began outnumbering wild salmon entering the Magaguadavic River from the outer Bay of Fundy. Scientists can screen newly hatched fish called alevins for a pigment, which is added to farmed-salmon feed to ensure pink flesh, to determine whether they are progeny of escapees. Coded- wire tags are sometimes injected into wild smolt’s nose cartilage so they can be identified if subsequently captured.
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