Norway’s
Salmon Shame
-
Auditor General slams industry in damning new report as MPs tour
Canada
Oslo,
Norway – The Office of the Auditor General of Norway has published
a highly critical report
on the state of the Norwegian salmon farming industry including
problems with escapes, sea lice, pollution offences and diseased
farmed salmon. This unprecedented public criticism follows a
ground-breaking report
last year by the Green Warriors of Norway which exposed the horrors
of Norwegian salmon farming. Meanwhile, a delegation of Norwegian
MPs and the leader of the Sami Parliament are in Canada this week in
an attempt to promote the beleaguered industry. Tomorrow (8 March),
the Norwegian delegation visits Quadra Island where protests are
expected (full itinerary online
here).
Kurt
Oddekalv, leader of the Green Warriors of Norway, said:
“The
Auditor General’s report echoes what the Green Warriors have been
arguing for decades – that Norwegian salmon farming is
unsustainable and a pollution hazard. Consumers around the world
should rise up in protest against this filthy industry and boycott
Norwegian farmed salmon. This report is one more nail in the coffin
of the disease-ridden Norwegian salmon farming industry.”
Don
Staniford, global coordinator for the Green Warriors of Norway, said:
“Green
Warriors of the World must unite to fight the Norwegian fish farming
menace. Norwegian-owned salmon farming is spreading infectious
diseases, genetic pollution and toxic wastes all over the globe as
well as at home in Norway. The salmon farming industry is an
international embarrassment to Norway and is threatening Norway’s
green and clean image abroad.”
Alexandra
Morton, a critic of salmon farming in British Columbia, wrote in an
open
letter to the Norwegian delegation:
“We
understand the BC feedlots are your gateway into China, since China
refuses Norwegian salmon and so you come to Quadra Island to protect
the interests of your corporations; Marine Harvest, Cermaq and Grieg.
However, we see serious problems arising for us from your industry
and we are not prepared to sacrifice wild salmon to profit Norway.
Please understand that the fight against what we see as an invasion
of salmon feedlots into one of the most important wild salmon
migration routes left on earth has only begun.”
Contact:
Kurt
Oddekalv (in Norway): +47 90
89 22 68
Read
the Office of the Auditor General’s report - online
here!
Read
the report by the Green Warriors of Norway (in English) – online
here!
Download
the itinerary of the Norwegian delegation visiting Canada (5-9 March)
-
online
here!