-Is salmon too focused? Let’s discuss.
-In these contexts, what about cultural significance or lack thereof?
-Questions will usefully broaden as topic gets into a bigger conceptual context.
-Fdbk from one committee member: “Seems overly specific. The human dimension somehwat marginalized despite the fact that there are human and social problems/solutions. Although I’m less clear how course content relates to concentrations, it seems like the project could benefit from a broader range of courses.”
-Fdbk from another committee member: “This seems like a viable topic, but it requires some further contextualization/justification. In particular, why the focus on salmon? Do they have special nutritional, gustatory, or cultural significance (obviously yes to the latter in some contexts, but maybe not in others)? Is special significance maintained under conditions of aquaculture, or is it tied to “wild” status? In what ways is salmon aquaculture similar to and different than aquaculture of other fish species (e.g., what special challenges does the anadramous life history pose)? What are the differences among the situated contexts selected? It is worth noting, for example, that salmon are not native to Japan, and that wild stocks are in very different conditions in Europe vs. the U.S. (are there any wild stocks left in Scotland?). Given that, it makes sense to include a historical dimension to the concentration and the summary. See David Montgomery’s “King of Fish” for a readable account of the history of wild salmon stocks in Europe, the PNW, and Alaska. Guiding questions could be more basic: e.g., what is the state of wild salmon stocks in each situated context? How extensive is salmon aquaculture now? What are the impetuses driving aquaculture in each context? The third descriptive question seems to be an evaluative one (is this a problem, and for whom?).”
Concentration Proposal
Farming food from livestock and agriculture has been practiced for many centuries, and humans have benefited enormously by selectively breeding certain characteristics of food animals and plants. Aquaculture, sometimes referred to as Aquafarming or fish/shellfish farming, is relatively a newer form of farming and producing food that has, in recent decades, grown to encompass a broad spectrum of marine and freshwater species. According to NOAA Fisheries, aquaculture also includes activities like wild fish stock restoration or enhancement. Within this established and growing industry is salmon aquaculture, the focus of my concentration in ENVS. Overfishing and exploitation have depleted many of the most prominent wild salmon stocks (Allendorf et. al 1997), and this has propelled the governments of countries benefiting from salmon to create programs such as the Prince William Sound Aquaculture Corporation (Brown et. al 1994). These programs utilize innovation in hatchery technology to boost wild salmon stock by introducing farmed juvenile salmon (Hilborn et. al 2000). Major issues salmon farmers face include system efficiency, economic viability, interference of wild salmon fitness (Skiftesvik et. al 2013) (Krkošek et. al 2007) and pests (Butler 2002), among others, and research from across the world helps to isolate solutions to these problems. I aim to acquaint myself with past and present research regarding salmon aquaculture and studies with the ultimate intent of gaining a modern perspective of how conservation biology, restoration ecology, and aquaculture research is contributing to salmon conservation. To a lesser extent, I will also research the economic viability of salmon aquaculture, for indeed economically viable solutions are key to enacting positive change. In order to gain a broader understanding of salmon research, I will be situating my concentration in three geographic locations 1. Western Europe, esp. Scotland 2. West Coast of North America esp. Alaska and 3. Eastern Asia esp. Japan. These areas and their associated countries are the powerhouses of salmon research and salmon farming, but each area addresses salmon conservation with different focuses. In Scotland, the SSPO oversees intensive research of pest control (Butler, 2002) (Lees et. al 2008) and environmental responsibility of salmon farming, and in Alaska and Japan, research is concerned with hatcheries and their role in wild fish stock conservation (Morita et. al 2006) (Hilborn et. al 2000).
While salmon farming serves a prominent role in global seafood production, it is only one of the many different branches of aquaculture (Scottish Gov. 2015); with this in mind, I plan to continue my concentration with an open mind to the other branches of aquaculture – and subsequently their respective problems and solutions. I am specifically further interested in the environmental problems and their solutions of finfish and shellfish aquaculture in the Asian Pacific region.
- Allendorf, Fred W., David Bayles, Daniel L. Bottom, Kenneth P. Currens, Christopher A. Frissell, David Hankin, James A. Lichatowich, Willa Nehlsen, Patrick C. Trotter, and Thomas H. Williams. 1997. “Prioritizing Pacific Salmon Stocks for Conservation.” Conservation Biology 11 (1): 140–52.
- Brown, Larry R., Peter B. Moyle, and Ronald M. Yoshiyama. 1994. “Historical Decline and Current Status of Coho Salmon in California.” North American Journal of Fisheries Management 14 (2): 237–61. doi:10.1577/1548-8675(1994)014<0237:HDACSO>2.3.CO;2.
- Butler, James R A. 2002. “Wild Salmonids and Sea Louse Infestations on the West Coast of Scotland: Sources of Infection and Implications for the Management of Marine Salmon Farms.” Pest Management Science 58 (6): 595–608. doi:10.1002/ps.490.
- Hilborn, Ray, and Doug Eggers. 2000. “A Review of the Hatchery Programs for Pink Salmon in Prince William Sound and Kodiak Island, Alaska.” Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 129 (2): 333–50. doi:10.1577/1548-8659(2000)129<0333:AROTHP>2.0.CO;2.
- Krkošek, Martin, Jennifer S. Ford, Alexandra Morton, Subhash Lele, Ransom A. Myers, and Mark A. Lewis. 2007. “Declining Wild Salmon Populations in Relation to Parasites from Farm Salmon.” Science 318 (5857): 1772–75. doi:10.1126/science.1148744.
- Lees, Fiona, Mark Baillie, George Gettinby, and Crawford W. Revie. 2008. “The Efficacy of Emamectin Benzoate against Infestations of Lepeophtheirus Salmonis on Farmed Atlantic Salmon (Salmo Salar L) in Scotland, 2002–2006.” PLoS ONE 3 (2): e1549. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0001549.
- Morita, Kentaro, Toshihiko Saito, Yasuyuki Miyakoshi, Masa-aki Fukuwaka, Toru Nagasawa, and Masahide Kaeriyama. 2006. “A Review of Pacific Salmon Hatchery Programmes on Hokkaido Island, Japan.” ICES Journal of Marine Science: Journal Du Conseil 63 (7): 1353–63. doi:10.1016/j.icesjms.2006.03.024.
- Scottish Government, St Andrew’s House. 2015. “Scottish Fish Farm Production Survey 2014.” Statistics Publication. September 8. http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2015/09/6580.
- Skiftesvik, Anne Berit, Reidun M. Bjelland, Caroline M. F. Durif, Inger S. Johansen, and Howard I. Browman. 2013. “Delousing of Atlantic Salmon (Salmo Salar) by Cultured vs. Wild Ballan Wrasse (Labrus Bergylta).” Aquaculture 402–403 (July): 113–18. doi:10.1016/j.aquaculture.2013.03.032.
