June 18, 2013 — No new salmon hatcheries should be built in the North Pacific until their impact on wild stocks are better known and managed, said the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP).
The non-profit organization issued its call as part of its first sustainability report on wild salmon fisheries.
The review found that while half (51%) of global supply of wild Pacific salmon comes from fisheries “in good shape”, the remaining 49% comes from fisheries “in need of significant improvements”.
The report reviewed commercial Pacific fisheries for Chinook, chum, coho, pink, and sockeye salmon, in Alaska, British Columbia, Russia, Japan and the US Pacific Northwest.
While Alaska is home to the “large majority” of salmon fisheries in good shape, it said, each of these regions are home to good, medium, and poor salmon fisheries.
“Therefore, to understand and assess salmon sustainability, buyers and consumers need to know which fishery, not just which region, their fish are coming from,” said SFP.
The NGO highlighted the rise of salmon hatcheries, illegal fishing in Russia and management of mixed-stock fisheries, as major concerns.
“Salmon hatcheries remain a leading sustainability concern across all salmon-producing regions,” it said. “While research and monitoring for hatchery impacts to wild salmon remain largely inadequate in most areas, global production of hatchery fish has increased over the past 15 years, and discussions are underway in all salmon-producing regions around further increases in hatchery production.”