Wild vs Farmed Salmon is not a dilemma

Now that I live in Vancouver, there are certain culinary matters that I am required to have an opinion on. Gluten, fermentation, GMOs, wild vs farmed salmon, for examples.

By Taz Bacchus

SeaWestNews

Our responsibility as consumers is to always strive to be thoughtful and critical with our decision making. We do not have to be experts or scientists, nor are we required to have all the stats memorized. It can be as simple as:

• Reading an article with a critical eye (ex. “‘Fishing continued’ after East China sea oil spill,” BBC World Service, February/2018)
• Reflecting on our personal experiences (see below)
• Googling for alternatives (BC Salmon Farmers Association).

In  2010, seeking refuge from a dreary Alberta fall, I travelled to sun drenched Cuba for a week of relaxation. For a few days I gorged on delectable seafood – as a land-locked West Indian raised on seafood but forced to subsist on world class beef and game (the horror, I know) – I was in food paradise.

Jump cut to the 4th day of the trip and I was laid up in bed, covered from neck to knee in painful, itchy hives.

Up until that moment I had never had an allergic reaction, and yet there I was reacting violently to something that my body had never rejected before. Was it an allergy that appeared out of the blue? No, there must have been an impetus.

You can’t get something from nothing, that’s just basic science after all.

I am definitely not science-minded but the fact that just a few months before this fateful trip, the Gulf of Mexico was infused with over 200 million gallons of crude oil courtesy of BP, seemed to me, the most logical cause.

If sea life out in the wide open ocean (incalculable damage was done to fish and wildlife) stewed in crude oil for months, then it bears to reason that the seafood I consumed was contaminated.

Why am I recounting this story?

Well, because maybe someone else’s body can absorb crude-oil-seafood with no consequences. Maybe they have other concerns to think about when deciding what product to purchase. All that is perfectly fine. For me however, I’d rather avoid debilitating allergic reactions thank you very much.

If fish farming provides a sustainable, regulated, local, non-hive inducing product, that can be traced right back to its source, then that’s the one for me.

Taz Bacchus is a recent University graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in Women and Gender Studies. She is trained in the areas of ethical research, academic writing, public speaking, and seminar instruction. For the time being, she resides in Vancouver and spends her days-off reading, eating, thinking, and writing.