Mussels

Mirror, mirror, on the wall... who is the most colorful of them all ?

If you’ve ever ate mussels before, you may have noticed that some are a creamy light orange, while and others are a more vibrant dark orange.
The color difference is how you can tell a female mussel from male mussels.
The ladies are more colorful; as if they wore make up !

Salmon and Mussels... Perfect harmony

Mussels and kelp growing adjacent to Atlantic salmon cages in the Bay of Fundy have been monitored since 2001 for contamination by medicines, heavy metals, arsenic, PCBs and pesticides. Concentrations are consistently either non-detectable or well below regulatory limits established by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, the United States Food and Drug Administration and European Community Directives. Taste testers indicate that these mussels are free of "fishy" taste and aroma and could not distinguish them from "wild" mussels. The mussels' meat yield is significantly higher, reflecting the increase in nutrient availability.
Recent findings suggest mussels grown adjacent to salmon farms are advantageous for winter harvest because they maintain high meat weight and condition index (meat to shell ratio). [1}

1. Haya K, Sephton D, Martin J and Chopin T. 2004. Monitoring of therapeutants and phycotoxins in kelps and mussels co-cultured with Atlantic salmon in an integrated multi-trophic aquaculture system. Bulletin of the Aquaculture Association of Canada.

Community Supported Fisheries

Here's a great example of a CSF in Atlantic Canada !
Check it out !
So true is the fact that more and more we are becoming interested in where our food comes from. We like to know who farmed our vegetables, who raised the cattle we are eating, but we seem to be less concerned about where our fish comes from.
Maybe it's time for a change !

Click here and watch their video !

What does Nova Scotia farm?

A variety of shellfish, finfish, and aquatic plants are farmed in Nova Scotia. 
Farmed species of shellfish include: Soft shell clams, Blue Mussels, American Oysters, European Oysters, Quahogs, and Scallops. 
Finfish that are farmed include: Arctic Char, Halibut, Atlantic Salmon, European Sea Bass and Trout. 
Aquatic plants farmed in Nova Scotia are Irish Moss and Knotted Wrack. [1]

1. http://aansonline.ca/

Fish Poo

What's the scoop on the fish poo when farming in net pens.?

I learned that fish waste impact is basically restricted to the space directly underneath the pens.  Fish farmers monitor waste levels, and you can bet the government can and will order farmers to reduce stock or allow the farm site to fallow ( no net and no fish) if waste levels exceed acceptable standards. Once the fish are harvested, the farmer always leaves the site fallow. The currents break down the organic matter and the area returns to its normal state.

"It is important to understand there is a great deal of difference between fish waste and human or land animal waste. We treat human waste in part because it contains fecal coliform bacteria and human viruses, which pose a significant risk to human health if consumed, and hundreds of chemicals found in cleaners, solvents, and other products used by people every day. Salmon do not produce fecal coliform bacteria and their waste is mostly a product of their feed, which is carefully regulated. Fish waste is a vital part of the marine ecosystem, and does not require treatment, just as animal manure is an important part of the terrestrial ecosystem and is also not treated."[1]

1. nsaquaculture.ca

Eel lake Oysters

Click here to watch the impressive video of Eel lake Oysters.

The life cycle of a Salmon

1. It takes about four months for a salmon egg to hatch. 
2. It then becomes an alevin. Alevins cannot swim, and many get eaten by predators. They hang out in the gravel.
3. After the alevin stage, it is known as a fry. A fry is small. Hence the term "small fry" ? (Probably not.)  He can swim, but he's only an inch or two long. That poor little fry is big prey for many other fish. 
4. The fish then becomes a parr or a  fingerling. You guessed it ... as big as an adult index finger. This stage can last 2 to 3 years.
5. The next stage is the smolt.  The fish is now ready to make the transition from the fresh water where he was born in, into the salt water. I like to think of it as fish puberty. Life's a challenge, he eats a great deal, and grows like crazy. In the wild, out of 8000 eggs, they estimate only 300 salmon reach the smolt stage.
6. Adult is the next stage. And in a few years, when spawning time comes around, they prefer to head right back where they were born to do it.

PCB's in seafood ?

Studies show there are more of PCBs in butter and brown gravy packets than in most types of seafood. Studies also show we eat much, much more PCB's in cattle, poultry, pork, and dairy than we do in seafood. 

"I’m not saying that we shouldn’t be concerned about PCBs in our food.  But I don’t think we should worry about seafood any more than we worry about contamination in beef, chicken, or pork.  Now pass the gravy." [1]

1. https://fishsqueezer.wordpress.com/2013/09/30/are-farmed-fish-safe/

Oysters

Oysters have been harvested in Canada for centuries but their farming began in the 1950s. Today, the majority of oysters sold are supplied by farmers. 
Increasingly, oyster culture has been moving to off-bottom systems that use floating rafts, buoys, and longlines to suspend the shellfish above the ocean floor. 
Multiple studies have shown individual oysters are capable of filtering up to 50 gallons of water per day, and thus oyster reefs can significantly improve water quality and clarity.

The colour of salmon

Salmon get their orange-to-red colour from carotenoids which come from krill and other small crustaceans that they consume.
The carotenoids found in fish are called “astaxanthin”. Astaxanthin is a naturally occurring carotenoid and is in the same family as vitamin A. Astaxanthin is also an antioxidant, which makes an important contribution to the health of the fish and to the nutritional benefits they provide when we eat them.
Farmed salmon do not have access to the same food as wild salmon. So to produce a healthy fish, astaxanthin is added to their carefullyformulated diet. It’s identical to the naturally-occurring compound that gives the fish the healthy colour that your customers want.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency both approve of the addition of astaxanthin. So you and your customers can rest assured that salmon is wholesome and completely safe.

We must plant the sea and herd its animals using the sea as farmers instead of hunters. That is what civilization is all about - farming replacing hunting.
Jacques Yves Cousteau

Loch Duart has an amazing salmon farm. They take pride in their product as you can see from their impressive video.
Watch it HERE

The world is getting hungier !

The FOA ( Food and Agriculture Organization) is calling for aquaculture to increase its global production by 80 million tonnes by 2050 to ensure the world has enough fish to eat.


The global population will grow from 7 to 9 billion by then.

Fish for brains ? yes, and more !

7,200  lives could be saved if we Canadians ate more fish every week than is recommended in Canada’s food guide.  They recommend 5.3 ounces a week . That’s barely a can of tuna !

How much fish is more fish ??? 

Add this amount to your weekly diet to be heart smart:

29 grams of farmed Salmon ( that’s only a quarter of a fillet of salmon )

33 grams of Canned sockeye salmon (not even half of a tall can)

52 grams of halibut ( piece as big as a pack of cards )

195 grams of shrimp  ( an entire shrimp ring )

228 grams of canned tuna (one and a quarter cans)

338 grams of cod ( three fillets of cod )

So salmon is the easiest way to get all that good EPA and DHA .



If we farm it we will be healthier, we will create jobs, and everyone will be happier!