‘Fish tank’ salmon on sale in Britain
But critics slam ‘factory farm’ welfare standards
SALMON reared in giant indoor fish tanks – rather than the sea – has gone on sale in Britain for the first time.
Thousands of fish spend their lives in concrete containers instead of the open water pens used in conventional salmon farming.
The Norwegian company behind it, Atlantic Sapphire, insists its system is better for the environment and the fish. It has signed a deal with Whole Foods Market to supply its UK stores, with other supermarkets set to follow suit.
But campaign groups have warned that it has echoes of factory farming which can cause animals stress.
The first land-reared fish went on sale in Britain this week, labelled as ‘Responsibly Farmed Salmon Fillet’. Chief executive of Atlantic Sapphire, Johan Andreassen, told the industry website IntraFish: ‘We sent the first truck this week, it will be sold in all [Whole Foods] UK shops.’
Whole Foods has seven British stores. It is owned by Amazon, but it is not known if the salmon will be sold by the web giant’s online grocery service.
Atlantic Sapphire farms the salmon at its ‘Bluehouse’ in Denmark – which it describes as ‘the equivalent of a greenhouse’ – and this is the first time it has been sold in Europe outside that country.
Its website boasts: ‘When choosing Atlantic Sapphire salmon, you are not only caring for your health and wellbeing, but also for the health of our planet.’
Conventional fish farms around the coast of Scotland have also come under scrutiny as their waste can pollute local waters and they become a magnet for parasitic lice, requiring harsh chemicals to deal with these infestations.
An Atlantic Sapphire spokesman said: ‘Fish are given ideal conditions to thrive. Inside the Bluehouse the water is continuously purified to remain crystal clear. Salmon will never have contact with sea lice or be exposed to wild fish diseases.
‘The waste generated in our Bluehouse is used as fertiliser and creation of renewable energy in the form of biogas.’
But Phil Brooke from campaign group Compassion In World Farming said: ‘This is factory farming. These intensive systems are likely to be very crowded, so I would be surprised if they met high welfare standards.
‘This will create stress for salmon, which in the natural environment would migrate huge distances. At least in the sea pens, they get natural light and conditions.’