Dramatic declines in wild salmon populations are associated with exposure to farmed salmon
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A global survey of wild salmon and trout populations reveals substantially reduced survival among those populations that migrate past salmon farms as juveniles on their way to the ocean. Credit: United States Fish and Wildlife Service
Since the late 1970s, salmon aquaculture has grown into a global industry, producing over 1 million tons of salmon per year. However, this solution to globally declining fish stocks has come under increasing fire. In a new study published this week in the open-access journal
PLoS Biology, Jennifer Ford and Ransom Myers provide the first evidence on a global scale illustrating systematic declines in wild salmon populations that come into contact with farmed salmon.
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