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Show Sunday, February THE HERALD, 18, 1990 Utah, Pro.o, - Page G5 Salmon farmers plow info fishermen's prof i By DAVID FOSTER Associated Press Writer RICH PASSAGE, Wash. (AP) -The history of salmon-fishin- g in the stormy North Pacific is filled with tales of brave fishermen riding the wild seas, but its future is being shaped in calmer waters. Thousands of salmon in this sheltered arm of Puget Sound are captives in sunken pens the size of basketball courts. Crowded fin to fin, they swim endless laps, gobbling feed pellets and being fattened toward the day they'll be scooped up and whisked to market. Yet while the crenulated coastline and pristine waters that stretch from Washington's Puget Sound to southeastern Alaska might be ideal for fish farming, the political climate is not so welcoming. In Alaska, where commercial fishermen are a powerful lobby, bumper stickers in fishing towns proclaim "Real Fish Don't Eat Pellets," and the Legislature is considering a permanent ban on farms fish when a two-ye- ar Commercial fishermen seeking ban on fish farms reach a Seattle processing plant 30 minutes away. In the three years it takes to raise salmon to harvest, farmers contend with prowling otters, hungry sea lions and diseases that can wipe out whole farms if left unchecked. Aquaculturists say their operations will never be a major blot on the coastline. "It would take just 40 acres of farms to produce all of the salmon that was imported into the United States in 1988," said Chris Gibson morato- rium expires in July. In Washington state, salmon farmers have the official blessing of the Legislature, but that has helped little in the face of challenges from fishermen and environ-- , mental groups, which have defeated several proposed farms. The fish waste produced by a two-acsalmon farm is equivalent to the sewage produced by a town of 5,000 people, claims a Washington citizens group called the Marine Environmental Consortium. Environmentalists also fear introduced species such as Atlantic salmon favored because they fetch a higher price and are more will docile than Pacific salmon corrupt the local gene pool and spread disease. Wealthy owners of shoreside homes, meanwhile, don't want fish farms spoiling their of Sea Angeles. Farm Washington "The industry in Port does not need a lot of space." It may need even less space in coming months. Worldwide growth of salmon farming and recent overproduction in Norway have glutted the market with fish. Prices have plunged, and many farms are selling below cost just to keep cash flowing. In British Columbia, lax regulation and a surge of Norwegian investment capital helped the number of fish farms soar from five to percent of Alaska's "wild" now comes from hatcheries, while some salmon populations off Washington's coast are 00 percent hatchery-r- the last six years. But are in trouble. Nineteen have filed for receivership in the past year, and small businesses are being bought out by large investors better able to outlast the lull in prices. Aquaculture boosters profess confidence in their long-terplace in the salmon trade. Declining stocks of wild salmon already have forced Northwest fishermen to rely more heavily on fish that are started in shoreside hatcheries and released to sea. About 23 135 in salmon remain, some independent-minde- d fishermen will take their chances on the high seas rather than turn in their rain slickers for catch bags of fish chow. now-man- in us," said "It's the Randy Babich. "Fishing is one of the last professions in the world. Tossing feed into a por.d just doesn't provide the same adventure." g hunting-gatherin- eared. "We're not going to the wild resource. You just don't have the habitat for them to come back to," said John Pitts, who promotes aquaculture for the Wash-- . ington Department of Agriculture. "Future generations will become more dependent on aquaculture." Perhaps, but as long as any wild Rodeos began in the United States just after the Civil War when Western cowboys competed for the fun of it. PRESIDENTS DAYS re views. Promoters call fish farming an efficient way to help meet the world's growing appetite for fish. Not only does it provide a year-roun- d supply of fresh salmon to supplement the seasonal wild catch, they say, it also creates jobs free of the hazards of commercial fishing, one of the nation's most dangerous occupations. They also contend salmon-farmin- g provides an economic incentive to preserve clean water. "We're the best environmentalists of all, because we're dependent on it," said Jerry Polley, site manager for Global Aqua, the nation's largest salmon farm. "If something's wrong with the water quality, we're going to be the first to complain." Production of farmed salmon, here and abroad, has boomed in five years, flooding markets traditionally held by wild salmon and driving down prices. "For the first couple of years, as more salmon was around on a year-roun- d basis, the farmed fish seemed to help the wild market," said commercial fisherman Randy Babich. "Now it's a battle at the retail counter." Fish farming, or aquaculture, is hardly a new concept. For years, farmers have raised oysters in the Northwest, rainbow trout in Idaho and catfish in the Southeast. But techniques have developed more slowly in domesticating salmon, the mainstay of fisheries off Oregon, Washington, British Columbia and Alaska. For years, it was practiced only by the Norwegians, forced into salmon farming by their declining wild fish populations. But interest has spread quickly since 1985, after Norway refined methods to raise salmon cheaply enough to compete with the wild catch. In 1983, world production of farmed salmon was 23,500 metric tons, just 3 percent of the G70.000-to- n wild salmon catch. By last year, farmed salmon production had soared to an estimated 202.000 tons, or 30 percent of the relatively constant wild catch. Norway still leads the pack, producing about 75 percent of the world's farmed salmon, but other places, including Scotland, Chile, Canada and Iceland, are catching up. The United States, with 50 fish farms in Washington state and Maine, lays far behind, producing 1 percent of the total. Many of the U.S. salmon farms are run by Norwegian companies, including Global Aqua's four-acr- e operation in Huh Passage, 10 miles west of Seattle. Global Aqua's farm is fairly typical: a huge raft anchored offshore holds 40 pens, each lined with a net holding up to 15 tons of fish, which sinolts to range from finger-sizsalmon 2 feet long. A workers tend the pens from metal walkways, filling automatic feeders and mending nets. At harvest, workers herd fish into one end of the pens, scoop them out with an oversize dipnet and load them onto a boat. The salmon are still kicking when the SHOP 10 OFF 25 ALL P.M. FEBRUARY 19th A.M.-- 9 DENIM JEANS FOR BOYS STAFFORD" WARDROBE SALE AND GIRLS ALL STAFFORD"1 SUITS, DRESS SHIRTS, SP0RTC0ATS, NECKWEAR, SHOES, DRESS HOSIERY AND UNDERWEAR OFF 25 Sale prices effective through Saturday, March 3rd. REEBOK AND LA GEAR1 FOR CHILDREN ALL 25 .30 off ALL CHILDREN'S OFF 25 MEN'S ALL AND YOUNG MEN'S LIGHTWEIGHT JACKETS NIKE ATHLETIC SHOES OFF 25 NjraJB fP AND EVE TOO! DRESSES FOR GIRLS V -- OFF V.' 'jS-- : v; OFF ? 200oOFF A hf $250 i & i Kf Save these departments: Traditional Sportswear, Updated Sportswear, Top Shop, Suits and jf : , t' III SHOES FOR GIRLS il r.- X L SUPREME" DRAPERIES SALE 29.99 Reg. $50 Twin. Smooth Touch" percal comforter. Sale prices on draperies effective through Saturday. February 24th. -r 1 OFF 30 '5. , Sale prices effective through Saturday. March 3rd. 1 I i SA'-- 9.99 E OFF 25 MOSS CREEK TRADER." MICHAEL JAMES" BOYS' SHOES OFF 20 effective through Sale prices on Bugle Boy' Saturday. February 24th. nvj . 4 i Dresses. -- AND BUGLE BOY" CASUAL APPAREL !LflClJ 1 UP fro Urr l OFF MEN'S C0TLER' ALl in ' MEN'S LEVI'S"1 JEANS 25 4 J If) PURCHASES OF $251 OFF NEW MOVES, " ALLISON ANN !f? vvMmt FLEECE J0GSETS FOR GIRLS AND BOYS ALL 25 PURCHASES UP TO $100 250oOFF - ALL V PURCHASES OF $101 TO 1;-- ;"J I v W BUILD YOUR CAREER WARDROBE SALE pC SHORTS AND NOVELTY TEES FOR BOYS AND GIRLS ALL 25 OFF 25 OFF 25 AND YOUNG MEN'S SWEATERS CARBON COPIES SEPARATES FOR GIRLS 25 MEN'S ALL ALL AMY TOO! OFF 25 OFF 25 FRENCH NAVY" FOR MISSES, PETITES AND WOMEN ALL APPAREL BATH BATH TOWEL MASTERPIECE" towel. 4. Bath SI Reg. 20'o-25'- o OFF Masterpiece" bath ALL DANCE AND EXERCISE accessories Sale prices effective through Saturday. Febiuary 24th. OFF 25 BUGLE BOY," C0TLER" TOPS AND PANTS FOR BOYS ALL 25 OFF OFF 25 ALLBETH MICHAELS" ALL SLEEPWEAR MISSES. PETITES CABIN CREEK" off 25.30 FOR AND WOMEN SELECTED LUGGAGE Sale prices elfecttvc through Saturday. February 24th OFF 25 ALL 50 OFF GIRLS' DRESSES d n 25 OFF SPRING Sale prices effective through Wednesday. March 14lh. MICKEY MOUSE" CASUAL PLAYWEAR FOR BOYS, GIRLS AND INFANTS ALL 1989 Walt Disney Prod Sale prices effective though Saturday. March 3rd Mickey Mouse 25 CASUAL HOSIERY ALL SHEER CARESS' AND JACQUELINE FERRAR" HOSIERY Kenneth Anmld of P.oisc. Idaho, reported in 1917 seeing fhing saucers out Mount Rainier, Wash. 'SALE EXCLUDES JCPENNEY SMART VALUES. Sale prices on regular priced merchandise effective through Monday, February 19th (encept as notedl. Percentages otf represent savings on R SELECTED SHADES Brmq in your window measurements. Sale prices effective through Saturday, March 3rd. Sale prices ellective through Saturday March 3rd i .- - MEASURE MADE-T- MINI BLINDS, VERTICALS. Sale 59.25 Reg. S79 Save on Worthington' trench coat ALL OFF 40 OUTERWEAR OFF Sale prices for Sheer Caress and Jacqueline Ferrar effective through Saturday. February 24th, OFF 25 14K GOLD CHAINS e half-doze- OFF 25 wTl Kit i 1 ir 1 f t i JCAinYCiw fill '-- Xl Orem University Mall tegular prices. '(! JCPwint Compunj Int |
