International science journal publishes landmark study on wild and farmed salmon

February 4, 2002 - VANCOUVER - The respected international journal Chemosphere has published the results of a pilot study by Dr. Michael Easton comparing toxic contaminant levels in farmed salmon, wild salmon and commercial salmon feed.

The study was commissioned by the David Suzuki Foundation, and preliminary results were discussed in the CBC/BBC television program The Price of Salmon.

“This is a landmark study that should be expanded upon,” Jim Fulton, executive director of the David Suzuki Foundation, said just four days after the government lifted a moratorium on new salmon farms. Chemosphere is published by Pergamon Press in Oxford, England.

“Here we have more evidence for proceeding with caution yet the government of British Columbia is intent on expanding this industry significantly,” he said.

Dr. Easton’s study shows that the contaminants, known as persistent organic pollutants, are especially dangerous for children, nursing mothers and pregnant women or women considering pregnancy. The samples studied showed that farmed salmon contained much higher levels of the pollutants, including 10 times more Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) than wild fish.

“The results were very clear,” says Dr. Easton, a Vancouver-based geneticist and expert in ecotoxicology. “Farmed fish and the feed that they were fed appeared to have a much higher level of contamination with respect to PCBs, organochlorine pesticides and polybrominated diphenyl ethers than did wild fish. In fact it was very noticeable.”

When the preliminary study results were publicized, Anne McMullin of the BC Salmon Farmers Association called Dr. Easton’s work “junk science”.

“I don’t believe she has apologized and an apology is obviously due,” said Mr. Fulton.


For information about how to access a copy of the study, please contact Jean Kavanagh, David Suzuki Foundation, 604-732-4228.