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Originally Posted by basswipe
Pen raising saltwater fish has its own problems.As has already been shown with farm raising salmon these fish by virtue of being raised in pens are genetically inferior to their wild counterparts.
These fish have been known to escape in enough numbers and interbreed with wild populations and introduce their infererior genentics into the general population.This can cause a host of problems mainly which is the newborn fish are prone to disease.
Don't get me wrong farm raising fish is a good thing but its techniques need to be vastly improved.
Obviously fish farm raised soley in self contained freshwater ponds don't apply.
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Pen raised fish are genetically identical to their wild counterparts, because they are taken from wild stocks, corralled into floating pens, and fed at a super rate to yield large fish quickly. That is why you do not see crazy prices like you used to for Bluefin tuna, as the Japanese(who drive the main demand anyway) can control the market much better. You just don't see single fish fetching those 20,000 plus price tags anymore.
Farm raised fish do have their basic problems, but the Chinese have been farming fish successfully for over 2000 years. They can rear 4 different types of freshwater fish in the same pond, all benefitting each other and the environment.
In regards to Salmon farming, it is an industry that needs major improvement, I will agree. These fish are often times raised solely in fresh water farms like you mentioned, but they can and do escape even these, breeding with native stocks etc. and also polluting the hell out of the surrounding lands.
Yet shellfish farms and pen reared fish do not have these problems you mentioned above, as they use natural stocks and tidal areas to keep the water clean and healthy.