New Scientist of 21 September 2002 has the following in an inspiring
interview with Alexandra Morton, a (truly) independent scientist.
<How has salmon farming affected the whales?  I hear the whales maybe
twice a year from my house.  It used to be twice a week, before the salmon
farms arrived.  For the first few years it was all OK and I thought, this
is good, it will bring jobs and more families.  Then the whole thing
started to unravel.  The farms brought parasites, bacteria and viruses,
and the loud underwater noisemakers they use to repel the seals also drove
the whales away.  This industry would never have been allowed on land.
Youd have a huge excrement smear, and youd have escapees wandering around
with oozing sores.
There are more fish farms here every year.  The place is going straight
down.  What it boils down to is that the alternative to farmed salmon -
wild salmon - are a political nightmare...salmon need so much habitat.>

This reminds me of the line from John Gray's recent memorable article on
the (human) population crisis: <The lush natural world in which humans
evolved is being rapidly transformed into a largely prosthetic
environment.>

Keith

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