PORTLAND, Maine - Producers of Maine farmed Atlantic salmon have received a "Good Alternative" rating from a California-based organization that evaluates the ecological sustainability of wild caught and farmed seafood commonly found in the U.S. marketplace.
This is first time the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch program has awarded that rating to salmon raised in offshore pens in North America.
Seafood Watch Senior Aquaculture Scientist Taylor Voorhees says, among other things, the rating reflects Maine salmon farmers successful efforts to prevent farmed salmon from escaping their pens.
Voorhees says a containment management system is a state permit requirement, "and that is, essentially, a site-specific plan for how to keep fish in the net, basically."
Voorhees says Maine farmed salmon was not awarded Seafood Watch's "Best Choice" rating because of the use of chemicals, primarily antibiotics.
Maine Aquaculture Association Executive Director Sebastian Belle says Maine salmon farmers have been able to drastically reduce the use of antibiotics.
Belle says antibiotics have only been used nine times in the past eight years, and at only four of the state's 25 salmon farms. He says antibiotics are never used as a growth promoter and are administered only under the direction of a veterinarian.
