I’m not in denial, I’m just selective about the reality I choose to accept. – Calvin and Hobbes
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. – Albert Einstein
I’m sitting in a coffee shop adjacent to the parking lot of the big box superstore I was just escorted out of.
Just for taking a picture.
At least the last time I was asked to leave a public establishment it was the result of a ruckus a small group of us raised over whether or not use of a ‘gob-o-worms’ fly violated some sacrosanct principle of fly fishing.
This time I was escorted out of the big box for taking a cell phone pic of a cooler packed to the brim with farmed salmon. My ‘offense’ consisted of simply walking by the endcap cooler and unceremoniously grabbing the pic; I wasn’t carry signs and didn’t stop to preach to the few other shoppers in the vicinity.
My cart hadn’t even cleared the pork aisle when I was stopped by the manager of the department and asked ‘what the hell are you doing taking pictures of my cooler?’
Somewhat surprised I simply said that I’ve come to realize that there’s nothing good about farmed salmon, going on to explain in a 2 minute diatribe the travesty of the farming process, the damage being inflicted on once pristine saltwater systems in BC, and most importantly the apparent infection of wild stocks with infectious diseases via farmed stock.
I was just gathering steam when the store manager arrived with a hulking, dreadlocked ‘security’ guy, demanded my phone and informed me I had to leave immediately. I played a card I hate to use (prior profession) and asked for three minutes to chat.
Using what I’ll forever think of as the Greg Thomas maneuver, I asked the guys if they had kids and if any of them fished; everyone in fact fly fished save for the dreads dude. Though I’m sure not as eloquently as GT did in Denver in January (my audience wasn’t very receptive today) I made the pitch that selling (and serving) farmed salmon offered not one advantage and in fact propagates a host of problems.
The manager cut me off as I tried to list the advantages of a sustainable wild salmon market; he said he understood the issues though his hands were tied; the meat manager simply said ‘f*ck it, you’re crazy’ and stormed off.
As we headed to the front of the store the manager dismissed the scowling dreads dude and stopped to say that as a store they’re receiving an increasing flow of complaints about farmed salmon which they ‘pass up the chain’.
He though a minute, said follow me and led me back to his office. He looked up a number and wrote it on the back of his card and said ‘here’s the number of the owner’s assistant, give her a call and see where it goes. Who knows, they’re just up the road, maybe you can get somebody’s attention there. Someday we have to stop doing the same stupid stuff over and over again to make a buck.’
And with a handshake and a smile I was told to leave and not come back for day.
I just made the call.
(We posted the Salmon Confidential vid when it broke last week and it was shortly thereafter secured – here’s the updated version of a very, very interesting video.)
Salmon Confidential from Twyla Roscovich on Vimeo.
Tags: Salmon
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Whoa! Surprise 1) That they jumped you for snapping a pic – I emphasize jumped because there seemed to be very little tact on their part, from your description. Surprise 2) that one of the uh, gentlemen, would extend an olive branch. You must have done your fast talking well, despite the tough crowd. Interesting story, thanks for sharing. Maybe it’s a step toward the right direction…
I guess I could grant that the department guy was having a bad day; maybe being here on the Sound they catch more flack about farmed fish (though I sorta doubt that….)?
I did do a bit of fast talking and have a professional science background – that might have swayed the store manager. I’d like to think, if he really is a fly fisher, and given our location here in the PNW he’s thought a bit about the plight of the region’s native fish.
I wish more people, including the store employees, were educated on this matter. I get funny looks from the “meat guy” when I ask, “Is this the ONLY fish you have that is wild caught?” There’s usually only one or two options. They try to give me some speech on the “responsibly farm raised” fish they have and I will usually politely decline and move on. Occasionally I mutter something about it tasting like dog food…
Some might argue the tilapia in your neck of the woods might a viable aquaculture candidate – they still seem to taste like Purina fish chow to me. And the font of all wisdom – the New York Times – published one of the many reviews of tilapia factory farming in the past few years that wasn’t too flattering.
I think all large scale farming should be banned and we should go back to harvesting from the wild. It is the only natural way to do things. Of course sport fishing would also need to be banned in order to allow people to eat. Hunting would need to be implemented as a means to supply protein for the masses. Before long our forests, rivers and oceans would be empty. But at least we can say with a certain amount of smugness that we stopped large scale farming!
Nick, your rather clumsy attempt at reductio ad absurdum here falls shamefully short. (Really bro, surely you can do better.)
You did (albeit probably unwittingly) get awfully close to the truth in your first sentence though; if we’d stop salmon farming with it’s spread of disease and alarming reductions in wild fish populations, there really could be a sustainable wild salmon fishery, at least in the Alaska / BC / (perhaps even the PNW) zone.
We could both feel quite smug about that one.
I think the same could be said with mass farming of ANY animal or plant. If people took more time to hunt and gather for themselves rather than rely on fast / processed foods we all would be healthier. There would be less spread of disease that is found in the larger herds, flocks, and fields. We wouldn’t have to worry about whether we have to create another hybrid plant and so on and so forth.
Ever take the time to learn where your food comes from??? No? Maybe you should…sadly, it’s not just Salmon that are struggling.
Occupy, yo.