Horwegian salmon farming - sustainable or catastrophic?

NORWEGIAN SALMON FARMING – SUSTAINABLE OR CATASTROPHIC? By [Name] Class Name Professor University State and City Date Slide 1: Norwegian Salmon Farming: Sustainable or Catastrophic? Salmon farming in Norway has been one of the key industries that have played a vital role in the Norwegian economy and consumers' food for many years. Today, aquaculture and especially salmon farms are very important to meet the constant growth of seafood consumption (Solеs et al., 2020). However, this expansion poses some critical issues regarding sustainability and the environment. This presentation will determine if the Norwegian salmon farming industry is sustainable or catastrophic. Some of the areas that will be touched on while presenting the issue include environmental consequences, sustainable initiatives, profitability, and the future of salmon farming. Slide 2: The Growth of Norwegian Salmon Farming Norwegian salmon farming began in the seventies, and this country today ranks among the leaders in fish production. As noted by Hersoug et al. (2021), Norway exported farmed salmon to the European markets, Asia, and the American market, with statistics showing that by 2020, the country provided over fifty percent of the global share. In addition to contributing to the yearly billions of dollars in revenues and providing employment to thousands of people, the industry has benefited the Norwegian economy greatly. This has been so driven by the need for a constant and reliable supply of protein to address the need in the world market. On the other hand, expanding the cultivation and farming of salmon is a contentious practice due to its impacts on ecosystems and sustainability. Slide 3: Environmental Impact: Pollution and Escapes Environmental issues most closely linked to salmon farming in Norway include excess feed, fish waste, and the use of pesticides and their effluent discharged into coastal waters. Sjшtun et al. (2022) relate this to an enhancement of nutrient levels, whose effect has been the rise in toxic algal blooms and deteriorating water quality. In addition, salmon farming is stocking the farmed fish in the natural waters. This is mainly because farmed fish may interbreed with the wild stocks, which puts a gene pool in danger and reduces the number of wild fish. These challenges have, therefore, led conversations related to the sustainability of farming operations and the impacts they bring to the environment. Slide 4: Sea Lice Infestation and Its Consequences Sea lice is one of the parasite types that prefers fish farms with high population density. Furthermore, sea lice are transferred to wild salmonid stocks, which results in high mortality among young salmonids. These parasites weaken fish, and as a result, the fish become susceptible to diseases and predator predation. Technical challenges are shown through sea lice infestation to be a significant challenge to Norwegian salmon production since it requires expensive control measures and has a considerable impact on the population of wild fish (Sjшtun et al., 2022). Efforts to reduce sea lice through the use of pesticides and chemicals have highlighted other sub-issues. Such concerns are harm to other sea creatures and the emergence of lice that cannot be eradicated throu...