The Problem with Farmed Salmon

Synopsis

Marine biologist Alexandre Morten travels along the coast of Vancouver Island, Canada, studying the impact of Norwegian-owned salmon farms on local ecosystems. With over 30 years of experience, Morten focuses on the dangers posed by more than 100 salmon raising facilities that produce 75,000 tons of Atlantic salmon annually, a species not native to the Pacific. She highlights the risks of pathogens and viruses from these farms contaminating wild salmon populations during their annual migration to spawning grounds. As millions of salmon swim upstream, Morten collects tissue samples to test for European diseases, suspecting that these foreign pathogens threaten the delicate balance of the region's biodiversity. She warns that without healthy wild salmon, the entire ecosystem, including trees and wildlife, faces dire consequences.