Closed Containment Best Shot for Whole Food's Salmon Standards

Whole Foods Market Inc. recently announced they will impose stricter standards on the farmed seafood it sells. No open net-cage salmon farms in Canada or along the Pacific coast have practices that meet Whole Foods’ new standards of environmental performance and product quality.

Whole Foods' seafood quality standards prohibit the use of antibiotics, preservatives and other additives, as well as chemicals like SLICE (emamectin benzoate) which are routinely used to treat sea lice. The new standards also require producers to provide detailed information on farming practices and pass independent third-party audits.

Less than 1% of the global production of farmed salmon can currently meet Whole Foods’ seafood quality standards. To encourage a greater supply of more sustainable farmed salmon, Whole Foods Market is establishing a purchasing preference for suppliers that develop innovative technologies such as closed containment systems that substantially reduce environmental impacts.

As a case in point, a land-based closed containment farm in Washington is now selling their salmon to Whole Foods. In an increasingly eco-conscious marketplace, other salmon farming companies should be taking a cue from these industry leaders by adopting closed containment technology – a more sustainable production method that includes a barrier between farmed and wild fish. In BC and elsewhere, incremental improvements in open net-cage practices have not been able to deliver the reduction in impacts needed to protect the health of wild salmon and other marine life.

Link to Whole Foods' aquaculture standards, or their detailed salmon standards.