The salmon we produce, sell and eat

are ticking ecological, social and health bombs

Every year in France,

We consume 62 million salmon

(equivalent in weight to 31 Eiffel towers)

of these millions of salmon,

98% are farmed

Almost all the salmon we eat in France comes from fish farms. They are not caught in the wild. They are fed every day for two years in cages.

Here's what lies behind the consumption of farmed salmon

Wild fish turned into fishmeal and fish oil

Salmon are carnivorous fish. In fish farming, 440 small wild fish are caught and processed into fishmeal and fish oil to feed just 1 salmon. This fishing causes "accidental" catches of sharks, turtles, whales…

Soy, wheat and rapeseed

Salmon are carnivorous fish, yes... but they are also fed soy, wheat and rapeseed. Demand for soy for farmed animals is a driver of both legal and illegal deforestation in Brazil.

Krill caught in Antarctica

To enhance its pink color, salmon are also fed krill, tiny shrimp that serve as food for many animals in the Antarctic ecosystem.

Antiparasitic treatments

Cages encourage infections. Industrial fish farmers administer antiparasitic treatments, mainly against sea lice, a type of marine tick that attaches itself to salmon skin.

Microplastics

Farmed salmon can ingest microplastics present in their environment or feed.

Forever chemicals

Feed used in aquaculture can expose fish to PFAS, PCBs and dioxins.

Sources and calculation details can be found in the methodology.

In France, each person consumes an average of 4.5 kg of farmed salmon per year, and the cost is steep:

The total (for the entire French population) comes to:

62 million salmon

killed every year, each spending 2 years confined and crammed together, fed on pellets

27 billion small wild fish

killed every year, caught specifically to produce the fishmeal and fish oil used to feed farmed salmon, affecting coastal populations in West Africa that rely on it

128,000 tonnes of nitrogen and phosphorus discharged

by fish farms through salmon waste, uneaten feed, treatment residues, etc.

1.9 million tonnes of CO2

generated every year, equivalent to the annual emissions of 235,000 people in France

On top of that:

987 km² of land are used to produce plant-based feed for salmon. That's more than the combined area of Seine-Saint-Denis, Hauts-de-Seine and Paris.

12 persistent organic pollutants (POPs) found in salmon. Of the dozen pollutants listed under the Stockholm Convention, all twelve are found in salmon.

Less omega-3 Today, salmon flesh contains significantly less omega-3 than it used to. This is a consequence of changes in the feed given to salmon.

Total:

Happy fish jumping out of the water in front of a bright sun

Fortunately, there's still time to defuse the bomb!

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For businesses, we can support you in your impact reduction journey. You can get in touch here.

Dive deeper!

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Debunking salmon myths

Misconceptions, false good solutions, polished talking points… We separate fact from fiction to understand what really lies behind the salmon we produce, sell and consume.

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