Raincoast Trading is committed to fishing with integrity and preserving the well-being of our world marine ecosystems. Owned by a fourth generation fishing family, we wholeheartedly support efforts to minimize overfishing, bycatch, habitat damage and problems associated with farmed salmon. Here are some key seafood issues our industry is addressing. 

Overfishing

Global consumption of seafood has doubled since the 1970’s. Today roughly 130 million tons of seafood is harvested every year. Longlining and other unsustainable fishing methods remove fish and other marine life from the ocean faster than the rate at which they reproduce. It is estimated that 90% of all large, predatory fish are already gone from our oceans since industrialized fishing began. We are now fishing the last 10% of species such as tunas, swordfish, and sharks.

[Source: Ocean Wise™]

Bycatch

An estimated 25% of what is caught in commercial fisheries is unintended catch and discarded. Bycatch can include unmarketable species, undersized species, and endangered species. Unfortunately the majority of the animals tossed back overboard do not survive. It is important to understand how your seafood has been harvested. Some fishing gear types, like pelagic or surface longlining and bottom trawling can increase the likelihood and amount of bycatch. 

[Source: Ocean Wise™]

Habitat Damage

Certain fishing and farming practices can have negative impacts on critical marine or aquatic habitats. With the loss of crucial habitats such as spawning, nursery, breeding or sheltering areas, many species find it challenging to survive, let alone thrive. Communities such as coral reefs, kelp forests, mangroves and wetlands provide critical habitats for a wide array of organisms and damage to these key areas can have dramatic consequences. 

[Source: Ocean Wise™]

Farmed Salmon

Farmed salmon is reared in floating net cages, often densely confined areas, which makes it easy for diseases and parasites such as sea lice to spread rapidly among farmed fish populations. To combat disease, antibiotics are often added to the feed, which is believed may contribute to the increase in antibiotic-resistant diseases. Salmon farmers also use chemical dye supplements to enhance the colour of farmed fish flesh so that it resembles the healthy pink colour of wild salmon. What’s more, research shows that these farms can cause irreversible environmental degradation. Farmed salmon escape from netcages and threaten wild stocks. These escapees may interbreed and endanger the genetic integrity of the native fish in that area. Farmed salmon also has less nutritional benefits that wild salmon.

 [Source: Seafood Watch™]