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Pastimes : FISH FARMS NEED TO BE THE SIZE OF COUNTRIES -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: maceng2 who wrote (102)	2/3/2004 5:30:04 PM
From: maceng2	Respond to of 405

Fish are safe to eat - Sounds salmon company 03 February 2004 By KIM CHISNAL stuff.co.nz New Zealand King Salmon chief executive Paul Steere has publicly defended his company's practice of feeding feathermeal to their salmon. The Sunday Star Times reported that UK marine expert Don Staniford, who visited NZ King Salmon in October, had slammed the company's practice of feeding feathermeal - ground poultry feathers to fish. Mr Staniford said it would alter the make-up of the salmon and he was not aware of any other country using feathermeal. However, Mr Steere said the practice was common and used throughout North and South America, Asia and Australia - where the feed is sourced. Mr Steere said feathermeal had been a part of salmon feed for more than 20 years. "What we are talking about is between 3.5 per cent and 5 per cent of feathermeal in the feed. It is heated in high pressures and broken down, there is no way that any bacteria from the chicken can be transferred." Feathermeal was a good source of protein and was particularly useful for important amino acids such as proline, he said. Mr Steere also disputed the suggestion that feeding feathermeal to salmon could trigger BSE (bovine spongiform encephalitis). "We never feed salmon to our salmon. Besides most of the research that goes into the creation of our feed come from Europe, I think they would be aware of the dangers of BSE more than anyone." NZ King Salmon has also been criticised for using formalin - an anti-parasite treatment which is banned in the European Union and a known cancer-causing agent. Mr Steere said it was important to remember that formalin was an external treatment used on only a small percentage of fish and there is "no suggestion that it gets into the tissue or flesh of the salmon." Formalin is legal in New Zealand. While Mr Steere confirmed the company used astaxanthin - an artificial colorant which gives the fish its distinctive pink colour - he said the product replicated what the salmon ate in the wild and had been universally used since the inception of the salmon industry. "We don't flinch at all from our stance that we don't use chemicals and antibiotics on our salmon and they are completely safe."