Dirty Fish Farms and El Nino Likely Killed 25 Million Farmed Salmon in Chile - National Geographic - updated May 22, 2016

National Geographic has discussed the role of 'dirty farmed salmon' (their words, not mine) and their sewage, along with an El Nino in huge natural die offs and dead farmed fish.

"From February to March this year, one of these blooms killed 25 million salmon in 45 farming centers in Chile. What happened next would prove to be controversial.

About thirty percent of the dead fish were taken to landfills. But the rest were thrown into the sea, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) from Chiloé island. That operation was authorized by the Chilean Navy and the fisheries managers.

A few weeks later, a wave of more dead sealife washed up on Chiloé. While the government has blamed El Niño, many on the island suspect the dumping of the dead salmon might have had something to do with it. It's one more example of the lax regulations of the country's aquaculture industry, they say, which has exploded since the 1970s, making Chile the world's second largest exporter of salmon.

Environmentalists have complained for years that Chile's aquaculture industry has polluted the water through feces and unfinished food, which may build up on the seafloor. "

Chile is widely acknowledged as the dirtiest fish farm country in the world, sadly, now destroying Patagonia as farms creep in.

"It's hard to say whether the dead salmon can really be blamed for the red tide but it's possible they contributed to it, says Victor Marin, an oceanographer who works with the University of California and University of Chile.

"The dumping occurred at the same time there were ideal conditions for the bloom, namely: high amounts of nutrients in the area, optimal temperature, and other variables," says Marin. "It would be difficult to argue the salmon industry has not increased the amount of nutrients in the water, but our society also throws a lot of other stuff into the ocean, so there may be a synergistic effect."

One final thing, a BC student has just come up with a fuel cell that uses sewage/organic detritus and bacteria to produce electricity. This has obvious use in on-land fish farms. And the fecal matter is processed for free.

Okay one more final thing: Camanchaca: El Nino continues to disturb anchovy catch (https://www.undercurrentnews.com/2016/06/01/camanchaca-says-el-nino-continues-to-disturb-anchovy-catch/?utm_source=Undercurrent+News+Alerts&utm_campaign=17c4d97276-Europe_briefing_Jun_02_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_feb55e2e23-17c4d97276-92426209.

So now the El Nino reduces forage fish for fish farm feed.