# Green fish farming

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-fish-farming/528031>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [February 7, 2010, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-fish-farming/528031 "2010-02-07T15:31:22Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![coffeecat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coffeecat/32/3405_2.png) [@coffeecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coffeecat)\
**Post date:** [February 7, 2010, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-fish-farming/528031/1 "2010-02-07T15:31:22Z")

</div>

[In his column about farm-raised fish](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2914/whats-better-farm-raised-salmon-or-wild), Cecil said:

> [@](#):
>
> Salmon farming is rough on the environment, too. Farm runoff has been linked to increased mercury levels in wild fish nearby. Fish parasites can run rampant in salmon farms and spread into the wild. Fish feces, copper, and zinc can contaminate the waters surrounding salmon pens.

What do public aquaria do with their waste? Assuming they aren’t secretly poisoning the sea while pretending to love it, could their methods be applied to fish farming?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\
**Post date:** [February 7, 2010, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-fish-farming/528031/2 "2010-02-07T18:01:47Z")

</div>

How many tons of fish per year are harvested from your local aquarium?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![coffeecat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coffeecat/32/3405_2.png) [@coffeecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coffeecat)\
**Post date:** [February 7, 2010, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-fish-farming/528031/3 "2010-02-07T22:36:54Z")

</div>

> [@John\_W.Kennedy](#):
>
> How many tons of fish per year are harvested from your local aquarium?

None, but they maintain tons of fish and other sea creatures, year after year.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\
**Post date:** [February 7, 2010, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-fish-farming/528031/4 "2010-02-07T23:45:53Z")

</div>

> [@coffeecat](#):
>
> None, but they maintain tons of fish and other sea creatures, year after year.

They maintain a very miniscule amount of fish by comparison to the needs of fish farming. :rolleyes: