Greenpeace founder defends shrimp, salmon farming

Michel Loubet
November 5, 2009
Fisheries Information Service

On of the foudners and long-time leaders of Greenpeace, Patrick Moore is voicing a stinging attack on environmentalist groups for their opposition towards salmon and shrimp aquaculture.

“Greenpeace opposes the farming of salmon, shrimp, and other species even though this takes pressure off wild stocks, provides employment farming the sea, and produces some of the healthiest foods at affordable prices,” Moore explains to FIS.com.

On the other hand, Greenpeace says that “Rapid development and expansion of intensive aquaculture for species such as salmon and shrimp has, for example, resulted in widespread degradation of the environment and the displacement of coastal fishing and farming communities.

Moore was an active figure in Greenpeace from 1971 to 1986, serving as president of the Greenpeace Foundation in Vancouver. He is now chairman and chief scientist at Greenspirit Strategies Ltd. 

“Since I left Greenpeace in 1986, partly over their decision to "ban chlorine worldwide," they have adopted a number of policies that I believe are not in the best interests of the environment or humanity,” Moore says. 

Moore founded his own salmon farming company, Quatsino Seafarms Ltd, at Winter Harbour. At this time, he also served as president of the British Columbia Salmon Farmers Association (BCSFA) from 1986 to 1989.

In a statement on Moore, Greenpeace said that “Patrick Moore often misrepresents himself in the media as an environmental “expert” or even an “environmentalist,” while offering anti-environmental opinions on a wide range of issues and taking a distinctly anti-environmental stance.”

One of the “anti-environmental opinions” raised in the statement was that of salmon farming.

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