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A comment on 'Environmental Nightmare' After Thousands of Atlantic Salmon Escape Fish Farm. Parent comment

Re:'Environmental Nightmare' After Thousands of Atlantic Sal... by schiffern on Friday August 25, 2017 @07:15AM (#15097598)
I'm having a hard time finding official advice to avoid shellfish that doesn't advise avoiding fish too[1]. In fact, the FDA lists scallops, clams, shrimp, and oysters as having the lowest amount of mercury[2].

It looks like some shellfish toxicity is due to cyanobacteria[3], which is mostly caused by eutrophication from farm runoff. But scaling this system should help with that.

[1] https://www.epa.gov/choose-fish-and-shellfish-wisely/fish-an...

[2] https://www.fda.gov/food/foodborneillnesscontaminants/metals...

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shellfish_poisoning

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Re:'Environmental Nightmare' After Thousands of Atlantic Sal... by ggcdn on Friday August 25, 2017 @11:24AM (#15099072)
There is a reason for this: Biomagnification

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biomagnification

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Re:'Environmental Nightmare' After Thousands of Atlantic Sal... by ethbro on Friday August 25, 2017 @10:08AM (#15098519)
From memory, it depends on the toxin.

Heavy metals or things that aren't biologically eliminated accumulate as you go up the food chain.

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Re:'Environmental Nightmare' After Thousands of Atlantic Sal... by belorn on Friday August 25, 2017 @06:21PM (#15102705)
That is true. The heavy metal parts was a miss recollection. Toxins from run-offs, contaminated water, and algal blooms are the main problems.

Because filter feeders are generally low on the food chain, they are actually a food type which is very low on heavy metals. Thanks for correcting me.

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