Today@Dal

Posted Sunday by the Globe and Mail:

Jon Grant doesn’t much care for the taste of Atlantic salmon.

But the Dalhousie University oceanographer is passionate about Atlantic Salmon farming. He says critics who argue it destroys the environment are relying on “rumour.”

“Go to any place on the ocean in Nova Scotia and tell me if it’s ruined. It’s not,” said Mr. Grant, who was awarded last week $1.6-million and appointed the Cooke Industrial Research Chair in Sustainable Aquaculture to conduct research, map the ocean floor and devise models to determine how to improve this multimillion-dollar business. “It’s rumour and it’s people willing to make conclusions without facts. This is the biggest problem. As a scientist, to me, evidence is the most important thing.”

His five-year study will mostly focus on concerns about better managing the waste from farmed fish, preventing disease transmission and ensuring the pens are secure so fish don’t escape into the wild.

Read the rest of this article online.