Escaped farmed salmon pose a major threat to their wild counterparts

Thousands of farmed salmon, which escaped from a pen in Iceland in August 2023, have been found in at least 32 rivers in the country. Environmentalists and some politicians are now calling for restrictions or a ban on open-pen fish farming. Researchers warn that the hybrids produced from interbreeding between farmed and wild salmon may undermine the ability of the species to reproduce in nature. Globally, wild Atlantic salmon populations have fallen from 8-10 million in the 1970s to 3-4 million today, with escaped farmed fish and sea lice posing the greatest threat. (The Guardian)