Meet the Authors Who have Investigated one of Norway’s Most Powerful Industries – Salmon Farming
It all began with a series of articles that sparked strong reactions in Norway. The two journalists and authors, Kjetil Østli and Simen Sætre, had investigated the consequences of large-scale salmon farming in Norway, which in just a few decades had grown into one of the country’s leading and most profitable industries.
The investigation had such an impact that a publisher reached out, wanting to publish the articles as an anthology. But Kjetil Østli and Simen Sætre didn’t feel their work was done. They decided to dig deeper and write a book about all the unintended consequences that salmon farming has led to. Not least for the industry’s own creation—the farmed salmon.
“We decided to tell the story of how the Norwegians created an entirely new fish. That they combined genes from many different wild salmon to produce a salmon that was as docile, fatty, and fast-growing as possible. And we wanted to investigate what the effects of that have been,” says Kjetil.
A book that has made an impact
The result was the acclaimed book The New Fish, which has been translated into several languages and is now available in Swedish.
“As a rule, the salmon sold in stores has been sick and infested, but consumers never find out,” explains Simen Sætre, who believes the book has led many Norwegians to stop eating salmon.
“Since the book came out, the issue has received more attention in the media, and when people have seen pictures of farmed salmon with large sores from salmon lice, they’ve lost their appetite.”
Learn about the consequences of the salmon farming industry in the video, and watch a longer version of the interview below as well as under the “Meet the Author” tab.
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