I first met Steve Damato about
eight years ago, and he sort of
struck me as this kind of funky
hippy food dude, but he's also a
businessman.
Everyone talks in the
environmental movement about the
triple bottom line.
In other words, you want to have
a business that's economically
sustainable, socially
sustainable, and environmentally
sustainable.
If anybody's going to make it
with triple bottom line, Steve
might be that guy.
When you look at what are the
big threats to the ocean, what
are they?
>> People.
>> GREENBERG: People, sure.
But I mean...
>> It's just, we are so many of
us.
Salmon farming is not the
biggest problem.
It's trying to feed all the
people that are the problem, and
unfortunately, the world
community looks at the fish in
the oceans and says, "It's mine
just as much as it is yours, and
I'm going to take it."
But what we need to do is,
figure out how to farm the ocean
intelligently and also
economically, and it's not...
Salmon is one of the species.
And salmon might not be the best
species by far.
But salmon has become better and
better and better and more and
more efficient.
And so if we can do that to
salmon, we can produce plenty of
fish in the ocean to feed the
nine billion people that are
coming.
>> GREENBERG: This is the tiny
island of Kvarøy, near the
Arctic Circle.
Only 70 people live here.
This is where Damato believes
you can see where salmon
farming should be headed.
>> The industry was terrible
in the beginning.
>> GREENBERG: How were they
terrible?
>> Oh, site locations were based
on convenience, not on any
science on what it was doing to
the environment.
Escapes was, you know, not
looked at as a big deal.
Sea lice were, you know, thought
of as a problem that eventually
would go away.
And then nobody cared about
how much protein they were
using to make protein.
So those are... you know, it's a
brand-new industry.
They needed criticism, and the
environmental NGOs served a
really important purpose by
criticizing them, and they
responded.
>> GREENBERG: And so what makes
this farm so special?
>> They are innovative.
They recognize they're not
going to be the biggest guy in
the industry.
They don't want to be, but they
want to be the most innovative
and creative one.
And our feed projects are a
perfect example of that.
>> GREENBERG: For feed, instead
of relying on a reduction
fishery, like Peruvian
anchoveta, they're using the
offcuts from other commercial
fisheries.
And Alf says they've taken that
one step further by stripping
away what are called persistent
organic pollutants, contaminants
that gather in both wild and
farmed fish.
>> What we have done with our
salmon feed is just cleaning all
of that out of the feed
because... also because we use
the trimmings from the
production, it's a more fatty
part of the fish, of the wild
fish, so it includes more PCBs
and POBs...
>> GREENBERG: Because PCBs,
like, stick to fat.
>> Yeah, it sticks to fat.
So what we do, we clean it 100%
to make sure that we
have only all cleaned oil in it,
in the feed.
>> GREENBERG: So this is a
particularly clean...
>> This is very clean.
This is probably the cleanest
feed you can get for salmon.
>> GREENBERG: Well, if it's
clean, then I'll take a try.
It's kind of like a fishy, um,
Dorito.
(laughing)
I would say.
I can see it now-- Doritos, new
salmon feed flavor.
(both laughing)
That could be a big hit.
Oh, what the heck?
I'll finish it.
Mmm...
>> It's good, it's good.
>> GREENBERG: Just knock it back
with, like, a kelp beer, and I
think the whole thing would be a
great package.
>> (laughing): Yeah.
>> GREENBERG: What are you guys
doing that's different from
everybody else?
>> We don't use any chemicals.
We don't use antibiotics.
We use a natural colorant,
fermented bacteria that we have
in our feed called Panaferd to
make the salmon red.
And also we have a lower density
in our pens.
>> GREENBERG: And they're
deploying the industry's latest
weaponry against the dreaded sea
lice.
>> We farm our own lumpsucker
and using it as a parasite
control.
>> GREENBERG: I have to say that
this is an exceptionally cute
fish.
Well, go be free and eat some
sea lice.
>> That is the hiding place for
the lumpsuckers, and they will
suck onto the fake seaweed, and
they will stay inside this
hiding, and when the salmon
comes in, it will swim into the
hiding, and the lumpsucker will
come and clean the lice off the
salmon.
So even a day after we put out
this fake seaweed, the salmon
understands the meaning of it
and comes in, get cleaned, go
out.
>> GREENBERG: Sort of like a car
going into the car wash.
>> Yeah, it's like a car going
into the car wash.
>> GREENBERG: Now, like some
other farms, they're adding
omega-3s from algae rather than
fish-- all changes that Damato
says the rest of the industry
can afford to follow.
>> If consumers want it and if
consumers demand it, they can do
it.
You've asked the question, can
we scale it up, can we scale it
up?
Well, we have the third-largest
feed manufacturer in aquaculture
in the world working with us.
That's scalable.
And it's not going to be, like,
oh, my God, now they're losing
money.
It's obscene how much money
they're making.
I mean, it's a commodity, and
they're doubling their money,
legally, because there's illegal
commodities that don't even make
that kind of profit.
