The species I chose is salmon.  Ocean wise recommended for consumers are the Atlantic salmon (blue circle brand only) from Norway – Kvaroy and Selsoyvik farms only.  Kvarøy and Selsøyvik reported no escaped salmon for over 10 years. The use of lumpsucker fish to control sea lice necessitates the use of small-mesh netting. This reduces the likelihood of escapes. This salmon is farmed by an open net pen.  Open net pens allow discharge to flow into the environment and have the potential to cause many negative habitat impacts. However, the Kvarøy and Selsøyvik farms are located in open coastal areas instead of fjords where there is less water circulation. .  Along with the Atlantic salmon worldwide which is farmed by the recirculating aquaculture system.  Source of stock is domesticated broodstock for the vast majority of RAS farms. Therefore wild populations are not depleted to source the aquaculture operations.  The contained nature of RAS allows for close control and prevention of potential disease or parasite outbreaks.  About 90-99% of water is typically recirculated after filtration and waste treatment.

Ocean wise did not recommend any of the Atlantic salmon that come from British Columbia, Atlantic Canada, Maine, US, Norway, Scotland, Chile, Faroe Islands, and Worldwide.  All of these salmon are farmed by open net pen.  When open net pen farming is carelessly done it produces waste products (faeces and feed) from the farmed salmon in the pens and is released directly into the surrounding water and settles to the sea floor. These wastes can change the chemical make-up and biological diversity of the seabed around the pens.

Salmon farming comes with issues and concerns as well as advantages.  One issue being the way it is farmed.  Open net-cage salmon farms are a serious threat to the balance of life on the coast, and to wild salmon in particular.  Waste, chemicals, disease, and parasites from the farms pass through the mesh and pollute the surrounding water and seabed. Especially harmful are the sea lice who attach to wild juvenile salmon on their migration out to sea. Too many sea lice can kill the young wild salmon.  Not only is the salmon polluting the waters with their waste they are killing their own species.  Storms, accidents and predators can tear the nets allowing the farmed fish to escape.   Advantages of these methods however, is that it is efficient.  You catch great amounts of salmon to sell and this is ultimately beneficial to our economy.   Although, what’s more important our oceans and the species or our economy?

Sources:

https://livingoceans.org/initiatives/salmon-farming/issues/environmental-impacts-open-net-pen-salmon-farms-benefit-the-ocean

https://seafood.ocean.org/seafood/type/salmon-atlantic/

https://livingoceans.org/initiatives/salmon-farming

Clearcutting is a forestry/logging practice in which most or all trees in an area are uniformly cut down.

Benefits:

•  It creates wide, open spaces with lots of sun exposure. This allows the most sunlight to reach tree seedlings that require full-sun conditions to thrive. Clearcutting also creates forest clearings that are habitat for some species of songbirds, deer and elk.
• Economy of harvest. Clearcutting is the most efficient and economical method of harvesting a large group of trees.
• Fewer disturbances to the forest floor. By entering a forest to log trees once instead of multiple times in a series of timber harvests, the landowner minimizes disturbance to forest soil.

Drawbacks:

• They look bad. Until the newly planted trees “green up” a hillside, a clearcut is  not considered appealing to the general public.
• Habitat disturbance. Clearcutting alters the habitat where trees once stood, and forest wildlife is displaced into new areas.
• Increased stream flow. Clearcuts allow more water to enter a stream system through underground aquifers, because water is not being taken up and released by trees in a process called “evapotranspiration.” Increased stream flows can lead to increased riparian erosion during high-water occurrences.

Silviculture is the practice of controlling the growth, composition, health, and quality of forests to meet diverse needs and values.

Benefits:

• It produces abundant raw materials for the industry like timber and paper industry.
• It increases forest cover which is necessary for the conservation of wildlife.
• It maintains a perfect water cycle in nature.
• It prevents soil erosion as the forest cover keeps the topsoil intact.
• It prevents floods since the forest cover is vast.

Drawbacks:

• Less vertical diversity within individual forest stands.
• General lack of snags and over-mature trees.
• Low diversity of the trees age classes, species, and size.

Selective logging or partial forest removal is the practice of cutting down one or two species of trees while leaving the rest intact.

Benefits:

• Supports more wildlife by keeping their ecosystems intact.
• They build up tolerance and resistance to disease and pests.
• Carbon dioxide that is stored by the trees will regenerate (regrow) faster.
• Helps the forest grow back faster.
• Reduces fire hazards and minimizes soil erosion.

Drawbacks:

• Expensive and time-consuming.
• Some species will not regenerate (regrow) as fast.
• More exposure to weather damage such as ice, storms, and fires.
• Lots of stumps and other tree debris left behind.
• Removes genetically superior trees, whose seed is needed to keep forest healthy.

In conclusion, I don’t believe that British Columbia’s forestry’s industry is sustainable. From what I have researched about the economy of the industry, demonstrates the difficulty that is involved to satisfy both sides, in terms of the atmosphere and also the economy. British Columbia includes a high demand for forestry merchandise. The popular choice being clear-cutting because of its efficiency isn’t the clear answer here. Clear-cutting isn’t the best choice for each the atmosphere and our economy.

Sources:

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

https://oregonforests.org/clearcutting

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

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

http://ohsroom12and13.weebly.com/uploads/6/0/4/9/60491981/harvestingtrees.pdf

An ethic of care to me is, the ability to be responsive to a certain situation because of a feeling of emotion.

A Individual who is willing to create an ethic of care would be needed, as well as a concern in a particular area.

We would have to be educated about the environment for someone to car for it.  We need to have a strong sense of knowledge if we want to care for something; as caring is connected to our emotions.

If we cared about the environment we would act on certain problems such as climate change.  We wouldn’t just talk about the problem and solutions, we would actually produce a change.  I think this is something that happens in every negative situation that has to do with our environment.  Everyone talks about the problem, explains why it’s a problem, gives us solutions, but doesn’t actually take action.  For example, climate change.  Something so simple to help our world would be to limit the amount of fossil fuels or put out less vehicle emissions but yet nothing’s changed.

The world would be different as we would be more careful and not as careless.  We would take responsibilities of our actions and think before we act.  Although if every single person in the world cared about every problem or subject than we would lose opinions.  We would lose the perspectives of others.

We should adopt an ethic of care towards the environment.  There would be less people struggling in the world and even our earth wouldn’t be at risk if people just simply cared more.