Four Fish begins with a graphic description of AquaBounty's plan to modify salmon genetically in order to make them bigger and more suitable for human consumption. To produce the salmon, a chinook was crossed with an ocean "pout." The company claims the fish would be sterile, but environmentalists (and many others, including salmon farmers) cried foul.
Later, Greenberg talks extensively about the problems in salmon farming. The first problem is that it often takes three pounds of other wild fish, used for feed, to get one salmon ready for production. The next main problem is salmon are farmed in "sea cages" often submerged near a different type of salmon. Not only can the salmon introduce parasites and diseases, but they can escape, negatively affecting the ecosystem.
Greenberg wants to figure out ways to deal with these issues and uses his book to do so. He looks into the recycling of fish feces, the reduction of pollution, the use of better cages, and better control of growing conditions. Probably the newest idea suggested is the integration of salmon with other sea creatures in order to create an appropriate environment.
In conclusion, Greenberg also proposed different feed and even using a completely different fish for human consumption altogether: the little-known arctic char. As Greenberg says:
Arctic char strike me as a good environmental compromise and to my palate, they’re pretty tasty.
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