Extensive research on salmon and other fish puts Norway at the top of Europe when it comes to experimenting on animals. 1.7 million salmon were used for experiments in Norway last year.

Statistics from the Norwegian Food Safety Authority show that salmon is by far the most used animal in animal experiments in Norway, forskningetikk.no writes. 1.7 million salmon were used for animal experiments in Norway last year, corresponding to 75% of all experimental animals. If other fish species are taken into account, the total use amounted to 2.2 million fish last year.

“It is specific for Norway that we have such extensive use of fish as experimental animals,” Tore Kristiansen, head of research at the Institute of Marine Research (HI), stated.

Kristiansen has extensive experience in the field and has researched fish for many years. He believes the number could have been lower but that the development is going in a positive direction when it comes to the perception of fish as experimental animals.

“In our culture, we have cared little about fish ailments and treated fish as if they were vegetables, but there has been a significant change in recent decades,” he said.

Source: © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayNews

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