Bad Case of Crabs Shames Norway's Fisheries Minister

Norway's Fisheries Minister (and salmon farm owner) Lisbeth Berg-Hansen is in the news in Norway with an embarrassing case of contaminated crabs. Not crabs as in pubic lice (although salmon farming in Norway is riddled with sea lice) but a very public case of cadmium pollution broadcast by TV2 on Norwegian TV last night (31 May).

"Carcinogenic heavy metals in crabs by fisheries minister farms" said the headline in the TV2 news report. "Per Allan Auve set traps near the fisheries minister farms and got crabs filled with black content," continued TV2.

"The Fisheries Minister enriches herself whilst locals have to suffer because our food is poisoned," said Per Allan Auve. Auve and family live next door to one of the many salmon farms of Sinkaberg-Hansen, where Fisheries Minister Lisbeth Berg-Hansen has substantial holdings.

"Cadmium is a toxic heavy metal that accumulates in the body," reported TV2. "Eating too much cadmium can cause kidney damage, osteoporosis and increased risk of getting cancer. Laboratory results conducted at PreBio reveals that brown food in crabs taken near the farm contains 7.8 milligrams of cadmium per kilogram".

"At the level where it is clear that you can not eat more than about one meal a week at about 50 grams," said research director Amund Måge at the National Institute of Nutrition and Seafood Research (NIFES).

In reaction to the TV2 report Dr. Claudette Bethune (who blew the whistle on cadmium contamination back in 2006) wrote on Facebook referring to the European Food Safety Authority report on cadmium:

TV2 asked the Fisheries Minister's salmon farming company to comment. In an email wrote Sinkaberg-Hansen:

"We have no knowledge of high cadmium content in crab beyond the allegations set forth by Auve. From our side we then headed no comments on this, and therefore sees no need to enter into any interview appointment. Any questions need to be addressed to the Food Safety Authority".

Watch the TV2 news report online here

It seems that 'Crab Revenge' is coming back to bite Lisbeth right where the sun doesn't shine.

Watch 'Crab Revenge' on the Jonathan Ross Show online here

The Fisheries Minister certainly has it coming to her with the salmon farming industry's lice problem one of Norway's worst kept secrets.

Views & News from Norway reported in 2011:

Read more via "Salmon Lice Grow 'Dramatically'"

Here's a close up of Lisbeth Berg-Hansen's hair!

Cadmium contamination has also been an ugly not-so-secret since 2006 when Russia banned imports of Norwegian farmed salmon due to "dangerously high" levels of cadmium and lead. Dr. Claudette Bethune, who worked at Norway's National Institute for Nutrition and Seafood Research (NIFES), blew the whistle on cadmium contamination of Norwegian farmed salmon in a series of articles published in the Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet in January 2006. "Norwegian Farmed Salmon Is A Health Hazard" stated one headline:

In January 2006, the Pure Salmon Campaign wrote to the Norwegian Fisheries Minister (Lisbeth Berg-Hansen's predecessor Helga Pedersen) on the issue of cadmium contamination of Norwegian farmed salmon. The letter included:

In February 2006, the Pure Salmon Campaign wrote to Norway's Health Minister expressing further concerns over the safety of Norwegian farmed salmon with regard to cadmium contamination in particular.

The fact that Norway's Fisheries Minister is also a salmon farm owner has attracted considerable criticism.

Nordic Salmon mocked Lisbeth Berg-Hansen's appointment in 2010:

One of Lisbeth Berg-Hansen's first decisions as Fisheries Minister was to revoke a deal not to use the toxic chemical – and known shellfish killer – Teflubenzuron. Read more via a Green Warriors of Norway report (in English):

In modern day Norway, the political hierarchy is controlled by the so-called “Oppdretternes Maktgarn” (“Salmon Farmers’ Mafia) – headed by the Fisheries Minister Lisbeth Berg-Hansen.