AQUACULTURE REFORM COALITION QUESTIONS WARM TEMPERATURES AS CAUSE FOR MASSIVE SALMON KILL ON NL SOUTH COAST:
The Newfoundland and Labrador Coalition for Aquaculture Reform (NL-CAR) suspects that the death of large numbers of salmon in the open net pen aquaculture farms on our South Coast was caused by factors other than warm sea water temperatures. NL has if anything experienced a cooler spring and summer than average and no proof has been provided that ocean temperatures along our south coast have been higher than normal. Also, we have not heard of similar events in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, which usually experience higher temperatures than NL. What are the provincial and federal regulators saying as to the cause? What are the provincial veterinarians saying?
NL-CAR notes that there has been no independent verification of warm sea water as the cause of this massive die-off. As usual, there is only a deathly silence from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) and the provincial government. There is no indication of how extensive this kill was, nor has any video coverage been released. However, the fact that the story has been reported at all shows that it was of massive proportions.
NL-CAR believes that there may be much more to this story than the aquaculture company is revealing. It’s likely that the cause of this environmental disaster was the usual suspects of sea lice or disease such as Infectious Salmon Anemia (ISA), but of course it’s much better to have the public believe that it was caused by a natural condition like warm water temperatures. The only thing more appalling than the horrific death of these salmon is the silence that accompanies such disasters.
Recall that when the salmon net pens broke apart in Washington State in August, 2017 resulting in the escape 160,000 farm salmon, a spokesperson for Cooke Aquaculture initially blamed it on the solar eclipse that occurred around the same time and indicated that only a few thousand salmon escaped. Sea temperatures warm enough to cause this catastrophe in NL are just as likely as a convenient solar eclipse. Washington State reacted by closing down the full aquaculture industry in its jurisdiction. We are not likely to see a similar response here.
Thanks to the NFAW for drawing attention to some of what is occurring in the salmon aquaculture industry on our South Coast. The negative effects of such events on other species and those who depend on these species for their livelihood may finally goad government into taking responsibility for this industry.
There is a fundamental problem with the regulation of the finfish aquaculture industry in NL and that is the total lack of public oversight. Who outside the industry itself and government has access to the untold horrors that these salmon suffer before perishing in their cages?
(For questions or further comment contact Leo White, NL-CAR spokesperson at 709 753-4034 or
leopwhite@hotmail.com)