fish farm siting criteria & politics

[agentaqua]

Betrayed by Our Fisheries Minister
http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2009/09/0...eadlines&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=080909
As BC's sockeye disaster unfolded, she flogged fish farms in Norway.

By Rafe Mair, 7 Sep 2009, TheTyee.ca

gail-shea-freedom-of-speech.jpg

Conservative Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Gail Shea.

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Here is the story from the Black Press, scarcely known for left wing tendencies:

"The Fraser River sockeye run is winding up and millions of missing salmon still haven't shown up.

"The Pacific Salmon Commission estimates the run size at 1.37 million sockeye -- the worst on record and significantly below the last two dismal years, which fishermen had hoped would not be repeated.

"Observers see the result as a sign of ecological catastrophe.

"And there's little hope more of the forecast run of 10.5 million sockeye will materialize."

Moreover, as we have long known, several runs of Pink salmon are near extinction in the Broughton Archipelago.

In the meantime, at the height of the collapse of the world renowned Fraser River sockeye, where was Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Gail Shea?
The Tyee receives Excellence in Journalism Award 2009.

She, along with 50 government financed delegates, were in Trondheim, Norway attending the world's largest aquaculture conference on behalf of the government of Canada!

Selling BC fish farming to the world

When asked by filmmaker Damien Gillis why she was there, she said it was because she "supports aquaculture in Canada which is an important part of our economy". When Gillis tried to video the Canadian delegation he was refused by the Canadian DFO director for information because he wouldn't tell her how he intended to use the film!

Let's lay some facts on the table here. Sea lice from salmon farms are killing our migrating salmon, including sockeye from the Fraser. As Dr. John Volpe, a noted fish biologist, recently made clear, the world's independent fish biologists "spoke with one voice" and that the impact connection of lice from fish farms on wild salmon is "indisputable".

Minister Gail Shea, on her trip to Trondheim demonstrated beyond doubt that not only did she know nothing of this west coast catastrophe, but didn't care to learn. So we have from the leading scientists of the world that the connection of fish farm sea lice and wild salmon is indisputable, while the Minister in charge uncritically supports the fish farm industry. Clearly, to her, we're just typical B.C. bitchers trying to interfere with the legitimate work of government.

DFO's true duty is to protect, not market

Let's turn now to Otto Langer, a highly respected scientist with DFO who, in 2002, quit in disgust after 32 years when he could no longer stand the department forgetting its mandate and working to support for fish farms. He talks of the duty of DFO under the legislation "to conserve and protect fish habitat". Mr. Langer pointed out that the DFO policy would not only condemn our salmon to extinction but also wipe out B.C. icons such as bears and eagles.

Now let's move back to Minister Shea. Some years ago the DFO, which was responsible for aquaculture, turned this responsibility over to the provincial Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fish who made an ongoing balls-up of their new mandate. Earlier this year, Alexandra Morton, who has led the fight to move fish farms out of the path of migrating salmon, won a landmark court decision which sent the responsibility back to DFO.

Morton said that she just wanted the DFO to "enforce the law". And this gets to the meat of the matter.

It is not the job of the DFO to promote aquaculture. Its job is to protect Canada's fisheries. If Canada is to promote businesses -- and there are many deserving of promotion -- it is the sworn duty of the industry minister to ensure that his promoted industries, as a condition precedent, obey the law very much including those which are or should be administered by DFO.

The minister in charge of the DFO is the cop in this exercise. It is her job to ensure that any industry which affects Canada's fisheries obeys the strictures of the Fisheries Act. That is her sworn duty.

Authorities who fear dissent

We are bovine masses in this country. Once in awhile we raise our faces out of our beer glasses, divert out attention momentarily from the sitcom and mumble, "Yes, I suppose the fisheries minister shouldn't be shilling for fish farms. Now where were we?"

Moreover, as we plod our weary way to the polls -- 50 per cent of us, that is -- we will vote the government back in or elect a new one which we know will change nothing.

What other country calling itself a democracy would throw peaceful protesters in jail after pepper spraying them as we did during APEC Conference in 1997? (One law student was physically abused and thrown in jail for carrying a cloth sign saying "Free Speech" and "Democracy".)

More to the point and up to date, what country would spend a billion dollars making sure that protesters at the Olympics would be kept out of sight of those protested against thus meaning -- and this is the main point -- no TV cameras could show that everything wasn't "all things bright and beautifu" (in the words of the syrupy Anglican jingle) amongst those paying for this extravaganza?

With this national attitude, is it any wonder then that our fisheries are destroyed under the watchful eyes of those set in authority over us when they know we won't do anything about it? I've been part of a good many protests and for the most part they are made up of the same young people (with one notable exception) each time.

Get some exercise. Join a protest.

I leave this epistle with this question. To all you British Columbians who care about our salmon, see it as the soul of our province, who are pained at the sight of what the governments are doing... what the hell are you going to do about it?

Are you too busy to support Alexandra Morton, the Wilderness Committee, the Save Our Rivers Society and others who are carrying this fight on your behalf?

Will you not challenge the sell-outs that lead you?

Will you not take this fight personally and fight as if these fish were yours, which they are?

You might all, for starters, try joining a protest. You'll find out that at least you have the satisfaction of trying.

To all British Columbians: If you don't try, you're no better off sitting on your asses than are those in authority who have chosen the same position. [Tyee]

Rafe Mair writes a Monday column for The Tyee. Read previous columns by Rafe Mair here. He also acts as a spokesperson for the Save Our Rivers Society.

 

[sockeyefry]

I have always enjoyed Rafe's fairy tales, they are so amusing.

"Moreover, as we have long known, several runs of Pink salmon are near extinction in the Broughton Archipelago."

Where Rafe, which ones Seems to me that the over abundance of pinks this year would put the extinction story to bed.

Observers see the result as a sign of ecological catastrophe.

Or as a normal cycle in the population.

Let's lay some facts on the table here. Sea lice from salmon farms are killing our migrating salmon, including sockeye from the Fraser. As Dr. John Volpe, a noted fish biologist, recently made clear, the world's independent fish biologists "spoke with one voice" and that the impact connection of lice from fish farms on wild salmon is "indisputable".

Actually it is quite disputable. Should read the anti fish farm biologist paid to speak with one voice.

Let's turn now to Otto Langer, a highly respected scientist with DFO who, in 2002, quit in disgust after 32 years ...

Langer did not quit after 32 years he retired, although he may have said he quit because of some issue, I would like to see him make the statement personally. Had he quite after 10 years then he would be more credible. Yeah he quit drawing a full pension.

DFO's true duty is to protect, not market

Maybe Rafe, but because DFO has aquaculture under its mandate, its job is also to protect aquaculture from factors which may seek to harm it, like crazy woman whale researchers.

Are you too busy to support Alexandra Morton, the Wilderness Committee, the Save Our Rivers Society and others who are carrying this fight on your behalf?

not that we are too busy, but the case has not been proven, and most people grow tired of the endless chicken little predictions which never come true.

However, I grow tired of picking apart Rafe. It is all too easy to hold my interest for very long.

 

[sockeyefry]

Did you see this one AgentÉ


China scoops BC fish farm technology
By Colleen Kimmett September 9, 2009 11:45 am
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After seven years in the making, technology developed to replace open-net salmon farms in B.C. has found a home – in China.

Vancouver Island-based Agrimarine Industries designed the technology, which replaces conventional net fish enclosures with buoyant fiberglass tanks. It will be used at a trout hatchery in a hydro reservoir in the Liang province of China. Agrimarine president Richard Buchanan is there this week to open the first of a potential eleven tanks.

Agrimarine received funding from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and Sustainable Development Technology Canada to design the prototype tank, which was intended to use to farm salmon in the waters of Middle Bay. The company faced difficulty securing funding and a lengthy licensing process here, which have prevented the project from moving forward, said Rob Walker, Agrimarine's director of operations.

In China, Agrimarine found an investor willing to put up money for the first few tanks, lower labour costs and a government that "put out the red carpet."

"The Chinese government wanted to get a better production system for trout," Walker told The Tyee. "Right now it's mostly... ma and pa operations. They wanted to expand in an environmentally responsible manner."

Although Walker has said that, because ocean water is still pumped through the tank, this technology "doesn't directly address the issue of sea lice," it is considered less harmful to wild stocks than open-net farms.

In February, a government-appointed panel recommended that the province implement a commercial-scale trial of a closed containment system for farmed salmon in order to help protect wild salmon from infectious diseases.

Walker said he thinks there is too much red tape in British Columbia -- licensing here took two years compared to six weeks in China -- but said it's important from an environmental perspective. He pointed to the collapse of Chile's salmon farming industry as an example of unchecked industry.

"I'm so glad we do what we do here," said Walker. "We can't have that rampant commercialization of a resource that has no stops, no checks and balances."

Interesting to see the words Chinese Government and environmentally responsible manner in the same sentence.

I thought the site above Campobell River was up and running with great results. Doesnt seem to be the case if the report here is accurate. Sounds like it didnt even get in the water. That is a shame, becasue we should be looking into this type of technology. I do know that it is very hard to get a farm site in BC, and this would include this experiment. Of course it is easy to put the blame on the Government, but we are only hearing one side of the story.

Interesting that it is being proposed for use in a freshwater lake to rear trout, not an ocean site to rear salmon. Big difference in environment and production requirements. I dont see any reference to waste removal, so without that important part, closed containmenets are worse than net pens for what they introduce into the water.

I would like to see this project meet with success, as it would be another step towards the development of possible coontainment options for BC

 

[cohochinook]

This Friday, September 11th, Dr. Tony Farrell will be presenting "Sea lice on very juvenile pink salmon: just a drag or holey terrors?"

Time: 11am

Location: AERL 120

Dr. Farrell is a UBC Professor at both the Department of Zoology and the Faculty of Land and Food Systems. He is also the Research Chair of the Centre for Aquaculture and Environmental Research (CAER). Extensively published and a recipient of numerous awards, Dr. Farrell’s research focuses on integrative and comparative animal physiology, particularly with respect to cardiorespiratory physiology and stress tolerance in salmonids.

Please join me in welcoming Dr. Farrell.

I look forward to seeing you all this Friday.

Brooke Campbell

FISH 500 Coordinator



Fisheries Centre, University of British Columbia

Supported by the Ministry of Environment, Province of BC

 

[agentaqua]

Interesting a talk on sea lice, by a guy who admits he's never worked on sea lice (see: http://www.leg.bc.ca/CMT/38thparl/session-2/aquaculture/hansard/W60601a.htm#7:1430):

A. Farrell: "By my limited review of the literature. I stated clearly and explicitly at the outset that I've never worked on sea lice."

A. Farrell: "I've done some reading. I mean, not anywhere near enough."

AND by the same guy who doesn't understand what an average number of lice on a fish are:

A. Farrell: "I'm not aware of that information. I can't comment, but I will comment that I've never seen 0.3 of a louse. I've only ever seen one louse, but I've never seen part of a louse on a fish. I mean, I'm struggling with that."

The UBC Center for Aquaculture and the Environment gets $$$ from the feds and the industry to accommodate the industry, though. That's apparently not too hard for Farrell to understand...

 

[agentaqua]

The Times Colonist, 9th September 2009

Sea lice a drag on their hosts

Biologist suggests the parasites could reduce salmon survival rates


By Judith Lavoie, Times Colonist

Try swimming in the Pacific Ocean wearing a backpack, and that might hint at difficulties faced by juvenile salmon when sea lice are hitching a ride, according to conservation biologist Michael Price.

After years of researching the number of lice on salmon in the Discovery Islands, where there is a high concentration of fish farms, Price believes the wrong question is being asked in the polarized and often bitter debate over sea lice and the effect of farms on wild salmon.

"A lot of the mortality work done on pink and chum focuses on the size and lethal levels of lice," Price said.

Instead, the question should be whether lice reduce survival because afflicted fish cannot swim as fast or catch as much food and are more susceptible to predation, Price said.

Arguments that bigger fish, such as sockeye, are not killed by lice, lose sight of other effects, he said.

"If these juveniles host lice, it is going to affect their behaviour and likely slow them down," said Price, who, during recent research on pinks and chums for Raincoast Conservation Foundation, also found juvenile Fraser River sockeye with lice.

"Early marine survival is at the core of salmon survival. They need to grow and they need to grow fast to avoid predators, and this could be slowing down their growth," Price said.

However, little research has been done on sockeye. With the apparent collapse of this year's Fraser River sockeye runs, Price cannot understand why the Department of Fisheries and Oceans is not considering that salmon farms might be partially responsible.

"I don't think salmon farms alone are responsible for the collapse, but I think it's certainly likely they are contributing," Price said.

In Europe, Atlantic salmon and sea trout runs were damaged by sea lice -- and they are bigger fish than juvenile sockeye, said Price, who wants to see farms moved from migration routes.

Closing farms might hurt some economically, but it is easier than solving challenges such as climate change and ocean productivity, he said.

The ultimate solution is closed containment -- something salmon farming companies and government say is not yet practical.

Price disagrees.

"There are closed-containment fish farms all over the world. They are not producing salmon, but it should be an easy one to fix," he said.

Simon Jones, DFO research scientist, agreed that there is little direct research on the effects of lice on sockeye, but said research on pinks and chum is likely to continue.

"There are many factors that influence ocean survival of juvenile Pacific salmon, and I don't think there is a simple answer. Climate change and freshwater habitat conditions play a role, and sea lice may be one of those issues," he said.

A 2008 DFO study found that, in a laboratory, high concentrations of sea lice led to deaths of juvenile pink salmon under 0.7 grams, but there was no mortality of larger fish. Juvenile sockeye are five to 10 grams when they migrate to the ocean.

"By extrapolation, you can predict that sockeye are large enough that lice wouldn't affect them," Jones said.

European problems with Atlantic salmon and sea trout are not relevant because those fish are more susceptible to disease and attract a different species of louse, he said.

Mary Ellen Walling, B.C. Salmon Farmers Association executive director, said sockeye appear to be protected by their size.

"By the time they emerge, they have a fully developed immune system," she said.

Farms have taken extraordinary measures to protect other species of salmon, such as fallowing pens or stocking them only with small fish when wild fish are migrating through the area, treating farm fish with the chemical Slice at an early stage and co-ordinating treatment with other farms in the area, Walling said.

"They are being quite careful in the period when they think wild salmon are most vulnerable," she said.

"Assigning the blame to salmon farms is not making a lot of sense. It is much more complex. People need to start thinking about fishing and urbanization."

In the Broughton Archipelago and northern Vancouver Island, where farms have taken mitigation measures, pink salmon runs are excellent this year.

jlavoie@tc.canwest.com

http://www.timescolonist.com/lice+drag+their+hosts/1975242/story.html

 

[agentaqua]

The Globe & Mail, 8th September 2009

Fish farms put squeeze on marine resources


A new study finds that consumer demand for healthy omega-3 fatty acids has put a squeeze on the fish-food supply, where alternatives must be relied upon to avoid a wipeout of wild forage fish

Sarah Boesveld


Half of the fish eaten globally is now farm-raised, but the surge in fish farming has put a significant strain on marine resources, a new international study has found.

Fishmeal and fish oil, made from wild forage fish such as anchovies, have long fed farmed Atlantic salmon and other carnivorous fish. But consumer demand for long-chain omega-3 fatty acids has caused the aquaculture industry to balloon, squeezing the fish-food supply so far that alternatives must be relied upon to avoid a forage fish wipeout, says lead study author Rosamond Naylor, professor of environmental earth systems science and director of the program on food security and the environment at Stanford University.

“Most wild fisheries are either exploited or overexploited,” she says. “As long as we are a health-conscious population trying to get our most healthy oils from fish, we are going to be demanding more of aquaculture and putting a lot of pressure on marine fisheries to meet that need,” she says.

She noted that it takes about five kilograms of wild fish to create one kilogram of farmed salmon.

The global aquaculture industry is already using 68 per cent of global fishmeal and 88 per cent of fish oil, Prof. Naylor and her colleagues note in their paper, published online Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Because of the squeeze on resources in recent years, fishmeal and fish oil prices have skyrocketed, forcing many companies to pursue alternatives in response. And as that transition continues to happen, consumers could see increased salmon prices, she says.

“It's easy to find some of these substitutes, but what's going to be then still very healthy for consumers might change,” she says.

“You can take all of the fish oil out of salmon diets right now or you could substantially reduce it, but you would lose that benefit of the long-chain omega-3s.”

She suggests consumers reduce farmed fish intake to a few times a week or purchase omega-3 caplets.

Aquaculture fish production has nearly tripled in volume from 1995 to 2007 because of rising consumer demand for omega-3 fatty acids found in oily fish such as salmon and heralded for reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease. The chase for omega-3-rich fish has seen an explosion of salmon farms and, with it, numerous infestations of sea lice, a marine parasite blamed by some researchers for devastating wild salmon populations in British Columbia.

But like humans, salmon need their own omega-3 supply, which they can only get from other fish, says Tony Farrell, a professor of biology at the University of British Columbia and research chair of sustainable aquaculture at the DFO-UBC Centre for Aquaculture and Environmental Research.

“That's why you can't replace in a salmon diet all of the wild fish,” he says. “You have to have a little bit.”

Prof. Farrell, who worked on the study with Prof. Naylor, says that in order to be sustainable, farms should fix fish-feed diets to be 80 per cent alternative nutrients and 20 per cent fishmeal and fish oil. That way, the salmon still get the oils they need, but the forage fish supplies won't be depleted.

Many aquaculture producers are pursuing vegetable long-chain oils such as canola to help them cut back on forage fish. Australian researchers are looking to genetically modify the omega-3 chains in these vegetable oils. Single cell oils and algae oils are being considered too, but they remain expensive. Norwegian researchers are investigating krill, a “subfish,” as an alternative to fish meal, Prof. Naylor says.

Canada is leading the switch to more sustainable food sources, says Cyr Couturier, a research scientist at the Marine Institute of Memorial University in St. John's. Canada's aquaculture industry uses 25 per cent forage fish and oil to feed salmon, he says, while 75 per cent of the feed is from all-natural products, such as wheat.Moving the cold-blooded creatures onto more sustainable diets has been a gradual process.

Marine Harvest Canada now uses vegetable and poultry proteins in place of meal made from forage fish, says Clare Backman, director of environmental compliance and community relations from company headquarters in Campbell River, B.C.

Five years ago, Marine Harvest used 50 per cent fish meal and fish oil, respectively. Now they're using 15 per cent of each. “Our reliance on fish meal and fish oil right now has gone down,” he says. “We're very aware that fish meal is getting to be a very rare commodity and we've been looking at ways of reducing our reliance on that.”

In March, Fisheries and Oceans Canada introduced a policy on new fisheries for forage species such as herring, shrimp and capelin, aiming to ensure a sustainable supply.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life...t-squeeze-on-marine-resources/article1279812/

 

[agentaqua]

The Courier Islander, 4th September 2009

Shea is still missing the point

Dear Minister Shea, thank you for your response on August 17th to my letter of July 13th 2009. However, after carefully reading your letter it seems that we have a difference of opinion.

You state in your letter that the DFO supports sustainable aquaculture, but the whole point of my letter to you was that open-net fish farming is NOT sustainable.

You have endeavoured to assure me that open-net fish farms along our coast are "subject to rigorous environmental standards under a number of statutes and regulations including the Fisheries Act to ensure our marine ecosystems are not compromised."

Minister Shea, our marine ecosystem has already been compromised - 11 million sockeye did not return to the Fraser River this year and to anyone except the DFO it seems obvious that the sockeye's migration route has been contaminated by sea lice from open-net fish farms in the area.

You state in the second paragraph of your letter that DFO is "committed to continually improving the management of aquaculture based on the best available science."

This does not re-assure me at all as the DFO continues to ignore the best available science-specifically the findings of marine biologist Alexandra Morton who has been studying sea lice infestation caused by open-net fish farms for over two decades.

Then, in paragraph three of your letter you seem to pass the buck (or the fish in this case) stating that this issue is still presently under the jurisdiction of the Province of British Columbia until February 2010. The Province of British Columbia has been notably silent regarding this issue since the February court decision, the sole appeal having come from Marine Harvest Canada.

To add insult to injury you announced while in Campbell River recently that your job was to support the aquaculture industry and gave them $930,000. How can you say as you do in paragraph two of your letter that you are committed to protecting, conserving and rebuilding wild salmon stocks and simultaneously be supporting the very industry responsible for the demise of the wild salmon stocks?

Minister Shea, your letter is full of contradictions and you have failed to address my concerns. You do not seem to understand the gravity of the situation or the urgency to work towards a solution. Closed containment is the only option and failing that, all open-net fish farms need to be shut down immediately. Your department seems to be more concerned about the costs associated with closed containment and oblivious to the bigger picture which is the total collapse of the marine ecosystem.

Minister Shea, I believe that you missed my point entirely, or simply chose not to listen.

Wendy Davis,

Sointula

http://www2.canada.com/courierislan....html?id=10efe439-52f4-416e-a072-12ab9aed7c9a

 

[agentaqua]

The Courier Islander, 16th September 2009

It's time to say enough is enough

While an interview with Mary Ellen Walling, top lobbyist for the salmon farming industry in BC, was being published in the Vancouver Sun this past Tuesday, I was flying back to Canada from Puerto Montt, Chile - ground zero for the Chilean salmon farming industry.

I had spent a week documenting the heartbreaking environmental, cultural, and socio-economic devastation wrought by the industry there. Gross mismanagement of Chilean salmon farming - which reached its apotheosis as second largest global producer until collapsing suddenly over the past two years - led to a devastating outbreak of the Infectious Salmon Anemia (ISA) virus, which wiped out three quarters of the country's farmed salmon.

Aside from the environmental catastrophe, the human costs have been astounding. Close to half the workforce, 24,000 Chileans, lost their jobs almost over night. Unable to return to the lives they left to join the once burgeoning industry, they now struggle to feed their children in towns that resemble a gold rush after the gold is gone.

Rusty cages, feed bags, buoys, empty chemical containers, and other debris from the industry litter the foreshores, beaches, and ghostly work yards of these coastal communities, the remnants of an industry that is pulling up stakes and getting the heck out of Dodge.

Left to deal with the mess are the people and marine environment of this land of otherwise breathtaking beauty and cultural warmth. This is the northern entry point to the famed Patagonia - much like BC's coast, one of the great natural wonders on the planet, unacceptably marred by the industry.

Chile's coastal communities and marine environment have paid another heavy toll for the industry: much of the wild fish - anchovies, sardines, etc., ground into meal to raise carnivorous farmed salmon - comes from the waters off Chile's coast. It takes anywhere between three and five pounds of wild fish to yield one pound of farmed salmon, and the result has been the depletion of Chile's coastal ecosystems and devastation to communities who once depended on artisanal fishing for employment and sustenance.

And so it was to my horror that I read Mary Ellen Walling's callous take on the Chilean Crisis I had just witnessed. Walling told the Vancouver Sun: "Prices are up 10 to 15 per cent over the past six months because of the lack of product in the marketplace...It's good for the B.C. industry because we've got good, solid prices moving forward...There's a significant lack of Chilean product in the U.S. market. It's a great opportunity [for B.C. salmon farmers], but we can't take advantage of it. B.C. is home to a range of anti-salmon-farming groups. [Their] campaign has delayed opportunities for the industry to expand."

Having witnessed firsthand the plight of the Chilean people and environment, this kind of statement is sheerly appalling in its ignorance and selfishness.

Here are three big ways the primarily Norwegian industry is now profiting from its own negligence and the suffering of the Chilean people and environment:

1. Decreased global supply = higher market prices. This is Walling's main argument.

2. Excuse for expansion in BC. Walling is using the crisis to push for more farms in BC - just as Norway is doing right now (during a recent trip to Norway, I observed their fisheries minister announcing intentions to boost production there by 5%). The irony is that the push to expand the industry in Chile is very much responsible for the ecological crisis that has now hobbled it. The same may well happen here if we're not careful.

3. Privatizing the seas and consolidating the market in Chile. This is the really sneaky and perverse one. Not unlike the financial meltdown and ensuing bailout in the US and around the world, those responsible for the problems are now poised to profit from them.

The Norwegian companies who likely brought the virus to Chile are now lobbying along with the banks who finance the industry to privatize the country's ocean farm tenures. Unlike Canada and Norway, the Norwegian behemoths don't yet dominate the industry in Chile - roughly half of the companies are still Chilean owned. However, they are smaller than the Norwegian multi-nationals and thus more immediately vulnerable to bankruptcy from the ISA crisis. The farm tenures have always been leased to companies by the state. Now that many of the smaller Chilean companies are defaulting on their loans as they have no product to sell, the banks and the big Norwegian companies are pushing to privatize the water rights, so that they can take them over as collateral for the defaulted loans. The banks will seize the farm tenures and sell them to the big Norwegian companies - who can weather the storm of their own making...and Presto!

The Norwegian companies now have a monopoly on the Chilean industry, just like they do everywhere else. In the very least they are profiting from their own negligence, which is, for lack of a better word, disgusting.

Having just clashed with Walling, her industry colleagues, and chummy Canadian government representatives in Norway at the world's biggest fish farming trade show, AquaNor, I'm no stranger to the industry's tactics. But this piece of PR - profiting from the tragedy that is the Chilean ISA crisis - represents a new low in my view.

Walling, the industry, and our provincial and federal governments need to hear from the people of BC that we will no longer stand for the problems associated with this industry in BC and around the world.

In the wake of the collapse of the Fraser Sockeye and the crises in Chile, Scotland, Ireland - everywhere this industry operates - it is time to say "Enough is enough!"

Damien Gillis

Documentary Filmmaker,

Vancouver
© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service

http://www.canada.com/time+enough+enough/1999855/story.html

 

[Rockfish]

I just had a call asking if I would be willing to support the Conservatives if a Fall Election is held. I told him I would be happy to as soon as I hear a public statement that they will be closing down all Fish Farms on the BC Coast. I also told him that it was bad economic policy to support an industry which provides so little in terms of jobs and the economy, but which puts at risk wild salmon and the comparatively huge economic benefit they provide to BC and Canada.

 

[agentaqua]

The Nanaimo Daily News, 21st September 2009

Biologist wants inquiry on salmon stocks
Robert Barron

Biologist Alexandra Morton wants to see a full judicial inquiry by the federal government into the reasons for the collapse of the sockeye salmon run on the Fraser River this year.

Her call for the inquiry comes on the heels of the challenge by B.C. Environment Minister Barry Penner calling for a public review of the "adequacy" of the Department of Fisheries and Ocean's forecasting abilities after just 1.37 million sockeye returned to the river this year, way down from the 10.6 million that DFO projected.

Morton, who lives in Broughton Archipelago off of northern Vancouver Island, has been warning authorities for years that sea lice from the 29 open-net fish farms in the archipelago are decimating wild salmon populations in the area. She said it may be a fact that sea lice from fish farms may not be the whole reason for the collapse for the sockeye run on the Fraser River, but she's frustrated that a number of senior DFO and government officials have already dismissed the contribution of sea lice to the collapse without the proper research to support that conclusion.

Officials from DFO couldn't be reached by press time.

"I want DFO to say that they'll turn over every stone in finding the reasons for the collapse of that run and I want everyone appearing at a judicial inquiry to be put under oath because there's a lot of untruths out there on this issue that need to be cleared up," she said.

Penner said a public probe is needed to restore confidence in DFO's management of the west coast fishery.

"The wide disparity between the forecast and actual returns of Fraser River sockeye is a serious issue for British Columbians," Penner said in a letter to federal Fisheries Minister Gail Shea.

In reply, Shea said she accepts the need for a review, although she did not commit to a public forum.

RBarron@nanaimodailynews.com

250-729-4234
© The Daily News (Nanaimo) 2009

 

[agentaqua]

For Immediate Release
Sept. 19, 2009

PENNER TRIES TO DIVERT BLAME FROM HIS OWN GOV’T INCOMPETENCE ON SALMON,
NEW DEMOCRATS SAY

VICTORIA – Environment Minister Barry Penner’s attempt to criticize the federal government’s Fraser River sockeye forecasts is a brazen attempt to divert attention from his own government’s shoddy record on fisheries management, say the New Democrats.

“Minister Penner is trying to shift the blame away from the B.C. Liberals, but the truth is that the B.C. Liberals’ repeated regulatory failures have contributed to the crisis facing many B.C. salmon stocks,” said New Democrat environment critic Rob Fleming.

“Pointing fingers at Ottawa doesn’t diminish their own culpability, and won’t make coastal communities forget Gordon Campbell’s cynical pledge to implement the best fisheries management in the world, bar none.”

“Minister Penner should be ashamed for criticizing Ottawa while he’s slashing his own ministry’s fish and wildlife management budget.”

Penner criticized the federal government’s forecasts in the wake of news that returns of Fraser River sockeye are roughly 10 per cent of expected.

“One of Premier Campbell’s great golden goals in 2005 was the best fisheries management on the planet, but they have completely given up on fish,” said Lana Popham, the opposition critic for agriculture.

“British Columbia salmon are at risk because the B.C. Liberals have no strategy. Like so many other issues, it seems their only strategy on this is political – and it’s essentially to blame someone else. That doesn’t help our wild salmon stocks.”

In 2007, the special legislative committee on sustainable aquaculture – chaired by Skeena MLA Robin Austin – made 55 recommendations to improve aquaculture while protecting wild stocks.

The failure of the B.C. government to protect wild salmon stocks was one of the issues cited in a lawsuit that led to fisheries management being turned over to the federal government.

"The minister has given up responsibility of wild salmon when he knows that Ottawa is about to inherit the B.C. Liberal fish farm debacle,” said intergovernmental relations critic Guy Gentner.

“When times get tough, leaders delve into the situation. Minister Penner is simply walking away."

 

[agentaqua]

Burnaby Now, 19th September 2009

More questions still on salmon

Dear Editor:

Peter Julian indicated that he wants a meeting of the heads of government, a summit, on the lack of sockeye returning to the Fraser River this year.

First of all the sky is not falling and there is no need to create hysteria. Issues on salmon on the West Coast have been present for many decades, where was this MP years ago? What did he do then?

This MP refers to a theory on sea lice and relates it to the fish farms up the inside coast between Vancouver Island and the mainland.

Although there has been work done by Alexandra Morton, providing visual proof of sea lice, (check it out on Jennifer Moreau's blog Community Conversations at www.burnabynow.com) it's only of one of the potential reasons why the sockeye have not returned in the numbers forecasted.

We have to ask some questions to get a better understanding of this situation.

One of which is: how accurate were the numbers that were forecasted by the Federal Department of Fisheries?

How many sockeye did not migrate through where the fish farms are? Of the sockeye that are returning, to what degree are they infested with sea lice? An investigation of the fish farms should be done to analyse how many of these fish are infected in order to draw some statistical correlation.

What was the temperature in Georgia and Johnstone straits and the Fraser River? Salmon are sensitive when you get above 18 degrees Celsius.

This was a potential factor in the large drop in cohos the previous year.

We have government departments to find answers to these questions.

We should hold them accountable to find answers, within a reasonable time, say six months.

They are the experts hired by governments to manage our fish resources.

Fish returns in other parts of the province are doing well especially on the island for pinks.

North of Vancouver Island, along the coast and up towards Prince Rupert from what I have been told returns are good.

Now what is important on the present agenda is the return of coho, pinks, and chum salmon coming up our creeks in Burnaby, in late September through to November.

Nick Kvenich, present streamkeeper and former gillnet fisherman.

Nick Kvenich, Burnaby

http://www2.canada.com/burnabynow/news/opinion/story.html?id=f2a8a0c1-65c4-441c-a6fa-4559a94bc463

 

[sockeyefry]

Gee Agent forget to post this one?

Salmon returns unexpected

Published: September 15, 2009 5:00 PM

0 Comments Teresa Bird

Gazette staff

Pink salmon are returning in near record numbers on the B.C. coast but no one is really sure why.

Estimates by fishery officers monitoring rivers in the Broughton Archipelago show returns of pink salmon this year already significantly higher than the brood year in 2007.

“They have over replaced the brood year in at least three of the systems,” said Pieter Van Will, DFO program head for North Island stock assessment. For example, the estimated returns to the Kakweiken River system for the 2007 season were 37,000 returns. But the offspring of those fish returning to spawn were already estimated to number about 270,000 by the first week of September this year. In the Glendale system, the 2007 brood year was estimated at 264,000. The estimates for this year are already at 297,000. The same trend is evident in other Broughton Archipelago rivers and all along the B.C. coast.

“We are having strong returns coast wide,” confirmed Andrew Thomson, acting regional director of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) in the Pacific region. “The Quinsam River in Campbell River has record returns. I think it speaks to the larger picture that pink salmon fluctuate greatly. We don’t understand all the factors for this fluctuation. It is a very complex picture.”

But Thomson said pink salmon returns are typically lower in odd years and the reason for the strong returns this year is unclear.

“There are any number of environmental conditions that have an impact on the survival of pink salmon,” said Thomson. Those factors could include, along with others, ocean conditions, feed availability, juvenile mortality and flow conditions.

Overall the strong return of pinks are good news.

A study co-authored by local researcher and environmentalist Alexandra Morton, predicted in 2007 the demise of the pinks by 2011. The study pointed at fish farms for increasing the numbers of sea lice that in turn threatened juvenile salmon headed for the ocean each spring. The study concluded that “sea lice typically killed over 80 percent of the fish in each salmon run” and that “if sea lice infestations continue, affected pink salmon populations will collapse by 99 per cent in ... four years.”

Morton, who is happy to see the pinks return, said the extinction forecast hasn’t materialized because fish farms are doing a better job of managing farms.

“The extinct prediction was based on nothing changing,” said Morton. “Since then there have been significant changes.” Those changes include better and earlier administration of the drug SLICE by fish farmers to control sea lice infestations, said Morton.

“It is effectively bringing the lice numbers down,” said Morton.

But while Marine Harvest Canada, operator of the majority of fish farms in the Broughton Archipelago, appreciates the kudos, they say nothing has changed in how they treat their fish for lice.

“Yes farm management is always improving, but we haven’t changed the way we administer SLICE in five or six years,” said Ian Roberts, spokesperson for Marine Harvest. The pinks returning this fall would have migrated through the Broughton in the spring of 2008.

“There was no big corridor of fallowed farms on an out-migration route that year,” said Ian Roberts, spokesperson for Marine Harvest Canada that operates the majority of the farms in the area. “We fallowed three farms. We were managing sea lice as we have in previous years.”

Marine Harvest generally manages sea lice by administering SLICE to kill sea lice on their fish. Last year the company used 15 kg of SLICE to treat 80,000,000 kg of farmed fish.

“Lice levels near or far from farms have dropped in the last five years,” said Roberts. “The returns must be due to other variables in the ocean.

“We are consistent. We are still operating and treating for sea lice the same way. We’re consistent so there’s obviously another factor at play (in fluctuating salmon returns),” said Roberts. “We’ve seen good years and we’ve seen bad years. We have been here for both.”

 

[cuttlefish]

I see some major inconsistencies in this media report, Sockeyefry.

1. Unless things changed in the last week, Andrew Thomson is the Acting Regional Director of the Aquaculture Management Division of DFO, not the acting Regional Director of DFO in the Pacific Region, that job belongs to Paul Sprout. Correct me if I'm wrong, but no wonder Thomson deflects attention away from fish farm impacts.

2. Marine Harvest Canada didn't produce 80,000,000 kgs. of farmed salmon in 2008, the entire BC industry produced that much. Sure, MHC grew 45,000,000 kgs. but the media got it wrong again here.

3. Finally, MHC didn't use 15 kgs. of SLICE in their operations, in 2008, the industry used over 15 kgs. of Emamectin benzoate, the active ingredient in SLICE. Since EB is only a very small percentage, there was a whole lot more SLICE used. Could you point us all to a source for these actual amounts Sockeyefry? Someone other than the BC Salmon Farmers butt.? Or should we just take the North Island Gazette's word for it?

I have to agree with you Sock, sometimes the media gets it wrong. This time it got the pro-fish farm side wrong.

Maybe that's why AA let it go.

 

[agentaqua]

quote:Originally posted by cuttlefish

I see some major inconsistencies in this media report, Sockeyefry.

1. Unless things changed in the last week, Andrew Thomson is the Acting Regional Director of the Aquaculture Management Division of DFO, not the acting Regional Director of DFO in the Pacific Region, that job belongs to Paul Sprout. Correct me if I'm wrong, but no wonder Thomson deflects attention away from fish farm impacts.

2. Marine Harvest Canada didn't produce 80,000,000 kgs. of farmed salmon in 2008, the entire BC industry produced that much. Sure, MHC grew 45,000,000 kgs. but the media got it wrong again here.

3. Finally, MHC didn't use 15 kgs. of SLICE in their operations, in 2008, the industry used over 15 kgs. of Emamectin benzoate, the active ingredient in SLICE. Since EB is only a very small percentage, there was a whole lot more SLICE used. Could you point us all to a source for these actual amounts Sockeyefry? Someone other than the BC Salmon Farmers butt.? Or should we just take the North Island Gazette's word for it?

I have to agree with you Sock, sometimes the media gets it wrong. This time it got the pro-fish farm side wrong.

Maybe that's why AA let it go.

Well done cuttlefish. It's great having you here on this forum.

 

[agentaqua]

The Tyee, 21st September 2009

DFO named in aquaculture class action suit

By Colleen Kimmett

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) has been drawn into what could be a precedent-setting case for aboriginal rights in British Columbia.

Last Thursday the federal government was named as a co-defendant in a class action lawsuit dealing with fish farms, sea lice and wild salmon in the Broughton Archipelago. The suit was originally filed against the provincial government by the Kwicksutaineuk/Ah-Kwa-Mish First Nation (KAFN), whose traditional territory includes the Broughton. KAFN Chief Bob Chamberlin is the representative plaintiff.

Chamberlin said the way in which the province has managed aquaculture in the region has contributed to a decline in wild salmon populations, and therefore infringed upon KAFN fishing rights. They are seeking an injunction prohibiting salmon aquaculture permits in the Broughton Archipelago until adequate consultation and accommodation has taken place.

Lead counsel JJ Camp said this suit is the first class action lawsuit addressing aboriginal rights in British Columbia.

"The purpose is to give these nations who customarily fish in these waters access to justice as a group so that they are not trying to bring individual actions which are difficult, time consuming and expensive," he said. "The reverse side of that coin is that the courts don’t want to have similar lawsuits inundating the courts."

The province filed the motion to name the federal government as co-defendants in light of a February, 2009 Supreme Court ruling that the DFO, not the province of B.C., should be responsible for managing fish farms.

Chamberlin has been working with the First Nations Fisheries Council and the DFO to help develop a new federal framework for regulating aquaculture. After being barred from a meeting with Fisheries Minister Gail Shea earlier this month, he speculated that it was because the DFO had become involved in the suit.

"I'm hoping that's not the reason why, but that's the only difference between our relationship, or our lack of relationship, with the feds from three weeks ago until today," said Chamberlin. "I'm no stranger to the DFO circle. I thought we were making some progress."

Neither the DFO nor the province would comment as the case is before the courts.

Colleen Kimmett reports for The Tyee.

http://thetyee.ca/Blogs/TheHook/Rights-Justice/2009/09/21/DFOnamed/

 

[agentaqua]

quote:Originally posted by cohochinook

This Friday, September 11th, Dr. Tony Farrell will be presenting "Sea lice on very juvenile pink salmon: just a drag or holey terrors?"

Time: 11am

Location: AERL 120

Dr. Farrell is a UBC Professor at both the Department of Zoology and the Faculty of Land and Food Systems. He is also the Research Chair of the Centre for Aquaculture and Environmental Research (CAER). Extensively published and a recipient of numerous awards, Dr. Farrell’s research focuses on integrative and comparative animal physiology, particularly with respect to cardiorespiratory physiology and stress tolerance in salmonids.

Please join me in welcoming Dr. Farrell.

I look forward to seeing you all this Friday.

Brooke Campbell

FISH 500 Coordinator

Fisheries Centre, University of British Columbia

Supported by the Ministry of Environment, Province of BC

Hey cohochinook, did you or anyone else on this forum attend this talk?

 

[sockeyefry]

Gees Cuttle, you anti's seem to take the NI Gazzettes word when it's Morton's article, why stop now?

 

[agentaqua]

Claire's assertion that: "sockeye migrating past the Discovery Islands are much larger than the threshold risk." is complete bunk</u> - NO salmon (including adults) are "much larger than the threshold risk".

We went over (in detail) how to assess that risk all through this thread, but that risk depends upon the size (weight) of the host fish, and the number of motile lice on that fish.

In fact, Johnson, Blaylock, Elphick, and Hyatt found that in 1990, huge numbers of returning adult sockeye salmon were killed by sea lice and the associated lesions due to delays in getting-up the Sproat River in Alberni Inlet.

Here's the citation, and the abstract:

Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 53(12): 2888–2897 (1996) S.C. Johnson, R.B. Blaylock, J. Elphick, and K.D. Hyatt. Disease induced by the sea louse ((Lepeophteirus salmonis)) (Copepoda: Caligidae) in wild sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) stocks of Alberni Inlet, British Columbia

Abstract: The occurrence of the marine ectoparasitic copepod Lepeophtheirus salmonis and the prevalence of lesions caused
by its feeding activities were monitored on sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) adults returning to the Sproat and Stamp
rivers through Alberni Inlet, British Columbia, in 1990 and 1992#150;1993. All sockeye examined were infected with L. salmonis
and had higher intensities of infection than previously reported. The presence of high numbers of early developmental stages
of L. salmonis suggests a high rate of infection for sockeye in coastal waters. Lesions attributable to L. salmonis ranged from
minor skin discoloration to large open lesions that exposed the musculature. In 1990, when escapement into these river
systems was delayed, sockeye holding in the inlet developed severe lesions and suffered high mortalities. High percentages of
fish with open lesions entered both river systems in 1990, but few fish with open lesions were observed on the spawning
grounds, suggesting additional prespawning mortality. In 1992 and 1993, when escapement patterns were more normal than in
1990, the severity of lesions owing to L. salmonis was reduced and no mortalities were observed. Throughout the study, fish
in the Sproat River escapement had more severe lesions than those in the Stamp River escapement.

Only a complete idiot would have made the statement Backman did about sockeye juvies being past the size that lice can damage them, as well as his other assertion that there is: "scant evidence that sea lice can cause population level declines of salmon".

I would have expected that Claire (given his companies and his own inclusion into the sea lice monitoring program) would have understood that salmon of any size can be killed by sea lice.

I understand that the juvenile sockeye fry had 28 sea lice a piece passing Campbell River area - way more than they can take and live.

Anyways, here's Backman's take on it:
-------------------------------------------------------------------
The Times Colonist, 23rd September 2009

More facts needed in salmon debate

Inaccurate charges mar discussions over future of B.C.'s fish farms

Clare Backman

What is a stronger icon of British Columbia than the Pacific salmon?

Not much. Maybe a grizzly, or the Lions Gate Bridge, or Long Beach.

Whatever your answer, we can be reasonably certain that preserving Pacific salmon for future generations is important to everyone in the province, especially those of us who live on the Island and on the coast.

This includes the 500-plus people who work at Marine Harvest Canada, now the largest private employer on the north half of the Island and the largest aquaculture company in B.C.

Objective and fair criticism of our business is welcome. We receive lots of it through the news media and our website or via Twitter and Facebook. Off-base or wild assertions come our way too, and we do our best to respond with an open mind.

In running our business we have to stick with the facts as we understand them and use the best available science to guide our management decisions. We cannot react to every assertion that is made of every opinion that is presented.

Headlines and editorials in the Times Colonist tell us that the decline in Fraser River sockeye in 2009 is a major public concern -- and so it should be.

Some observers have already pointed to warmer oceans with less food for the sockeye to eat in 2007 and 2008.

Others ask just how many of these fish never make it back to B.C. waters because they are scooped up in the Bering Sea. Another challenge facing juvenile sockeye is the state of the urbanized and industrialized Fraser River estuary.

This is assuredly not the first time that sockeye have failed to return to the Fraser in the numbers expected. It is the first time, however, that the critics-of-aquaculture crowd has pitched the media with their default finger-pointing at our salmon farms.

The health of the Fraser River sockeye and other Pacific salmon stocks is a serious public issue that merits a serious and informed public discussion. Uninformed and inaccurate opinions and assertions should not be the basis of public policy debates or, frankly, coverage in mainstream and responsible media like the Times Colonist.

Our obligation to the communities where we operate, such as Campbell River, Port Hardy and the Comox Valley, is to listen to concerns and to behave responsibly in minimizing our environmental impacts while providing stable employment that benefits hundreds of families.

After years of listening and participating in studies, it is clear to responsible and knowledgeable fisheries biologists that the weight of scientific evidence lands on a few key points:

- Sea lice can damage or kill very small pink salmon; sockeye migrating past the Discovery Islands are much larger than the threshold risk.

- There is scant evidence that sea lice can cause population level declines of salmon; remember the "almost extinct" pink salmon in the Broughton? They are so numerous this year that a fishery was allowed.

- There is no tracking system to know just where and how numerous the Fraser River sockeye are during their migration, although this is a technology we would all like to see available.

And this brings us to the heart of the matter: Regardless of what we do not know about the causes of low survival of our wild salmon, we all need to work together to learn how to better protect them.

Our commitment to environmental, social, and economic sustainability is key to our business. If this means different management of our farms to further conserve and protect wild salmon, that is exactly what we will do. If we discover that other causes are at fault, we expect that all interested stakeholders will come together to find workable solutions.

Finally, the demand for salmon is growing by five per cent every year, and this includes B.C. consumers. Salmon's health benefits are clear and widely known. We all know that the wild fisheries cannot meet this demand and, in fact, could not make up the 79,000 tonnes of salmon produced each year by B.C.'s aquaculture industry.

Surely encouraging a sustainable salmon aquaculture industry in B.C. is one of the very best ways to lessen pressure on our wild stocks.

Clare Backman is director of environmental relations at Marine Harvest Canada.

http://www2.canada.com/victoriatime....html?id=a1e83462-4455-44c5-b0fb-41ef923e5058