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[chris gadsden]

Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Media Advisory

May 19, 2016

NEW RESEARCH ON B.C. SALMON HEALTH

Vancouver, B.C. Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), together with the Pacific Salmon Foundation (PSF), will be holding a technical briefing on an important finding related to research conducted by Dr. Kristi Miller, and her team, on the health of farmed Atlantic salmon.

DFO's Dr. Miller and PSF's Brian Riddell will be available to discuss the findings and the Strategic Salmon Health Initiative.

When: Friday, May 20, 2016

Time: 10:30am PST

Where: via moderated conference call

Call details:

Toll-free: 877-413-4814 or 613-960-7526
Participant passcode: 6137042

Event title: "BC salmon health research"

For accredited media only

For more information, please contact:
Michelle Rainer
Communications Advisor
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
604-775-5065

[chris gadsden]

DFO confirms heart disease is present in BC farmed salmon

In a technical briefing was held by phone-in only Dr. Kristi Miller of Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

They confirmed for the first time that the disease Heart and Skeletal Muscle Inflammation (HSMI) was diagnosed in farmed Atlantic salmon in a farm in the Johnston Strait area of British Columbia.

This is a very important finding because the virus associated with this disease, piscine reovirus (PRV), is widespread in the salmon farming industry with 70-95% of farmed Atlantic salmon testing positive.

Dr. Gary Marty published a paper in 2014 that reporting that HSMI does not occur in BC.

"no fish had lesions diagnostic for heart and skeletal muscle inflammation (HSMI)" Marty et al 2014, Journal of Fish Disease

This work is now in doubt

The co-announcement between the Pacific Salmon Foundation and Fisheries and Oceans Canada has significant ramifications and raises the concern that farmed salmon are putting wild salmon at disease risk.

Marine Harvest lists HSMI as the #2 leading cause of death of their salmon (page 37)
- See more at: http://alexandramorton.typepad.com/alexandra_morton/2016/05/dfo-confirms-heart-disease-is-present-in-bc-farmed-salmon.html#sthash.POIZOf1X.dpuf

[chris gadsden]

http://globalnews.ca/news/2714480/lesions-indicate-disease-in-farmed-salmon-study/

[Fisherbob]

http://globalnews.ca/news/2714480/lesions-indicate-disease-in-farmed-salmon-study/

Thanks Chris.
"However, many fish can carry the virus without having the disease, Miller said."

“This has been one of the difficulties in understanding the role of this virus in HSMI development. The single farm on which we discovered HSMI didn’t experience unusual levels of mortality. In fact, the growth and production on this farm was considered excellent.”

[swimmingwiththefishes]

http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/british-columbia/farmed-salmon-bc-disease-hsmi-aquaculture-1.3593958

Apparently that whole Harper gag on scientists thing might have made a difference...