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[RA40]

Also below is an excerpt from the Living Oceans' newsletter:
>
> Fraser River Communities Asking For Action
>
> Now that evidence is emerging that sea lice are impacting wild salmon
> from the Fraser River, inland communities are taking notice. They want
> to know what risks their local wild salmon may be encountering as they
> migrate through the Georgia Strait. Get involved today.
>
> CAAR members recently travelled to Williams Lake as part of an effort
> to speak with local groups in the Fraser River watershed about these
> issues. During a presentation to the BC Wildlife Federation the
> audience appeared surprised to hear that local stocks-Chilco and
> Quesnel-were the dominant Fraser stocks found in the sample.
>
> At meetings in the Lytton, Lillooet and Mt. Currie areas, members of
> local First Nations and conservation groups also expressed great
> concern that the salmon they rely on to return each year may be
> affected by the open net salmon farming operations in the Georgia
> Strait. "It makes complete sense to them that the fish passing the
> farms would be impacted in the same way as local stocks, and they want
> to know what they can do about it," said Ruby Berry of the Georgia Strait Alliance.
>
> Do you live in the Fraser Basin and want to find out what you can do?
> Contact ruby@georgiastrait.org to get involved!
>
> http://www.livingoceans.org/newsletters/farmed_and_dangerous/fad031609

[Morty]

Thanks RA40 for getting on this issue. 

Momentum is starting to build - we all need to be telling everyone we can.  I am learning that there are many, many people (including recreational, commercial, and First Nations fishers) who are unaware of the sea lice issue.  We NEED to keep this pot boiling!!

[mykisscrazy]

A lot of what is coming out through various environmental groups is quite biased and unfortunately one sided. Hopefully soon various research groups such as the one listed below will get their voice out to the public.
The numbers of salmon returning all over the province overall has been declining even in areas where there are no farms
So, please keep an open mind 

Sea lice project: Sea lice from salmon farms are often blamed for the collapse of the pink salmon runs in northern Vancouver Island, however no scientific studies have heretofore quantified how sea lice really affect pink salmon smolts. In collaboration with Dr. Colin Brauner of the UBC Zoology Department, we are undertaking an objective examination of the effects of lice loading on:

    Swim performance of juvenile pink salmon (L. Nendick)
    Stress physiology of juvenile pink salmon (M. Gardner)
    Osmoregulation in juvenile pink salmon (M. Sackville)
    Growth and smoltification in juvenile pink salmon (A. Grant)

[aquapaloosa]

I have to agree with mkc,   please keep an open mind.

[Eagleye]

A lot of what is coming out through various environmental groups is quite biased and unfortunately one sided. Hopefully soon various research groups such as the one listed below will get their voice out to the public.
The numbers of salmon returning all over the province overall has been declining even in areas where there are no farms
So, please keep an open mind 

Sea lice project: Sea lice from salmon farms are often blamed for the collapse of the pink salmon runs in northern Vancouver Island, however no scientific studies have heretofore quantified how sea lice really affect pink salmon smolts. In collaboration with Dr. Colin Brauner of the UBC Zoology Department, we are undertaking an objective examination of the effects of lice loading on:

    Swim performance of juvenile pink salmon (L. Nendick)
    Stress physiology of juvenile pink salmon (M. Gardner)
    Osmoregulation in juvenile pink salmon (M. Sackville)
    Growth and smoltification in juvenile pink salmon (A. Grant)

There are many factors affecting salmon.  This one has proven to kill them off.  It may not be the only cause of their decline but it IS one of them that we can actually fix in a timely fashion if we manage to convince the government they must do so.  More unbiased studies are always a good thing but the precautionary principle should be applied until the studies are concluded.

[Folkboat]

 This sea lice study tells us nothing more than we know from studies done in the 1960's. Up to 70% of smolts do not make it past 40 days in the marine environment. The only difference with this study is that it points its finger at an industry that was not here in the 60's.

[UFV_Poor_Fisher]

Ya, i have to admit im not convinced on the issue of Sea Lice, or salmoncola or whatever they shall be called, being one of the chief reasons for wild salmon stock declines. I am not saying that it can't be one of the reasons but i just haven't seen the "conclusive" as of yet.

this equation does make sense to me though....

Young juvenile fish + external parasite= Declining health and survivability.

but again this could very well be wrong...cant wait for your study to come back with some solid results in either direction mykisscrazy...

[aquapaloosa]

The sea lice debate seams like a perfect "host" itself to feed fear to cause concerning salmon stalks.  The photo's of the little pests consuming a young smolt or fry are enough to make me suspiciously itchy while swimming in my local pool.  Yuk!  But the fact about sea lice is that they are natural and are very abundant in the wild on many species of fish and mammals.  It is a natural reaction when confronted with the image or an actual encounter with lice to react with concern.  I have seen the reaction from people when they catch there first salmon or stealhead and it has lice on it is one of uncertainty.  I think it is sometimes funny when a client of stealhead guide catches a fresh bar of chrome with lice and the guide is ecstatic and the clients are  thinking they just caught a fish infested with flees.  The guide has to coax them a bit to believe that it is a really good and exciting thing to see. (Not always the case but just kinda funny)
Anyway,  just has always seemed like a real convenient delivery mechanism for anti salmonfarming groups to role off the presses for there cause.
I understand the concern clearly and do not deny that.  My point is that sealice as a device for farmed salmon slamin just seams so perfect.  I am certain that based on the basic impression that sea lice is ugly and mean and a parasite that this debate may never go away.  I hope it does and look forward to results from solid science.

[Folkboat]

 You are correct on the photo's Aqua. A picture can say a thousand words. I also have had a hard time telling friends that the salmon they caught for the first time is ok to keep when there is lice on it. This brings up once again the fuss from some anti-farmer groups, that the public hear the most.
   1.   Morton’s/ KrKosek’s study concentrated on half-gram fish while ignoring fish up to 10 grams that research has shown are fully capable of surviving lice infection.  Sounds like selective sampling to me.
2.   Studies from the 1960’s found that 59 to 77% of wild pink salmon die within the first 40 days in the marine environment. This was well before salmon farming came to the area.
3.   Pacific Salmon Forum. Interim findings. “All the field researchers noted that over 80% of the wild salmon smolts migrating  out of the Broughton (inlets) in the spring of 2007 had no lice on them whatsoever.”
4.   Wild pink salmon runs are known to fluctuate. Alaska’s 2006 wild pink run was less than 10% of the average, the lowest pink run since 1975. There are no salmon farms up there. So they claim.
5.   Salmon farming started in the Broughton Archipelago around 1987 where In 2000 the pink salmon return was a record high, and in 2004 the marine survival of wild pink salmon reached a high estimated at 34%. How can this be when according to Morton and KrKosek’s study up to 95% of the juveniles had been killed by sea lice
6.   Fact is, the research by KrKosek and colleagues estimated that sea lice kill 9 – 95 % of juvenile wild salmon. Don’t forget about point # 2.  9 – 95% is a very wide range but the 95 % is what made the news.

[troutbreath]

Some of the fuss I heard was, that if the sea lice was tight among groin area, you were eating too much farmed salmon. Maybe I got that backward. I'm looking back at the facts, so some of the stuff from fish farms isn't up to date. Costs money you know.

[Folkboat]

 I have to smile . I like humor and that was a good Troutbreath. “Some of the fuss I heard was, that if the sea lice was tight among groin area,  you were eating too much farmed salmon”  I missed that study. Can you link it please?

[Riverman]

I see there has been an infestation on this board by the same salmon farm schills that are spreading their mis-directions and politicized science on other boards.Hopefully the newly elected government will give these foreign companies the heave ho as has been the case everywhere else they have reeked  havoc!

[mykisscrazy]

"I see there has been an infestation on this board by the same salmon farm schills that are spreading their mis-directions and politicized science on other boards.Hopefully the newly elected government will give these foreign companies the heave ho as has been the case everywhere else they have reeked  havoc!"

I'm glad they are. Otherwise it's just the fanatical anti-farming, NIMBY types that just seem to spout off with thier very one sided opinions.
There are two side to every story, and the truth is not necessarily the one who tells it by yelling the loudest.

[Folkboat]

  Hello Riverman. Please feel free to post any information you have, or science reviews that support the selective sea lice study that the ngos are standing behind. I would like to read them.