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[mykisscrazy]

CANADA - The number of sea lice in the natural environment is affected by the salinity of the ocean. There is a genetic difference between sea lice in the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. Wild salmon in British Columbia (BC) have a natural ability to shed sea lice once the fish have reached a certain size.

These are all important points proven in the expansive body of sea lice research that need to be considered when reviewing the latest paper from anti-salmon farm campaigner Alexandra Morton, Michael Price and John Reynolds.

The study, titled "Evidence of farm-induced parasite infestations on wild juvenile salmon in multiple regions of coast British Columbia, Canada," not surprisingly given the author's backgrounds, concludes that salmon farms are a major source of sea lice on wild salmon and suggests in its introduction that this could be a cause for stock collapse.

The trouble is that their overly-simplistic analysis has significant gaps, reuses questionable methodology and is based on flawed assumptions. For example, the 'control site' - the area with no farms where they collect samples to compare with fish from near farms - has significantly lower salinity levels than the other locations. Since sea lice levels are naturally lower where salinity is reduced, this makes it a poor comparison.

There's more too about the natural environment that needs to be considered when researching sea lice - ocean currents, geography, natural population variations are all on that list.

The reality is that salmon in these areas seem to be doing quite well. There were notably -high returns of Pink salmon to the Broughton Archipelago in 2005 and 2009, and in 2008, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans sampled nearly 4000 Pink salmon and didn't find a single one at risk for lethal harm from sea lice. That's important, because we know that the only Pacific salmon at risk from sea lice is the Pink at very early stages of life when it's still too small to shed lice on its own.

This paper actually shows some real successes in farm management. It reports that sea lice intensity numbers throughout the study are very close or below the suggested conservation threshold recommended by the BC Pacific Salmon Forum report - developed over years of study and with five million dollars invested in research.

As one industry staffer (a registered professional biologist) said, a major weakness of this type of study is that it is done in isolation of other sea lice researchers. Salmon farmers are collaborating with researchers and regulators to investigate and address sea lice concerns. Together we're coming up with sound knowledge and solutions.

Our industry is well managed and highly regulated. Sea lice management programs have been proven effective - and our farmers are opening the doors to information, with the two largest producers - Marine Harvest Canada and Mainstream Canada - posting site-by-site sea lice data online.

We're proving that sound science leads to effective policy and sustainable industry. Studies like this one have to be read critically with that in perspective.


TheFishSite News Desk

[alwaysfishn]

CANADA - The number of sea lice in the natural environment is affected by the salinity of the ocean. There is a genetic difference between sea lice in the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. Wild salmon in British Columbia (BC) have a natural ability to shed sea lice once the fish have reached a certain size.

These are all important points proven in the expansive body of sea lice research that need to be considered when reviewing the latest paper from anti-salmon farm campaigner Alexandra Morton, Michael Price and John Reynolds.

The study, titled "Evidence of farm-induced parasite infestations on wild juvenile salmon in multiple regions of coast British Columbia, Canada," not surprisingly given the author's backgrounds, concludes that salmon farms are a major source of sea lice on wild salmon and suggests in its introduction that this could be a cause for stock collapse.

The trouble is that their overly-simplistic analysis has significant gaps, reuses questionable methodology and is based on flawed assumptions. For example, the 'control site' - the area with no farms where they collect samples to compare with fish from near farms - has significantly lower salinity levels than the other locations. Since sea lice levels are naturally lower where salinity is reduced, this makes it a poor comparison.

There's more too about the natural environment that needs to be considered when researching sea lice - ocean currents, geography, natural population variations are all on that list.

The reality is that salmon in these areas seem to be doing quite well. There were notably -high returns of Pink salmon to the Broughton Archipelago in 2005 and 2009, and in 2008, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans sampled nearly 4000 Pink salmon and didn't find a single one at risk for lethal harm from sea lice. That's important, because we know that the only Pacific salmon at risk from sea lice is the Pink at very early stages of life when it's still too small to shed lice on its own.

This paper actually shows some real successes in farm management. It reports that sea lice intensity numbers throughout the study are very close or below the suggested conservation threshold recommended by the BC Pacific Salmon Forum report - developed over years of study and with five million dollars invested in research.

As one industry staffer (a registered professional biologist) said, a major weakness of this type of study is that it is done in isolation of other sea lice researchers. Salmon farmers are collaborating with researchers and regulators to investigate and address sea lice concerns. Together we're coming up with sound knowledge and solutions.

Our industry is well managed and highly regulated. Sea lice management programs have been proven effective - and our farmers are opening the doors to information, with the two largest producers - Marine Harvest Canada and Mainstream Canada - posting site-by-site sea lice data online.

We're proving that sound science leads to effective policy and sustainable industry. Studies like this one have to be read critically with that in perspective.


TheFishSite News Desk

Perhaps the aquaculture industries reports would have more credibility if they dedicated 90% of the report to sea lice analysis and 10% to knocking the critics rather than 90% to knocking the critics and 10% to sea lice analysis.....

They obviously are convinced that "BS baffles brains". I question how much science they really do.....   

[Dave]

Glad your’e back mykisscrazy, and thanks for the information.  I’m happy the aquaculture industry is defending themselves from the steady stream of misinformation as I am a strong proponent of fish farming, likening it to any other form of animal husbandry.
allwaysfishn, you mention credibility … how do you think the anti aquaculturists look in the general public’s eyes right now?  Remember them emphatically stating “sea lice will cause the extinction of Broughton pinks and decimate Fraser sockeye” ……
Well, we know what happened ….  record pinks last year, record sockeye numbers this year, all user groups with full freezers/fatter bank accounts.
Blaming sea lice on poor salmon returns is lame and I predict the much lauded Cohen Commission will eventually state that.

[marmot]

I have not seen the shift back towards "farmed" salmon as a good thing... and wild salmon is still touted at restaurants as the "better" more "ocean safe" choice.... soooo... how has public perception changed?  Not much.

The public doesn't pay attention to the nuts and bolts of it.  They just want somebody to tell them if there is a problem with farmed salmon or not.  There are still a lot of voices saying that aquaculture as it is currently practiced is a lousy addition to our coastlines, and for the most part they are taken more seriously than self-interested corporations (that nobody trusts to begin with).

All it takes is one picture of a sea lice infested juvenile wild salmon from a farmed salmon area and the public will fixate on that. 

[chris gadsden]

Glad your’e back mykisscrazy, and thanks for the information.  I’m happy the aquaculture industry is defending themselves from the steady stream of misinformation as I am a strong proponent of fish farming, likening it to any other form of animal husbandry.
allwaysfishn, you mention credibility … how do you think the anti aquaculturists look in the general public’s eyes right now?  Remember them emphatically stating “sea lice will cause the extinction of Broughton pinks and decimate Fraser sockeye” ……
Well, we know what happened ….  record pinks last year, record sockeye numbers this year, all user groups with full freezers/fatter bank accounts.
Blaming sea lice on poor salmon returns is lame and I predict the much lauded Cohen Commission will eventually state that.

Any comment about the damage fish farms have done to wild salmon and trout in many other countries, Chile, Scotland etc.. Why do we expect it to be any difference here in BC. As far as I know the proponets of fish farms never talk about these disasters to the wild fish in so many countries world wide.

And then there is these facts I have copied below. How can we support fish farms after we read articles like this, especially paying attention to item 3. We, the government should be putting more effort into looking after our wild stocks and then we would not have to worry about having farmed fish. It is well known the health of our wild fish stocks is a bell weather on how we are looking after our environment. Its disturbing that we destroy more habitat each passing day all in the name of progress, sad. Ocean located fish farms are just another example of this as well in my mind.


Aquaculture Creates Pollution
The US plans to open new fish farms met with opposition from fishermen and environmentalists who argued that pollution from the farms could threaten marine life. This is a point elaborated upon by the WWF in their web page “Problems: Aquaculture”. Fish farms at sea typically use an open net cage system which allows waste water to leak into the surrounding environment. The high concentration of fish in an aquaculture system means a large load of fish feces in a small area. This can cause algal blooms which reduce oxygen in the area as well as produce ammonia, methane, and hydrogen sulphide. In excess, these compounds can kill marine life.

Fish Farm Escapees Endanger Marine Life
Fish farms are not high security prisons. Although farmers do their best to keep fish in their nets, these creatures often slip out. This is illustrated in the September 3, 2009 BBC article “Fish fears after sea farm escape” where 37,000 juvenile salmon escaped their Scottish nets to swim out to sea. The main problem cited in the article was the “genetic integrity” of wild salmon. Farmed fish are bred for certain traits and having them breed in the wild could cause havoc to the ecosystem. Another health issue, posed by the WWF in “Problems: Aquaculture” is the higher incidence of disease and parasites on fish farms. In particular, farmed salmon have a higher incidence of sea lice – which can be deadly to a fish.

Perhaps the worst problem posed by aquaculture is that it puts pressure on fish populations. As Ken Stier’s September 2007 Time Magazine article “Fish Farming’s Growing Dangers” points out, humans tend to eat carnivorous fish such as tuna, bass, and cod. These fish must be fed smaller fish which are typically caught from the wild and ground into fish meal. Roughly 37% of all seafood in the world is ground into feed. It takes 20 kilograms of fish feed to create 1 kilogram of tuna, making for a highly inefficient system.

[Dave]

Chris, understand I realize there are problems associated with salmon farming as this industry is in it’s infancy and of course has growing pains.  But think about this - how long has mankind domesticated other species … and still there are problems (think mad cow disease, swine/avian influenzas, etc).
 IMO, aquacultures biggest obstacle to overcome is, as you stated, the fact it consumes so much protein, sadly from other fish. That problem must be addressed and it’s my understanding big bucks are being spent on research using plant proteins to supplement diets. 
My post was about sea lice and the fact they did not appear to harm recent salmon returns despite the dire predictions from people on the nightly news; it was also about, as Marmot states, people’s desire to be told rather than use their intuition or common sense.

[chris gadsden]

Chris, understand I realize there are problems associated with salmon farming as this industry is in it’s infancy and of course has growing pains.  But think about this - how long has mankind domesticated other species … and still there are problems (think mad cow disease, swine/avian influenzas, etc).
 IMO, aquacultures biggest obstacle to overcome is, as you stated, the fact it consumes so much protein, sadly from other fish. That problem must be addressed and it’s my understanding big bucks are being spent on research using plant proteins to supplement diets.  
My post was about sea lice and the fact they did not appear to harm recent salmon returns despite the dire predictions from people on the nightly news; it was also about, as Marmot states, people’s desire to be told rather than use their intuition or common sense.

In all respect "the growing pains" in other countries have decimated wild fish stocks and I certainly I donot want to see it happen here, be it sea lice or whatever has done so much damage in the mentioned countries. Marv has a great power point presentation that will show the damage fish farms have done.

I will get it to you when it is released.

[Dave]

Thanks Chris. I've heard he has put together an interesting perspective and look forward to reading it.

[troutbreath]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/27/world/americas/27salmon.html?_r=1


Just an image problem Dave. Bad press, good mad cow.

[alwaysfishn]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/27/world/americas/27salmon.html?_r=1


Just an image problem Dave. Bad press, good mad cow.

With fish farms the truth may be somewhere in the middle and hopefully the Cohen commission will get to the truth. In the interim the supporters on either side likely exaggerate their claims/science in the interests of getting the public on their side. The public will eventually determine the fate of fish farms especially if people stop buying the penned salmon.

I am definitely be doing my part to spread my spin on penned salmon as I believe they are harming our pristine coastlines and the future of our wild salmon. Not eating penned salmon or any farmed shell fish is a decision I made many many years ago. Propaganda such as seen in the first post will do nothing to convince me salmon farms are not harmful.

[alwaysfishn]

This is quite a revealing quote from the New York Times article.

"Environmentalists say the salmon are being farmed for export at the expense of almost everything else around. The equivalent of 7 to 11 pounds of fresh fish are required to produce 2 pounds of farmed salmon, according to estimates.

Salmon feces and food pellets are stripping the water of oxygen, killing other marine life and spreading disease, biologists and environmentalists say. Escaped salmon are eating other fish species and have begun invading rivers and lakes as far away as neighboring Argentina, researchers say."

[Gooey]

I read an article stating that this years sockeye run benefitted from a volcanic eruption in 2006 or so.  That eruption and the ash that fell into the pacific fertalized the waters which lead to a huge increase in krill and plankton populations.  Dave, one huge anomoly of a sockeye run doesnt mean there aren't problems out there with lice.  I think that anyone who thinks they have figure out all the variables at play out there is highly delusional.

I pulled a number of sockeye out of seymour narrows this summer and I have never seen such heavy lice loads on adult fish...4-5 generations of lice, all over the bod, not just behind the anal fin.  to me that indicates an obvious lice infestation in that area.  oh, guess what, that area is loaded with fish farms too...kind of makes you wonder eh Dave???

Lets face it, all big business all lie and spin the truth.  Their only responsibility is to the share holder and they care for little else.  This is true of most industries: tobacco, pharma, fish farms, etc

Now if I were looking at two people arguing over a subject, I think I would be more skeptical of the one who has a financial interest in the matter (ie fish farms)...I am not sure why some people have an issue with Alexandra Morton's credibility...what industry interest is backing her or paying for her studies/reports? 

on an interesting side note,  I read an article saying farmed salmon had less omega 3 than beef (due to the fish's diet).  Sounds like farmed salmon is no better than any other chemically, hormonally, or genetically mass produced protein.

[chris gadsden]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/27/world/americas/27salmon.html?_r=1


Just an image problem Dave. Bad press, good mad cow.

Thanks so much for posting as I had not seen this, have sent to Alexendra and others encase they had not seen it.

[chris gadsden]

Please find enclosed a press update including:   
 
 
"Extinction countdown: Rattling the salmon cages - Is salmon farming bad for the oceans?" (Scientific American, 17th November): http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=rattling-the-salmon-cages-concerns-2010-11-17
 
"Tofino, Ucluelet Residents Create New Film About Salmon Farming" (The Westcoaster, 17th November): http://www.westcoaster.ca/news/alberni-clayoquot/10335-Tofino-Ucluelet-Residents-Create-New-Film-About-Salmon-Farming.html
 
"Silver Harvest comes to the silver screen - A new half-hour film about the development of BC's salmon farming industry, its accomplishments and future plans is now online for public viewing" (BC Salmon Farmers Association, 17th November): http://www.salmonfarmers.org./silver-harvest-comes-silver-screen
 
"Vancouver Island gets new government aquaculture offices - As a result of the transition of the regulatory responsibility for aquaculture in British Columbia to the federal government, new offices will be established in Campbell River, Courtenay and Nanaimo" (Fish Farming Xpert, 17th November): http://www.fishfarmingxpert.com/index.php?page_id=76&article_id=89819
 
"Sea lice study called misleading" (The Courier-Islander, 17th November): http://www2.canada.com/courierislander/news/story.html?id=8528eb16-0391-472b-9604-10851a228705
 
"'Superheroes' fight for salmon - New campaign sees the superheroes fighting for the justice of wild salmon" (FIS, 17th November): http://www.fis.com/fis/worldnews/worldnews.asp?l=e&country=0&special=&monthyear=&day=&id=39260&ndb=1&df=0
 
"Sea of facts delays salmon probe - Cohen inquiry takes two week hiatus to deal with documents" (The Globe & Mail, 16th November): http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/sea-of-facts-delays-salmon-probe/article1801463/
 
"Leaps of bad faith: More revelations of FDA bad behavior around GE salmon" (Grist, 16th November): http://www.grist.org/article/food-2010-11-16-fda-bad-behavor-over-ge-salmon
 
"B.C. salmon farmers planting eel grass - Local environmental consultant company develops method for transplanting vegetation into new habitat as compensation for salmon farm impacts" (Fish Farming Xpert, 16th November): http://www.fishfarmingxpert.com/index.php?page_id=76&article_id=89809
 
"Sea lice from farmed salmon has been found infesting wild salmon in British Columbia" (The Earth Times, 16th November): http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/353836,sea-lice-from-farmed-salmon-has-been-found-infesting-wild.html
 
"Federal Fisheries Committee begins West coast fish farm tour: MP Donnelly calls for strengthening the fisheries act by moving to closed containment" (Fin Donnelly MP, 15th November): www.findonnelly.ca
 
"Troubling Emails Reveal Federal Scientists Fear FDA Approval of Genetically Engineered Salmon: “Maybe They [the FDA] Should Watch Jurassic Park.”" (Food & Water Watch, 15th November): http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2010/11/15-9
 
"The Ups and Downs of Fraser River Sockeye - Public Presentation December 6" (Salmon Are Sacred, 15th November): http://salmonaresacred.org/event/ups-and-downs-fraser-river-sockeye-public-presentation-december-6
 
"A dedication to the 'Salmon Woman'" (J Peachy Gallery, 15th November): http://jpeachygallery.com/2010/11/15/a-dedication-to-the-salmon-woman/
 
"Superheroes Fight for Disclosure of Disease Data" (ECO, 15th November): http://www.huffstrategy.com/MediaManager/release/Super-Heroes-4-Salmon/15-11-10/Superheroes-Fight-for-Disclosure-of-Disease-Data/2122.html
 
"Salmon farms pit two heavyweights into battle" (Bernard's BCIT Journal, 15th November): http://bernardatbcit.wordpress.com/2010/11/14/heavyweights-duke-it-out-over-salmon-farming-in-b-c/
 
"DFO to oversee aquaculture" (Nanaimo News Bulletin, 15th November): http://www.bclocalnews.com/vancouver_island_central/nanaimonewsbulletin/news/108237979.html

[Dogbreath]

To my mind it's an indication of how limited the Salmon Aquaculture industry is that they would send their shills to post lies on forums like this.