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[alwaysfishn]

Thanks for the welcome. No, I don't work for the farms. I have a small business building doors, cabinets and furniture that I've been building for 15 years. I do have training and I have worked in the industry in the past so I have the tools to understand it and some actual experience to contrast to the claims made. Mostly though, I'm just interested in salmon farming and stay informed but I also have to admit that Morton's disinformation campaign fascinates me.

The situation prior to DFO assuming responsibility was acceptable to all parties involved except Morton, not unreasonable since agriculture and crop production are a provincial responsibility. It was her court challenge that caused the change to the current state of affairs. I can't for the life of me understand why Morton would be so insistent on DFO taking responsibility if they are as dishonest, incompetent and secretive as Morton and folks like yourself suggest that they are. If those allegations are true, it would be like issuing a death sentence to wild salmon and we all know Morton is devoted to saving them.

Did you read the linked material underlying this latest tempest? Any thoughts?

Probably can exclude the general public as well as Morton. It's rather important to have the appropriate authorities looking after their legal responsibilities. The BC government is responsible for natural resources but they can't start drilling oil or gas wells off the coast without permission from the federal government.

But you know all that, and the spin you are putting on Morton having made a mistake in ensuring that DFO take back a legal responsibility is pretty silly.

[troutbreath]

I believe that the big push to get the DFO to look after the Salmon was that so many BC Liberals had stocks in the fish farms. I remember Gordo saying he does not know what his stock portfolio had in it. Ya right.

[chris gadsden]

I take that as a huge compliment; thanks alwaysfishin

The only fish farm fiasco I see is that the general public is getting way too much poorly advised media coverage, both from the Morton camp and the conspicuously non existent Communications Branch of DFO/PMO.

As well David you should include all the expensive TV ads the fish farms industry is running during prime time the last while, even during Canuck hockey games.

 This shows they are very concerned on what is developing to their industry as the evidence continues to mount in showing the damage these farms are doing to our wild salmon stocks and the environment.

Not sure when the message will get through that all the problems that have arisen over the years in so many other countries with these ocean located farms is now raising its ugly head here, what a tragedy to say the least.

Thankfully we have many continuing to work hard to expose the truth even as hard it is to try and convince some.

[chris gadsden]

StillAqua

            Don't believe everything that comes out of the Cohen hearings. Lots of politics and fancy lawyers who can manipulate data to their liking. As you can see we can't trust DFO or the federal government.

So true Buck. A recent e mail I received on what went on there on several issues including fish farms was very unsettling. One day I may ask if I can share it here.

[absolon]

Probably can exclude the general public as well as Morton. It's rather important to have the appropriate authorities looking after their legal responsibilities. The BC government is responsible for natural resources but they can't start drilling oil or gas wells off the coast without permission from the federal government.

But you know all that, and the spin you are putting on Morton having made a mistake in ensuring that DFO take back a legal responsibility is pretty silly.

You're missing the point. Whether it was a mistake or not is irrelevant. I'm wondering why she fought so hard to have the responsibility shifted to people she considers unfit to manage it. It doesn't seem very rational to me.

[Dave]

So true Buck. A recent e mail I received on what went on there on several issues including fish farms was very unsettling. One day I may ask if I can share it here.

Chris, who do you have to ask to share your insider information?   You've never shied away before in your political leanings ... why now

[alwaysfishn]

Chris, who do you have to ask to share your insider information?   You've never shied away before in your political leanings ... why now

He needs to have it peer reviewed before being published....  " as it carries a very high scientific standard for peer review and acceptance." (I have no idea what that means, but apparently StillAqua does)  

[StillAqua]

The only fish farm fiasco I see is that the general public is getting way too much poorly advised media coverage, both from the Morton camp and the conspicuously non existent Communications Branch of DFO/PMO.

"Poorly advised" is a huge understatement. I remember a time when news was based on actual interviews with all the parties involved and fact-based accurate stories were the ethical standard for a reporter and the news. Those days seem to be long gone. Supermarket checkout tabloids seem to be the new standard.

[chris gadsden]

A few more hours of reading.

Please find enclosed a press update including:

 

"More salmon shenanigans in British Columbia" (Nature, 2nd December): http://blogs.nature.com/news/2011/12/more_salmon_shenanigans_in_bri.html

 

"DFO says ISA reports were 'false positives'" (The Courier-Islander, 2nd December): http://www.canada.com/says+reports+were+false+positives/5800672/story.html

 

"Suspicious ISA virus infected centre detected" (FIS, 2nd December): http://www.fis.com/fis/worldnews/worldnews.asp?monthyear=&day=2&id=48163&l=e&special=&ndb=1%20target=

 

"Did Canada cover up deadly salmon virus? Report suggests yes" (Los Angeles Times, 1st December): http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/2011/12/infectious-salmon-anemia-virus-salmon-report.html

 

"Editorial: Share information: Salmon viruses do not respect borders" (The Seattle Times, 1st December): http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorials/2016910025_edit02virus.html

 

"Dead zones in our future: Brought to us by Cooke Aquaculture" (South Coast Today/Passages, 1st December): http://www.southcoasttoday.ca/content/opinion-dead-zones-our-future

 

"Unpublished DFO report finds 100% of Cultus Lake sockeye found with deadly salmon virus" (Chilliwack Times, 1st December): http://www.chilliwacktimes.com/news/Unpublished+report+finds+Cultus+Lake+sockeye+found+with+deadly+salmon/5797701/story.html

 

"Active farm sites for 2011 outmigration mapped for public" (BC Salmon Farmers Association, 1st December): http://www.salmonfarmers.org/active-farm-sites-2011-outmigration-mapped-public 

 

"Witnesses weigh in on closed-containment salmon farming" (iPolitics, 1st December): http://www.ipolitics.ca/2011/12/01/witnesses-weigh-in-on-closed-containment-salmon-farming/

 

"Organic fish farm proposed for Inis Oírr" (The Irish Times, 1st December): http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/1202/1224308473390.html

 

"Call for salmon input" (The Marlborough Express, 1st December): http://www.stuff.co.nz/marlborough-express/news/picton/6074055/Call-for-salmon-input

 

"Skuna Bay partners with Aquarium of the Pacific" (Seafood Source, 1st December): http://www.seafoodsource.com/newsarticledetail.aspx?id=13146

 

"Canada criticized on fish virus data" (The Chronicle Herald, 1st December): http://thechronicleherald.ca/canada/38290-canada-criticized-fish-virus-data

"ISA Discovery Covered Up" (The Fish Site, 1st December): http://www.thefishsite.com/fishnews/16013/isa-discovery-covered-up

 

"Another ISA report surfaces in BC" (Fish Farming Xpert/Norwegian Fish Farmer, 1st December): http://www.fishfarmingxpert.com/index.php?page_id=76&article_id=93251

 

"Was there evidence of ISA in B.C. wild salmon back in 2002?" (Intrafish, 30th November): http://www.intrafish.com/global/news/article1262031.ece

 

"Leaks reveal ISA may have been detected in wild BC salmon in 2002" (Farmed & Dangerous, 30th November): http://www.farmedanddangerous.org/newsletter/2011/11/3785/

 

"Fishyleaks Reveals: Government Knew of Pacific Salmon Virus for Years" (Pacific Free Press, 30th November): http://www.pacificfreepress.com/news/1/10307-fishyleaks-reveals-government-knew-of-pacific-salmon-virus-for-years.html

 

"Letter: Skuna Bay welcomes tough questions" (Intrafish, 30th November): http://www.intrafish.com/global/news/article1262048.ece

 

"Letter: Salmon revolution? Really" (Intrafish, 30th November): http://www.intrafish.com/global/news/article1262034.ece

 

"Canadian government suppressing science on Infectious Salmon Anemia (ISA) on Pacific Coast?" (The Salmon Guy, 30th November): http://www.salmonguy.org/?p=4625

 

 

Including from Anne Casselman writing in Nature today:

 

"This recent outing of subterfuge comes hot on the heels of an announcement made in mid-October by Simon Fraser University biologist Rick Routledge that ISA was present in two out of 48 young salmon from Rivers Inlet, British Columbia. For all anyone knew, Routledge's discovery was the first reported case of ISA in wild salmon. But with the revelation of the 2002 DFO report, it appears that may not be the case..... Whether ISA is the salmon equivalent of measles being introduced to indigenous North Americans remains unclear. One of the authors of the recently surfaced DFO report concludes in the report that the ISA-like virus detected may in fact be a local and wild strain of ISA. The same author hasn't been granted permission by the DFO to submit the study data for publication in an academic journal."

 

From an article in today's Courier-Islander:

 

"DFO said in a statement Wednesday that there is still no credible evidence of ISA in the north Pacific.  "The type of testing used by Dr. Kibenge in 2003/04 is a highly sensitive test that often produces false positive results," the DFO said in a statement.  Further testing was needed for confirmation, it said. "Appropriate follow-up was done on Dr. Kibenge's work, using more thorough testing procedures, and, based on the best science available, it was concluded that her results had produced a false positive and there was no presence of ISA in her samples."

 

From the Los Angeles Times:

 

"Call it Salmongate. The deepening controversy over who knew what and when about a deadly virus that may or may not have been detected in West Coast salmon would be obscure fodder for biologists if there weren't so much at stake -- the health of the West's dwindling stocks of wild salmon, for one. And Canada's $2.1-billion fish farming industry"

 

An Editorial in The Seattle Times:

 

"Concerns about salmon viruses must be shared between the U.S. and Canada. Threats to a lucrative industry do not respect borders"

 

And from The Chilliwack Times:

 

"Someone should be going to jail over this,” said Werring wrote in an email to other environmental organizations on Nov. 23. “Never in my over 20 years of doing my work have I seen such duplicity by our government. The closest thing I can relate to is when whistle blowers in the U.S. released documents showing that tobacco companies knew their product harmed people. This document (2004 draft) shows our government has known for years that ISAV has been in the Pacific and they have done nothing except cover it up. Appalling!”

 

 

Note that on 15th & 16th December there will be an ISA hearing at the Cohen Commission – details online here (more background here).   

 

 

Read the leaked Canadian Government report detailing over 100 positive tests for ISA in farmed Atlantic and wild Pacific salmon – online via 'Fishyleaks

'

For background on the global spread of ISA read "ISA: Diary of Disease Disaster" and "Fish Farmageddon: The Infectious Salmon Aquacalypse" – online via:  http://www.wildsalmonfirst.org/fish-farmageddon-infectious-salmon-aquacalypse

 

Read the official reports from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency on the second case of ISA in coho salmon in the Fraser River - online here

 

Read the report from the OIE Reference Laboratory on the positive samples in Fraser River chinook and chum – online here

 

Read the first official report of the European strain of ISA in sockeye salmon in Rivers Inlet on the Central Coast - online here

 

Read the Norwegian laboratory report on the 6th and 7th positive tests for ISA in Fraser River coho and sockeye – online here

 

More details via "Chronology of a Cover-Up in Canada: ISA in British Columbia"

 

 

Best fishes,

 

Don

[absolon]

The outrage from the Americans is really quite interesting. They have an active salmon farming industry in Washington, a huge hatchery based salmon ranching operation in Alaska and a significant salmon fishing industry in both states. One has to wonder why they aren't doing their own testing for the various diseases that might affect those industries.

Perhaps the so-called outrage spurred on by Senator Cantwell has more to do with her upcoming re-election bid in 2012.

[troutbreath]

The outrage from the Americans is really quite interesting. They have an active salmon farming industry in Washington, a huge hatchery based salmon ranching operation in Alaska and a significant salmon fishing industry in both states. One has to wonder why they aren't doing their own testing for the various diseases that might affect those industries.

Perhaps the so-called outrage spurred on by Senator Cantwell has more to do with her upcoming re-election bid in 2012.

http://www.ehow.com/facts_6319116_washington-state-fish-farming.html

Two fish farm companies pumping out a fraction of what's going on here. I think the fish farmers know if they screw up down there with a virus, their going to jail. Up here if they let loose a virus nothing will happen and the Americans will sue the Canadian public for infecting their waters.

[Dave]

He needs to have it peer reviewed before being published.... 

I consider myself a peer in this case and would like to read what Chris needs permission to write. This post is now 16 pages and has been viewed (at last count) 4342 times.  I'm sure these viewers are also interested in this insider info that is twisting Chris's shorts.

[chris gadsden]

This may make some happy for a while.

December 2, 2011
Statement From the Federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Keith Ashfield, on Negative Infectious Salmon Anaemia Test Results in British Columbia Salmon

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Dec. 2, 2011) - Federal officials from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, along with officials from Fisheries and Oceans Canada and British Columbia's Chief Veterinary Officer, held a technical briefing today confirming that additional in-depth test results showed no signs of Infectious Salmon Anaemia (ISA) in British Columbia salmon. Officials provided information on the extensive investigation by the Government of Canada into claims about the presence of the disease in B.C. waters.

The Honourable Keith Ashfield, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, made the following statement following the technical briefing:

"After Canada's reputation has needlessly been put at risk over the past several weeks because of speculation and unfounded science, additional in-depth, conclusive tests, using proper and internationally recognized procedures, are now complete and we can confirm that there has never been a confirmed case of ISA in BC salmon, wild or farmed.

"The National Reference Laboratory has completed all testing and analysis of all the samples under investigation and none have tested positive for ISA.

"This reinforces the regular testing conducted by federal and provincial officials; in recent years, over 5000 fresh, properly collected and stored samples have been tested and there has never been a confirmed case of ISA in British Columbia salmon.

"Canada's current practices and procedures to protect our wild and farmed salmon industries from disease are in place and working; that is why we can be proud of all aspects of the Canadian fishing industry, which is recognized worldwide as a leader in the production of high-quality, safe and sustainable seafood.

"Fisheries and Oceans Canada, CFIA and provincial governments will continue to work together to maintain our excellent international reputation."

Related information:

News release: Canada Completes Infectious Salmon Anaemia Testing: No Confirmed Cases in BC Salmon

Backgrounder: Protecting Canada's Aquatic Species from Disease - a focus on Canada's Pacific Region

[absolon]

Troutbreath, if the presence of the virus poses a high risk to wild stocks, wouldn't the wild fisheries also be a concern, and in the western US and Alaska where about 150,000,000 "wild" fish are caught each year providing a very substantial economic benefit, those fisheries are of great concern.

Under those circumstances, wouldn't it be logical to be testing the wild stocks? As it happens, Dr. James Winton, the chief of the fish health section of the Western Fisheries Research Center and also the US scientist quoted in most of the articles, is precisely the man who should have been doing that. With the enormous value to the US from salmon, he should have been in a position to tell us about the results of US tests rather than blaming us for not telling him about the Kibenge manuscript.

As some wise person once pointed out, God is in the details.

[chris gadsden]

More links from above.
http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/corpaffr/newcom/2011/20111202e.shtml

http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/media/back-fiche/2011/20111202-eng.htm