Last day of hearings on dwindling B.C. salmon stocks to focus on deadly virus
By Sean Sullivan, The Province December 18, 2011 Comment 5 •Story•Photos ( 1 )
The Cohen commission, which concludes Monday, is expected to hear about a deadly virus that may have played a role in the dramatic decline of the Fraser River's wild sockeye salmon population.Photograph by: Ric Ernst, PNG FilesHearings for a federal inquiry into Fraser River sockeye salmon are to conclude Monday as lawyers are expected to grill government scientists about detection of a deadly virus in the Pacific Northwest.
The Cohen commission, which is investigating the dramatic decline of the Fraser’s wild sockeye salmon population, was extended by three days this month after revelations this fall that B.C. salmon had tested positive for a deadly virus that has decimated farmed Atlantic salmon stocks elsewhere.
Researchers at Simon Fraser University in October announced evidence of the infectious salmon anemia virus (ISAv) was found in two of 48 sockeye smolts collected in B.C.’s Central Coast. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency later denied the findings, saying it had been unable to confirm the virus through its testing.
On Friday, the commission heard that scientists who identified ISAv in wild salmon — Fred Kiberge, a world expert on ISA at the University of Prince Edward Island, and Kristi Miller, who runs a DFO molecular genetics research lab — have felt ostracized and under attack since making waves with their research.
“It doesn’t seem that the government wants it known that there’s a virus,” said Craig Orr, the direction of Watershed Watch Salmon Society, on Sunday. “They’ve been really fighting back against this perception that ISAv has been found in British Columbia.”
Despite the damage ISAv has caused to farmed stocks, there is no evidence the virus harms wild salmon.
On Friday, Miller also caused a stir when she announced the first finding of a deadly virus that causes Heart and Skeletal Muscle Inflammation (HSMI) in farmed Clayoquot Sound chinook salmon. Some of the fish, which were studied under DFO funding, also tested positive for ISAv.
The final day of the Cohen commission hearings begins at 10 a.m. at the Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue.
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