Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[chris gadsden]

http://alexandramorton.typepad.com/alexandra_morton/2012/12/letter-to-director-general-of-oie.html

[alwaysfishn]

Great initiative by Alex....   

[aquapaloosa]

http://salmonfarmscience.com/2012/12/07/if-isa-was-here-our-fish-would-be-dead/

[chris gadsden]

Hello

Last December, my lawyer Greg McDade made a prediction that was recorded in the Cohen Commission testimony - that within 12 months the federal government would attempt to strip the lab I am using to test for ISA virus of its international status.

He was right.  They are trying.

In response I went back to the wealth of information Justice Cohen and his Counsel Brock Martland gave us on ISA virus in BC and laid out what is known to the Director General of the Organization of International Epizootics (OIE).

7 labs have detected ISA virus in BC, 4 of them are federal government labs, whose results have been hidden, muzzled or misrepresented in government communications

Only 1 lab says 100% of his tests have been negative - Dr. Gary Marty, Provincial farm fish audit lab. His lab is now an outlier.

1 lab is non-government and thus harder to muzzle - that is the one the CFIA has gone after.

Last spring government drafted Bill 37 that would have made this research punishable by 2 years in jail.

The CFIA is clearly under pressure too.

The workers in the fish farm industry must feel uncertain about their future as does everyone depending on the wild fish economy. This virus is well known to damage their industry, which is already on its knees running out of food and customers.

I am asking the Director General of the OIE to cast an international eye on what is happening in BC, in hopes that we will be able to finish this work without escalating harassment.

Here is my letter to Dr. Bernard Vallat, DG of the OIE  http://alexandramorton.typepad.com

I could really use your help. Everyone needs to speak up, there is a petition on the site above. Share widely so people know they can help.

If you want to know the extent of what is going on please read my blog. This is sheer nonsense, in a high-stakes game that everyone looses; the shareholders, trade partners, fish farm workers, the wild salmon economy, politicians the wild salmon of the North Pacific and everyone that comes after us.



Alexandra Morton

[shuswapsteve]

Her letter to the Director General of the OIE was poorly written.  For instance, she even repeated the same paragraph over again.  It was basically one long rant with carefully selected quotes and little context – just like her blog posts.  She starts out focused in her letter then goes sideways and basically tries to rehash the Cohen Inquiry testimony.   It was not surprising that she seemed to steer clear of Justice Cohen’s findings in the Final Report and came up with her own interpretation.  One only needs to read the Cohen Report to see that she has gone rogue again.  Cohen makes specific reference to ISAV and ISA in the final report.  Cohen was very objective and presents a fair representation of our current knowledge with regards to the science of ISAV and ISA as it applies to our coast.  The good thing is that the Cohen Final Report is a public document so you and I can see it for ourselves and do not have to rely on Ms Morton’s version of events.  It is interesting that Ms Morton refers to those farmed Chinook Salmon that Dr. Miller tested.  What Ms Morton does not reveal is that the ISAV or ISA-like virus signature was as prevalent in healthy farmed Chinook as it was in unhealthy farmed Chinook.  

If anti-fish farm activists like Ms Morton are concerned about having good, defensible results from a worldwide approved body which attempts to provide “high quality disease diagnostic services” then they should have no problem with this audit and any corrective measures that are deemed necessary by the OIE.   Let the OIE do their job.   What’s more important?  Good, scientifically defensible results which further our knowledge about diseases or poor results that are not done to the “highest technical and operational standards” which mislead and confuse the general public about what diseases (or viruses) are there?  If you or I were a biologist at a lab that was doing similar testing and it was determined (through an audit) that there were a series of weaknesses in the lab’s protocols and procedures wouldn’t you want to know about it and have it fixed to protect your reputation?

It is surprising why activists like Ms Morton do not seem to be concerned about weaknesses found at the AVC lab by the OIE.  In fact, I have not heard of one fish farm activist concerned about the weaknesses found by the OIE audit.  Instead, they seem more focused at trying to find someone else to blame.  If Ms Morton is so concerned about getting to the bottom of this “salmon flu mystery” then she should take more of an interest in these deficiencies rather than trying to play politics herself.  For instance, I wonder why she did not pose some questions to the Director General of the OIE regarding the nature of these deficiencies found at the AVC lab during the OIE audit.  Ms Morton forgets that the audit was conducted by the OIE – not the CFIA.

[alwaysfishn]

Her letter to the Director General of the OIE was poorly written........

Kinda like your posts Steve.....   But normally we stick to commenting on the content and not the composition.

Morton is apparently doing a pretty effective job, as she is getting a lot of attention from feedlot proponents such as yourself. Feel free to write a letter to the Director General of the OIE yourself, and post it here so we can critique it for you.....   

[Dave]

Kinda like your posts Steve.....   But normally we stick to commenting on the content and not the composition.

Morton is apparently doing a pretty effective job, as she is getting a lot of attention from feedlot proponents such as yourself. Feel free to write a letter to the Director General of the OIE yourself, and post it here so we can critique it for you.....  

I agree, another poorly written missive by Morton who even had the gall to sign it Dr.
Shuswapsteve knows more about this subject than any current poster on FWR so I ask those reading – who do you believe, him or her?
What will you and the rest of the Morton followers do when this latest fear mongering attempt  fails?? Virtually all her past predictions and statements have been proven wrong or discredited ... now she owes thousands of dollars to a lab that is for the moment found lacking in it’s protocols.

Of course ISAv is here, probably has been since the millions of Atlantics were released into BC waters, including the Harrison River, early this century.  But sadly for Morton it does not appear to be  particularly deadly to anything with fins.
Perhaps you should offer to proof read her stuff af – you could not do any worse.

[chris gadsden]

Kinda like your posts Steve.....   But normally we stick to commenting on the content and not the composition.

Morton is apparently doing a pretty effective job, as she is getting a lot of attention from feedlot proponents such as yourself. Feel free to write a letter to the Director General of the OIE yourself, and post it here so we can critique it for you.....   

The "Pick A Part Gang' is at it again as usual.
They are a bit like the Grinch that stole Christmas.

[Dave]

The "Pick A Part Gang' is at it again as usual.
They are a bit like the Grinch that stole Christmas.

I suggest if you don`t want Morton's rants to be picked apart, don`t post them

[alwaysfishn]

Shuswapsteve knows more about this subject than any current poster on FWR ............

The saying goes that a little knowledge is dangerous.....   would it be safe to say that a lot of knowledge is a lot more dangerous??  

The problem with SS is his bias (he earns his living in the feedlot business). Many of us are quite a lot more hesitant in jumping on his band wagon and singing his praises like you are....

I have a lot more confidence in the information I receive from someone like Morton who has no financial interest in the feedlot business.

[alwaysfishn]

 

The "Pick A Part Gang' is at it again as usual.
They are a bit like the Grinch that stole Christmas.

I notice that as soon as a bit of truth about the dangers of ocean feedlots hits the screen, the feedlot boys come out in full force to try and hide it. That is rather "grinchy" isn't it? 

[Dave]

The problem with SS is his bias (he earns his living in the feedlot business). Many of us are quite a lot more hesitant in jumping on his band wagon and singing his praises like you are....

I have a lot more confidence in the information I receive from someone like Morton who has no financial interest in the feedlot business.

LMAO!!!   you can't be serious ...are you?? 
Your'e making this too easy af

[Every Day]

The problem with SS is his bias (he earns his living in the feedlot business). Many of us are quite a lot more hesitant in jumping on his band wagon and singing his praises like you are....

I have a lot more confidence in the information I receive from someone like Morton who has no financial interest in the feedlot business.

You have your bias, he has his, everyone has their own whether they want to or not.

I didn't have anything to gain in the industry, and I won't ever (not my cup of tea). You still dis-credited everything I said in past debates, because it was taught to me by "pro-farmers" (who I might add also have nothing to gain from fish-farming, they are comfortable university profs). Are you going to dis-credit every single piece of scientific and REAL FACTUAL evidence every time it is presented to you, just because it is from a different point of view?

And please don't tell me you're serious...
What do you think she does for her job? I'm pretty sure she has financial interest in proving them wrong... same thing as someone who has gain in the industry.

[shuswapsteve]

Kinda like your posts Steve.....   But normally we stick to commenting on the content and not the composition.

Morton is apparently doing a pretty effective job, as she is getting a lot of attention from feedlot proponents such as yourself. Feel free to write a letter to the Director General of the OIE yourself, and post it here so we can critique it for you.....   

Actually, I commented on the content and the composition.  Posting on an internet forum is one thing, but writing a letter to a professional organization like the OIE is another.  It is a slightly difference audience.  My point is that if Honorary “Dr” Morton wants to be taken seriously by someone like Dr. Vallet then she should try to keep her letters more concise and to the point.  She should avoid writing a letter the same way she would post on her blog.  Basically, she should have just sent Dr. Vallet the link to her blog post.  It would help her credibility if she took the time to edit the letter before sending it.

Morton’s supporters see her as effective; however, preaching to the same followers daily hardly equates to doing an effective job.  I have no particular reason to write a letter to the Director General of the OIE, but if I did it would be much better than Ms Morton’s attempt.  Perhaps you should do what Ms Morton clearly wants to avoid: Write the Director General of the OIE to find out more about the deficiencies found at the AVC lab during the OIE audit.

The saying goes that a little knowledge is dangerous.....   would it be safe to say that a lot of knowledge is a lot more dangerous??

The problem with SS is his bias (he earns his living in the feedlot business). Many of us are quite a lot more hesitant in jumping on his band wagon and singing his praises like you are....

I have a lot more confidence in the information I receive from someone like Morton who has no financial interest in the feedlot business.

I can see why you would find knowledge dangerous if it is completely foreign to you in the first place.  In this respect you are likely going to get more out of individuals like Ms Morton who specifically caters to your desire to be misinformed, so I won't lose any sleep if you are not on my bandwagon.

[shuswapsteve]

LMAO!!!   you can't be serious ...are you??  
Your'e making this too easy af

I couldn’t care less if AF thinks I earn a living in the fish farm industry.  I just laugh it off now because it is so silly.  You know the drill, Dave.  If someone has the opposite opinion of an anti-fish farm activist they must be employed by the fish farm industry.

I agree that ISAv or something that looks like it is here, but it is probably the non-virulent form which has been here for many, many years.  Experts at the Cohen Inquiry were uncertain on the characterization of this, so I think it is premature to start blaming salmon farms until we learn more about it which includes more monitoring.  One thing is certain....ISA is deadly to Atlantic Salmon. Like Chile, we would see thousands of dead Atlantic Salmon.  Dr. Nylund even said that if ISA was present here we will likely see if first on the farms.  Second, ISA and the virus are required to be reported to the feds.  IHN and IHNV require the same reporting.