I have donated to Dr. Morton's cause witch makes me fell like I am helping the cause of saving our salmon. I have not received any tax receipts. I was told however that the money goes to educating the public. I think there is no way Dr. Morton will say and do what ever it takes to continue generating profits. Dr. Morton is the most honest person I know.
Educating the public? Would you call what Jody Eriksson was doing as educating the public? Do you think it is reasonable to be suspicious of every spot, wound, and parasite on a salmon carcass on the spawning grounds? Are white coloured gills indicative of some suspicious European virus or do the gills on a salmon carcass natually turn from red/pink to white the longer the carcass is exposed to the environment (air, water, sun). Could there be a freshwater fungus on the gills that creates that fuzzy, white appearance - something that can happen the longer the fish is dead? What do you think, Bob?
Is Ms Morton really educating you about Harrison River Sockeye when she does not tell you that even they are not immune from high prespawn mortality? Ever been to the Harrison River in August and September? Did you ever wonder why Ms Morton has not mentioned anything about any Harrison Sockeye sample results considering that she had Chinook, Coho and Chum carcasses from that river tested for ISAV? What would that mean if Harrison Sockeye had tested positive for ISAV? Check out her latest website to see how non-transparent she is with this (
http://deptwildsalmon.org/results/wild/).
Is Ms Morton really educating the public when she keeps saying that the CFIA audited the Atlantic Veterinary College lab, but the facts say otherwise? Don't take my word for it. If you don't believe me you can contact the OIE as they were the one that created the press release stating that they conducted the audit. Do you think the OIE is not telling the truth, Bob?
http://www.oie.int/for-the-media/press-releases/detail/article/information-on-oie-reference-laboratories/Is Annisa Reed educating the public when she shows pictures of deformaties on farmed salmon but fails to state that deformaties are not necessarily an indication that the fish is not fit for human consumption? She also does not say that even stocked freshwater fish that anglers fish for and eat can have deformaties also. Are you going to stop eating stocked Rainbow Trout and Eastern Brook Trout? Do think it might be a better idea to talk to an actual fish biologist or a Fish Culturalist from a fish hatchery about this stuff than Annisa? What do you think, Bob?
Do you think the public is being educated when piscine reovirus (PRV) is being implicated by Ms Morton as the reason for enroute loss of Fraser River Sockeye when there is zero evidence to suggest that PRV impacts to the extent of causing "heart attacks" in adult salmon. If she is implying HSMI with migrating, adult Fraser Sockeye, did you know that HSMI is a disease that primarily affects younger fish and its timing has been well described and documented?
http://www.int-res.com/abstracts/dao/v99/n1/p7-12/ (I noticed that a fish farm critic on another board did not read the whole article - omitting the distribution of PRV from presmolts to slaughter.)
Did you know that HSMI has never been found on BC fish farms? Has she provided any evidence of HSMI in adult Fraser Sockeye? Did you know that PRV has been found in healthy and unhealthy fish? Did you know that Ms Morton’s finding of PRV in healthy market sized fish is good evidence that PRV is very common in Atlantic salmon? Actually is it ubiquitous in Atlantic salmon. More importantly, if Ms Morton was really going to be educating you about enroute loss through the Fraser River do you think it would be reasonable to talk about the 12 years of research on environmental stressors done by Scott Hinch and his group? Do you think it would be reasonable to talk about the impact of water temperatures and water discharge in regards to enroute loss? How about how they interact with pathogens - even endemic ones? What does Ms Morton tell you about Mission and how accurate (or not) it is in some years? If people are really interested in being educated about enroute loss and known, documented stressors then start here:
http://www.cohencommission.ca/en/pdf/TR/Project9-Report.pdf#zoom=100