My point is that the American producers are more accountable for the health of their industry,not sure why they import so much from us which, I find to be questionable ,health wise.
As for potatoes?
There is a HUGE different between a domestically produced vegetable crop thats been farmed domestically for hundreds of years and a wild seafood stock , where we are still finding out the negative effects on their survival rate from year to year.
I understand the concept of disease and know it was only made to illustrate.
The cull of these fish earlier without waiting means that they would not have to continue feeding them for 2 weeks while they wait for confirmation from CFIA which they surely already know will be the outcome or directive.It also gives them 2 weeks head start over a new stock of salmon.Ultimately time is money and savings on feed and growing time is valuable for this business.
You just made the point as well about this virus being epidemic in the Atlantic farm stocks ,why would any one want this??
I too like the term "depopulate" ,I suppose cull is a sanitized term as well,both mean killing .It sounds better in the media and on TV . Kind of Bush-era spin ,collateral damage,etc.
First thing I noticed about your argument is that it has changed from the industry here not acting quickly enough to cull infected Atlantic Salmon (as compared to the Americans) to now culling these fish earlier than CFIA confirmation so it will give them a head start raising more salmon in the ocean. Which is it?
However, that aside, you are again incorrect about the reasons why the cull was done earlier. The early depopulation or cull was done to prevent the spread of the IHN virus to nearby farms and becoming a larger problem – it was not to give them a 2 week head start. I agree that time is money, but losing stock is money also. In the outbreaks that occurred between 2001 and 2003, it was found that the IHN virus spread from infected farms to non-infected farms. Evidence showed that farming practices (boats, personnel, etc.) contributed significantly to this spread. According the literature I have provided, there can be a steep rise in mortality from IHN on a fish farm before clinical signs are noticed. Once Atlantic Salmon become infected and show clinical signs of IHN, the disease can already have taken a hold of the farm in question. Experience from this past outbreak period showed that farms were following the wrong sequence of action by increasing biosecurity and isolating farms after official confirmation (which can take 2 to 3 weeks). Instead, a more pre-emptive approach to cull after initial suspicion or results appears to be a better approach to prevent the loss of stock at nearby farms.
This leads into my example with potato farming. Although I agree with you that we are still finding out the negative effects on the survival wild fish from year to year you missed my point regarding how potato farming relates, so I will clarify. With potato farms being relatively located very close together as well as personnel and equipment moving within and between different farms the spread of disease (in this case Potato Blight) can be very rapid and devastating. This is why it is not uncommon for farmers there to take immediate action to burn portions of their fields to stop the spread – which is parallel to what fish farmers did in 2012 with a cull. Potatoes may be a domesticated produced vegetable, but they are prone to diseases as much as aquaculture finfish or shellfish.
One thing I have learned is that Atlantic Salmon are not introduced immediately after a disease outbreak or epidemic such as IHN. It can be as long as 6 months before fish are reintroduced into seawater. A period of cleaning and fallowing follow restocking. It probably would not be a wise move to quickly put fish into the water if the presence of the IHN virus is still suspected. In addition, the young fish that are introduced to the seawater likely have to be a certain size and maturity before that step is done. As for knowing what “is valuable for this business” I am interested in knowing what you actually know about the business.
To clarify, the IHN virus is endemic to our coast; but outbreaks or epidemics of the disease (IHN) can occur in Atlantic Salmon who have no natural resistance. What I said was that IHN is highly lethal to Atlantic Salmon. This can happen when there is an epidemic or outbreak. Despite this, IHN disease events with Atlantic Salmon in BC fish farms are actually rare. There is no continuous IHN epidemic going on right now with Atlantic Salmon here unless you have heard something new in the news recently. I have pretty much said all I can on this subject in this thread now. At this point I would appreciate if you could show me some actual facts to support your argument – specifically your knowledge of the business here in your latest post. If you can I will be more persuaded to believe you.
http://www.int-res.com/articles/dao2006/72/d072p213.pdf
Author
Topic: More Problems At Fish Farms (Read 41460 times)