Tag Archives: BC Salmon Farmer’s Association

Rivers & Oceans

Tussle over sea lice science unfolds as a federal decision on Discovery Islands salmon farms looms

National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Critics and supporters of West Coast fish farms are at odds over a recent Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) study suggesting sea lice infestations among juvenile wild salmon aren’t strongly tied to aquaculture operations. 

Using industry-reported data, the aquaculture division of DFO analyzed the likelihood that sea lice from salmon farms are causing sea lice outbreaks in wild fish in four areas on the coast.  

There’s a trend showing a positive relationship between the amount of sea lice on farms and on juvenile chum and pink salmon in those areas between 2016 and 2021, but it’s “statistically insignificant,” the study said. 

Continue reading Tussle over sea lice science unfolds as a federal decision on Discovery Islands salmon farms looms →
Rivers & Oceans

70% of the fish farms sampled had PRV-1, study finds

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A new study published by the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, states that 70% of the samples taken from 56 fish farms had PRV-1.

One of the co-authors is independent biologist Alexandra Morton, who explained, “The study was my concept and I funded a lot of the analysis and did a lot of the sampling myself. It was truly collaborative with Clayoquot Action sampling the Farms in Clayoquot Sound. An extraordinary man, Dr. Neil Fraser from Powell River got in his speed boat and went to the central coast. The Wild Fish Conservancy down in Washington State, sampled farms there. So it was  a sustained effort by a lot of people, and then Dr. Gideon Mordecai did the analysis of the relationship between the different strains that we picked up.”

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Rivers & Oceans

‘Writing on the wall’ for West Coast fish farms, conservationists say

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Open net-pen fish farming on the Pacific coast took a one-two punch after operations closures were announced in both B.C. and Washington state this week. 

The shíshálh Nation said Wednesday that aquaculture giant Grieg Seafood is removing salmon farms from the nation’s waters along B.C.’s Sunshine Coast by February 2023. Meanwhile, on Monday, Washington state’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) said it’s not renewing Atlantic Canada’s Cooke Seafood’s last two open-net pen leases in Puget Sound and farm operations will end by Dec. 14. 

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Rivers & Oceans

Controversy over the 2022 Ahta River Run

More than 11,000 Pink Salmon are said to have returned to the Ahta River this September. This is more fish than the river has seen for many years and Alexandra Morton believes this is because Glacier Falls and Burdwood salmon farms were removed from their migration route.

She is not the only one suggesting that this year’s numbers are a result of removing salmon farms from the Broughton Archipelago. In August, Chief Bob Chamberlain of the First Nations Wild Salmon Alliance told the Vancouver Sun they haven’t seen these numbers in decades. 

Ruth Salmon, Interim Executive Director at the BC Salmon Farmers Association, calls this statement a mixture of ‘misrepresentation’ and ‘speculation.’ 

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Rivers & Oceans

Ministry of Fisheries tours West Coast fish farming areas

“Last week, the Minister of Fisheries, Joyce Murray, went on the road and she traveled the length of Vancouver Island talking to people, First Nations environmental organizations, scientists, about the transition of salmon farms in British Columbia. This is incredible. I’ve never seen a minister go on the road before, and I have so much respect for her for doing this,” said independent biologist Alexandra Morton.

A BC Salmon Farmers Association spokesperson emailed a list of facilities Murray visited:

  • Cermaq Canada’s Millar Channel farm and semi-closed containment site in Clayoquot Sound. 
  • One of Creative Salmon’s Chinook farms and their processing plant in Tofino. 
  • MOWI’s Shelter Pass farm in Port Hardy and their Big Tree Creek Hatchery in Sayward. 
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