Tag Archives: Dr. Kristi Miller-Saunders

Rivers & Oceans

47 days until a decision must be made: sea lice and pathogens

As we get closer to June 30, when the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) has to decide whether to reissue the licenses for 79 British Columbian salmon farms, independent biologist Alexandra Morton points to yet more problems. 

A recent Global and Mail article revealed the existence of a decade old Department of Fisheries (DFO) report about the ‘transmission of the PRV virus from farmed to wild salmon.’

Morton said the fish farm industry has exceeded the three lice per fish threshold every week since the out-migration season began on March first. Two to five active farms have exceeded that limit every week, for the past five weeks. Morton claims that no sooner had the industry brought the lice on one farm under control, than another exceeds the limit. 

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Rivers & Oceans

Two local environmentalists speak out in favour of DFO’s decision

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Two well known Quadra Island environmentalists are speaking out in favour of the DFO’s decision to phase out salmon farms in the Discovery Islands.

After reading the text of the BC Salmon Farmers Association’s presentation to  the March 10th Strathcona Regional District (SRD) Board Meeting, well known local author and Sierra Quadra Director Ray Grigg said, “They are offering nothing except for another delay, that’s all they want.” 

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Rivers & Oceans

SRD protests DFO’s failure to consult

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The Strathcona Regional District (SRD) board has joined the growing number of local governments protesting the DFO’s failure to consult before ruling that the Discovery Island fish farms must be phased out by June 2022. 

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Rivers & Oceans

The Canadian Government has until December 18th to decide: 18 salmon farms

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Two months have passed since Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s (DFO) announced that “nine peer-reviewed, scientific risk assessments” find that salmon farms pose a ‘minimal risk’ to salmon migrating through the Discovery Islands. This finding is important because the Canadian Government has until December 18th to decide whether to renew the licenses of the 18 salmon farms operating in that region. 

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Finances, Rivers & Oceans

Are DFO scientists too dependent on funding from industry?

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Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) unleashed a storm of protests, when they announced that salmon farms pose a minimal risk to migrating wild salmon. One of the most telling criticisms came through an interview that the Globe and Mail had with Kristi Miller-Saunders, head of the department’s molecular genetics laboratory at the Pacific Biological Station in Nanaimo. Dr. Miller-Saunders is troubled about the assessments and the fact department scientists are depend on funding from industry.

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