National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The transmission of a virus tied to kidney and liver damage in endangered Chinook salmon is being fuelled by the exchange of the disease between open-net pen fish farms and wild stocks in B.C., a new study indicates.
Continue reading Salmon farms infecting wild Chinook salmon, study suggestsThree recent academic papers suggest that salmon farms may pose more than a minimal risk to wild salmon migrating through the Discovery Islands.
In response, the BC Salmon Farmers Association emailed Cortes Currents that while these studies reported the presence of viruses, they did not show they were causing disease in farmed or wild salmon.
Today’s program largely consists of interviews with Dr Andrew Bateman from the Pacific Salmon Foundation (PSF)’s Strategic Salmon Health Initiative (SSHI), one of the scientists involved in these studies, and readings from the industry’s response.
Continue reading Fish Farms may pose more than a minimal risk, studies suggestThe 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.
Continue reading SRD protests DFO’s failure to consultIn 2002, the number of pink salmon returning to the Broughton Archipelago was only 3% of normal. Alexandra Morton subsequently co-authored a study reporting that 68 – 98 % of the fish tested in this area had the sea louse “L. salmonis.”[1.] A University of Toronto study links the 2015 sea lice epidemic to fish farms in the same area. The article that follows is based on Marine Harvest Canada’s (MHC) Ian Roberts’ response to anti-salmon farm critics.
Continue reading Ian Roberts’ Response To Anti-Salmon Farm CriticsAnyone simply looking for evidence that salmon farms could be infecting wild salmon will find enough five minutes into Twyla Roscovich’s documentary “Salmon Confidential Documentary.” The evidence is laid so convincingly that one is tempted to turn the video off. That would be a mistake. Salmon Confidential Documentary follows biologist Alexandra Morton, as she seeks the cause of the massive salmon die-offs before they can spawn. As she gets closer to the answer, the question becomes why is the Department of Fisheries and Oceans not doing something about it?
