Allegation about disease is blatantly false
By Ruth Salmon, Times Colonist September 8, 2011
D.C. Reid's anti-salmon farming column, "Hell to pay for letting ISA virus into the Pacific," Sept. 6, makes a blatantly false allegation. No cases of ISA have ever been documented in British Columbia.
D.C. Reid's anti-salmon farming column, "Hell to pay for letting ISA virus into the Pacific," Sept. 6, makes a blatantly false allegation. No cases of ISA have ever been documented in British Columbia.
B.C. salmon farmers routinely monitor their fish for viruses. Fish health experts who recently testified at the Cohen Commission of Inquiry into Fraser River sockeye declines confirmed that ISA has never been detected in B.C. Exhibit No. 1471 of the Cohen Commission shows no instances of ISA in more than 4,700 samples.
Those same experts also highlighted the strength of Canada's national aquatic animal health program, which ensures our aquaculture industry meets international aquatic animal health management standards to protect our country's aquatic resources - both wild and farmed - from serious infectious diseases.
Outright false statements, such as those in Reid's article, do not educate readers about salmon survival.
Ruth Salmon, executive director Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance
PAA Reference Link:
Cohen Commission - Exhibit 1471 August 22, 2011
Publicly available PCR test results for infectious salmon anaemia virus (ISAV) in British Columbia farmed salmon over the past 8 years (2003 - 2010). Data were compiled as part of the BC Fish Health Auditing and Surveillance Program.
Year # Positive # Negative
2003 0 648
2004 0 675
2005 0 586
2006 0 644
2007 0 763
2008 0 588
2009 0 585
2010 0 237
TOTAL 0 4,726
Sources:
BC Animal Health Centre web site:
http://www.agf.gov.bc.ca/ahc/fish_health/index.htm
BC Centre for Aquatic Health Sciences web site:
http://www.cahs-bc.ca/fish-health-audits.php
Note: Exhibit 1471 can be accessed on the Cohen Commission website by selecting August 22 on the Calendar & Transcript Page. http://www.cohencommission.ca/en/Schedule/
