Another fishy virus story from B.C.: Alexandra Morton continues to misinterpret scientific information
Odd Grydeland, FishfarmingXpert, July 18, 2013
“A new study led by an anti-farming activist has been published in the Virology Journal which tested for Piscine Reovirus in various samples of wild and farm-raised fish”- BCSFA
The paper, which was co-authored by Alexandra Morton- a long-term activist trying to rid the B.C. coast of salmon farms, is interpreted by Ms. Morton to suggest that a fish virus that can affect salmon “entered British Columbia from Norway in 2007 ± 1 year”. The problem is that no salmon eggs or live fish for the province’s aquaculture industry has ever been imported to B.C. from Norway.
According to an industry insider from the British Columbia salmon farming industry, “Yesterday, aquaculture critic Alexandra Morton announced publication of a study she co-authored regarding a marine virus, piscine reovirus or PRV, in BC. Like many other of her public statements, she continues to misinterpret scientific information and offer her own unqualified perspective”. According to the source, “The BC Salmon Farmers Association (BCSFA) has issued a response to Ms. Morton’s latest claim. It is important to remember the following key points about this reovirus:
- PRV is not harmful to people
- Reoviruses are regularly found in wild fish in the Pacific Northwest with adult Chinook named as the number one carrier.
- There are billions of viruses in the world and the vast majority of them do not cause any harm or disease.”
Immediately following the announcement by Ms. Morton, the BCSFA issued the following statement on the PRV study, suggesting that a press release issued by her and others “purposefully misrepresents the findings of the study”;
A new study led by an anti-farming activist has been published in the Virology Journal which tested for Piscine Reovirus in various samples of wild and farm-raised fish. While the study is interesting in that it attempts to compare BC and Norwegian viral strains, the quality and number of samples used is quite low which means some of the conclusions reached are questionable. As well, the press release issued along with the study makes false claims about what was actually found in the study. It is clear that the purpose of this press release is to mislead the public or to attract attention to her new litigation against the DFO. “We want to ensure that the public has the correct information,” said Mary Ellen Walling, Executive Director of the BCSFA. “We feel that information that purposefully misrepresents the findings of a study needs to be corrected. First, it is important to note that the study itself showed no evidence that the fish sampled had any disease related to PRV.”
The following are corrections on statements made in the press release:
“Piscine reovirus (PRV) was identified in 2010 as the causative agent of heart and skeletal muscle inflammation (HSMI) in Norway”
In fact, the conclusions in the 2010 paper actually said that the relationship is plausible, not conclusive.
“The co-authors show that piscine reovirus is in BC and it came from Norway”
In fact, the conclusions of the study are not that strong. The new paper actually says “the Canadian PRV strains are most similar to the Norwegian PRV strains” and “our work suggests PRV entered both Chile and western Canada recently”
“The newly published paper reports piscine reovirus entered British Columbia from Norway in 2007 ± 1 year”
Again, the conclusions are not that strong. In fact, the paper says “Thus, we believe the most likely time when Canadian isolates diverged from Norwegian isolates was between 2006 and 2008, i.e., around 2007 ± 1.” As well, the authors of the study provide no data from farm fish before 2006 to support this belief.
“The Province of British Columbia does not accept that PRV causes HSMI. There is no published research supporting the province’s theory.”
In fact, there is no published research that HSMI occurs in BC – including in this new study.
It is also worth noting that this work was supported by a laboratory which recently lost its OIE reference status because of problems with the accuracy of the diagnosis it was reporting.
