Clarifying the egg question
Letter to the Editor, Courier-Islander, Nov. 24, 2010
While I have no doubt about Mary Russell's passion for the Pacific salmon (It's time to truly save our wild salmon runs, Nov. 12 Courier-Islander), I do have concerns about the value of her contribution to the debate about salmon farming in B.C. Some of the most serious inaccuracies in her latest letter are the statements that "..industry continues to import the foreign eggs for brood stock that carry it (the ISA virus)" and her suggestion that "..a new dread virus identified in Norway may be imported here with foreign brood stock eggs, and which may be responsible for our dwindling sockeye runs".
The aquaculture industry in B.C. is not importing Atlantic salmon eggs from Norway or any other European country or from the East Coast of North America. Over the past 15 to 20 years, only a few small shipments of eggs have come into B.C., and all of them from a facility in Iceland, and only after Canadian authorities were convinced that the eggs came from certified disease-free parents. The Salmon farmers in B.C. generally get their eggs from in-house brood stock, selected for good growth and high survival.
The salmon farming industry in B.C. has never imported Atlantic salmon eggs from Norway. And for that matter, enough laboratory studies have been conducted to demonstrate that Pacific salmon is quite resistant to the exposure to the ISA virus. Perhaps Ms. Russell should look for a more professional source of information before launching her next attack on one of the most promising industries in our region.
Odd Grydeland
