Everyone wants to protect wild salmon, Robert Wager, Nanaimo Daily News
But there is the rub. What is actually threatening the wild stocks?
Alexandra Morton would have us believe sea lice from fish farms are a major threat.
I would like to say why a great many career marine scientists do not agree with Morton.
Morton's published statistical model predicted the pink salmon in the Broughton would be extinct by 2010.
This year saw very good returns of pink to that region.
Morton claims 1 to 3 sea lice can be fatal to young salmon yet the Pacific salmon forum report (four years of research including Morton's) states: "Duration of survival of juvenile salmon decreased with increased lice loads but this effect was only statistically supported when lice loads were an order of magnitude (10 times) greater than levels reported in nature."
Morton claims sea lice from fish farms are killing sockeye salmon from the Fraser River yet the sockeye are far too large, according to peer reviewed research, for any impacts on mortality from sea lice when the sockeye pass the Broughton.
Research shows sea lice levels in the Broughton are 20 to 100 times lower those found during the historic high of 2004.
Research (far from fish farms) show sea lice are generated on herring to levels far greater than those presently found in the Broughton.
Many have a difficult time understanding the "Protect the wild salmon, eat only wild salmon" philosophy. It makes far more sense to reduce the pressures on wild stocks by supplying an alternative source of healthy salmon for the hungry consumer.
Robert Wager
Vancouver Island University
