Fish farms: lots of impacts to consider
Greg Deacon, Coast Reporter, September 30, 2011
Re: Fish farming does impact wild salmon (Coast Reporter, letters, Sept. 16).
The Cohen Commission is looking in to the decline of Fraser River Sockeye.
Looking at the transcripts it is apparent that there are a multitude of possible causes of this decline including but not limited to harmful algal blooms, contaminants in the Fraser River and/or Strait of Georgia, freshwater habitat conditions in the Fraser River watershed, enroute mortality, competitive interactions with pink salmon, predation by marine mammals and squid and unreported catches in the ocean.
Dr. Dick Beamish was involved in some of these studies and is a credible scientist. Alexandra Morton and now Elphinstone’s Rob Corlett who shared his views in his recent letter, would like to blame fish farms for the decline of sockeye salmon, but we all should remember the dramatic headlines a few years ago quoting Morton forecasting the extinction of pink salmon in the Broughton Archipelago by 2011 due to sea lice. As everyone knows that didn't happen and in fact, some of the largest runs in history have happened in the last few years.
Regarding the health of fish on farms, I have much experience in that regard. In the early days of the industry antibiotic use was approximately five per cent of the feed used. Today less than two per cent of the feed contains antibiotics. Also, long clearance times ensure that no antibiotic traces are left in the salmon. To put this in perspective, very high levels of broiler chickens, up to 90 per cent, are given antibiotics.
In the early days of salmon farming business plans were based on 50 per cent survival. Today survival rates on farms are 90 to 95 per cent.
The industry continues to work diligently on improving the health of farmed salmon. Some people would like to use fish farms as a convenient scapegoat for the decline of sockeye salmon. There are a myriad of more likely possibilities.
Greg Deacon
Sechelt
Greg Deacon was responding to the following Letter to the Editor
Fish farming does impact wild salmon
September 16, 2011
Editor:
I have attended some of the Cohen Inquiry and read many days of transcripts available on line. It is nice to see other locals taking an interest in such a historical event, which may go a long way towards deciding the future of wild salmon.
Having spent many years working in the fish farming industry, I am of the opinion that the industry message is self-serving and more reliant on attack than fact. To imply that industrial fish farming does not impact wild salmon is sheer nonsense. It does, and I have seen it first hand.
What I understand with greater clarity are the hidden risks that industrial farming is imposing on our wild salmon. You do not have to be a scientist to recognize that the billions of pathogens entering our waters from foreign-owned industrial fish farms will have an impact on wild salmon.
Reading transcripts of the Cohen Inquiry is a fairer way of formulating opinion about the risk that foreign-owned industrial fish farms represent to Canadians and our environment than listening to paid lobbyists using language sophistication to help citizens reach an opinion that may have no basis in fact.
Alexander Morton stood the test on the witness stand at the Cohen Inquiry. Dr. Dick Beamish did not. Read the transcript of his testimony to formulate your own opinion on whether there is a conflict of interest within the DFO due to its promoting industrial fish farming.
To our member of Parliament, please ask Prime Minister Harper to direct the DFO to stop hiding behind the claim that there is no scientific proof. One has to wonder why the DFO has been unable to find the funding to do the research that an individual like Alexandra Morton has done, and when their scientists start to uncover potential risk, roadblocks are put in the way.
In a perfect world, a DFO scientist should be able to conduct his or her research unfettered by political, industrial or environmental organizations attempting to influence the outcome of that research.
Robert Corlett, Gibsons
