Industry disputes fish farm sea lice is harming wild salmon
By Mary Ellen Walling, Vancouver Sun February 17, 2011
Re: Fish farms linked to sea lice infestations among wild sockeye, Column, Feb. 11
Stephen Hume's column regarding a new study in the Public Library of Science ONE journal is an example of a conversation that's opened but then cut off before it becomes meaningful or fulsome.
The interaction between wild fish, sea lice and farmed fish is not new information.
It's the extensive research on this topic that's led to the development of comprehensive sea lice management programs on B.C. farms that ensure we are not the threat this article suggests.
While this new paper by Michael Price, Craig Orr et al. is interesting -certainly by way of the genetics research they've contributed to the questions regarding sockeye survival -it in itself highlights the need for more work and research.
The body of the debate is highlighted in Price's comment that the effect of these infections is unclear. There's a lot of research that shows it is not resulting in population declines. Not only has it been shown that Pacific salmon are resistant to damage from sea lice once their scales are fully developed, but a study published in December compared sea lice data directly to returns of pink salmon in the Broughton and showed there was no relation between lice levels on farms and wild salmon returns.
Mary Ellen Walling Executive Director BC Salmon Farm Association Campbell River
