The ISA fiasco
Ian Roberts, Courier-Islander,November 11, 2011
No new fish virus in BC salmon is great news. But just three weeks ago Simon Fraser University activists held a press conference to announce they had found this lethal fish virus (ISA) and its "only plausible source" was BC salmon farms. How were they able to arrive at this headline grabbing conclusion?
They were able to justify this embellished claim by ignoring key facts; chain of custody of fish samples were unknown, lab results were inconclusive, misrepresented and did not follow international guidelines. They also ignored past and present sampling of wild and farm-raised fish in BC - thousands of tests that had already confirmed no ISA virus in BC salmon.
Following proper protocols to verify these initial findings, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has now confirmed there is no ISA virus in the original fish tissues and many other samples that were confiscated from these activists.
So now we know it's misinformation and shoddy science spreading around BC, and not a fish virus.
Ian Roberts, Campbell River
