Salmon Farmers Association says BC can have both wild salmon and farmed salmon
Mary Ellen Walling, Vancouver Observer, May 11, 2013
Salmon farming, its importance as a sustainable food supply and the important contribution we make to BC’s economy – are important discussions to have. Unfortunately, Alexandra Morton’s recent Vancouver Observer column concludes that the price to pay for salmon farming in BC is the end of the wild salmon fishery. This is a false choice – we do not have to have one or the other, we can and do have both.
We care about wild salmon deeply. We are British Columbians and the people who work in wild fisheries are our neighbours. We have made many proactive steps in 30 years of salmon aquaculture in BC to protect the natural environment where we operate.
The choice is not an either-or. We want to see the wild fishery and aquaculture in BC thrive and grow into the future. All jobs are valuable in BC, be they in aquaculture, agriculture, tourism or fishing. All help to enrich our province.
BC produces about 75,000 metric tonnes of farm-raised salmon per year. It’s a significant sector for British Columbia. BC represents about 3.5 per cent of the world’s farm-raised salmon production. Norway and Chile represent between 30 and 35 per cent each.
While salmon farm production has stayed the same in BC, wild salmon populations have continued to vary year to year. Justice Bruce Cohen’s report, released in 2012 after years of investigation, clearly said there is no smoking gun when it comes to explaining what is causing Fraser River sockeye populations to vary.
The column raises a number of concerns about the impact of salmon farming on wild stocks. Salmon farmers take great care to protect the marine environment, including diligent monitoring of the benthic environment (seabed) as regulated by DFO as well as a commitment to using as few antibiotics and chemicals as possible.
These methods are working – the Cohen Commission noted that “wastes and chemicals discharged at salmon farms are unlikely to have any population level effects on Fraser River sockeye.”
Morton makes extensive mention of the possibility that viruses and diseases from farmed salmon may impact wild salmon. What she fails to mention is that fish health on salmon farms is excellent, with very low mortality.
As the Cohen Commission reported, “there is no evidence before me that diseases on fish farms are out of control or unusually high by industry standards.”
The column focuses on Infectious Salmon Anemia (ISA virus) and suggests that it is here in BC but its presence is being hidden. It’s important to be clear here: ISA has never officially been found in BC.
This is the conclusion of thousands of tests run by both independent and government laboratories. It’s not unlikely that it could appear though –as the oceans are all connected and all kinds of animals and ships move around within them.
The rigorous screening that is going on means that should it ever occur it will be found early and dealt with.
As well, if it was here, salmon farmers would be the first to know because the virus has proven to be highly dangerous to farmed Atlantic salmon (while Pacific salmon have proven to be resistant).
But what about the “positive” tests mentioned in the column?
This is the most misleading part of the column because the tests mentioned were only preliminary tests. These preliminary results always require further follow-up tests to confirm the actual presence of the virus.
This is the world standard for detection set by the World Organization for Animal Health and it is extremely misleading to claim preliminary results as proof, while ignoring negative follow-up results. This follow-up testing has never found ISA in BC.
The column argues that importing Atlantic salmon eggs was playing “Russian Roulette with exotic disease”. We’ve had strict importation rules on salmon eggs for many years.
We want to follow the best possible precautions to ensure our fish are healthy.
That’s why biosecurity at every stage of rearing is so critical to our farmers.
The fish on our farms are very healthy – we have a high survival rate that is the result of close health monitoring, the development of vaccinations, the daily involvement of veterinarians in every stage of the production cycle and more.
Testing of our fish is routinely done by our companies, our regulators and independent laboratories. We know very well what is on our farms.
What British Columbians don’t know well is what is in our wild fish, and that’s a gap in knowledge we’ve been advocating for more research on for many years.
The ongoing CFIA wild and farmed salmon monitoring program will hopefully help answer some of these persistent questions.
The column states, “Wild salmon are the bloodstream to the BC coast … However, wild salmon are also an unrecognized economic powerhouse.” We agree, but we disagree with the assertion that people have to choose one or the other, a wild fishery or salmon farming. We believe both industries can and do thrive, together, on BC’s coast.
In terms of economic impact, salmon farming generated $58.5 million of the province's GDP in 2011, and directly employs 1,700 workers.
That does not include secondary benefits and impacts, which are estimated to be over $800 million dollars and more than 6,000 jobs.
We are proud of this contribution to our province and our communities.
