Largest study of salmon health ever undertaken set to begin in B.C.

"Finally! Dr. Miller is free to work on wild salmon! I believe all of you on this page and far beyond, who have refused to be silent contributed to this moment. We must continue so that the doors and windows remain open and we make some tangible progress in the water!" - Alexandra Morton, http://www.salmonaresacred.org/

Kristi Miller is head of molecular genetics for Fisheries and Oceans Canada. 

(Rafal Gerszak For The Globe and Mail)

Largest study of salmon health ever undertaken set to begin in B.C.

By MARK HUME, VANCOUVER — The Globe and Mail, Saturday, Mar. 09 2013

For years Kristi Miller has been probing the complex and controversial world of fish diseases on the West Coast, where scientists are trying to unravel the mystery of why millions of apparently healthy salmon die annually.

Now Dr. Miller, the groundbreaking head of molecular genetics for Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and Brian Riddell, a former top scientist with DFO who directs the non-profit Pacific Salmon Foundation, are teaming up with Genome B.C. in the most comprehensive study of salmon health ever undertaken in the world.

“This is going to be the first really large-scale effort to look at the health of all salmon,” Dr. Riddell said. “It’s exciting. It’s incredibly exciting.”

Dr. Miller, whose cutting-edge genomic research has largely been kept under wraps by the government, testified at the Cohen Commission inquiry into the collapse of Fraser River sockeye stocks in 2011. But she was not allowed to talk to the media at the time.

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