Wild Salmon & Salmon Farms

Happy New Year 2015 from Alexandra Morton on Vimeo.

Wild Salmon & Salmon Farms

Here's one person's take on these subjects. (Alexandra Morton)

A number of controversial issues are covered in this video. 

Deadline (April 6) looms to comment on two new B.C. salmon farm applications

Undated handout photo of Atlantic salmon on a fish farm in British Columbia.

 

Deadline (April 6) looms to comment on two new B.C. salmon farm applications

By LARRY PYNN, VANCOUVER SUN April 2, 2014

Ongoing government reviews of two salmon farm applications on the B.C. coast fly in the face of recommendations of the Cohen Commission related to expansion of the industry, industry critics charged Wednesday.

"It looks like there is major support from DFO to expand farming on this coast while ignoring the Cohen recommendations and the evidence around the science," said Craig Orr, executive director of Watershed Watch. "They're kissing it (the report) off, ignoring most of the recommendations around aquaculture and science."

Read more: http://bit.ly/1dVQ2tY

Salmon farm accused of putting diseased fish into area shared with wild fish

Photograph by: Jason Payne , Province

"Ecojustice is seeking a Federal Court order to declare it was illegal for the salmon farming company Marine Harvest to move salmon to an open-pen fish farm in Shelter Bay last month where they say they could mix with wild salmon.

The action is being taken on behalf of marine researcher Alexandra Morton who alleges the Atlantic salmon were infected with a virus called PRV, which may cause a disease that affects the muscles and heart of salmon." - The Province

LEARN MORE HERE: http://bit.ly/10HnEix

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.

Read story here

FDA says Newfoundland's 'Frankenfish' unlikely to be harmful

FDA says Newfoundland's 'Frankenfish' unlikely to be harmful 

Health regulators 'clear the way' for approval of genetically modified salmon 

CBC News/The Associated Press, Dec 21, 2012 

Federal health regulators say a genetically modified salmon that grows twice as fast as normal is unlikely to harm the environment, clearing the way for the first approval of a scientifically engineered animal for human consumption.  

Read more here 

Related story: GE Salmon Headed to Your Dinner Plate

Wild Salmon Advocates Cheer Cohen Commission Report

Supporters of B.C.'s wild salmon were delighted with the release of the Cohen Commission report on Oct. 31, but stressed that it's now up to citizens to put pressure on federal and provincial politicians to ensure that Cohen's recommendations are carried out. 

LINK (via: The Tyee)

TUC responds to 'Cohen Commission - Final Report'

"Here is a link to the final report of the Cohen Commission of Inquiry, which examined the collapse of the sockeye salmon fishery on the Fraser River and on the west coast in the period around 2009. 

Do you think the report will make a difference to the way our government looks after our fisheries? 

There are 75 recommendations. Some of the main ones are (1) more care is needed in the placement of salmon farms, especially where farms are close together (2) DFO needs to minimize the scientific uncertainty associated with farms - ie, collect more data and measure the effects of farm-centric diseases on wild sockeye over long periods of time. (3) Mitigation measures should not be delayed in the absence of scientific uncertainty of cause and effect. 

This is the "precautionary principle" which was most clearly stated in the report of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit as follows - "Where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation". 

Mr. Cohen states in his report that penned net farms should be banned (by the year 2020) if we are not certain that they pose at most minimal risk to native sockeye stocks. (4) more funding is needed for DFO for science and enforcement (but he praises front-line DFO staff for doing a good job in challenging circumstances) (5) Mr. Cohen agrees with the critics of changes to the Fisheries Act contained in the recent omnibus bills and states that the effects of reduced habitat protection will only become apparent in the future. (6) the federal government must provide sufficient funding for DFO to do its job.

If you have opinions on this important report I would love to hear from you - Jeff Surtees (email me at jsurtees@tucanada.org)"

 Link to Cohen Commission - Final Report

Report on sockeye salmon collapse released

Commissioner Bruce Cohen. Photo, CTV BC News

Report on sockeye salmon collapse released 

Dene Moore and Tamsyn Burgmann, The Canadian Press
Published Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2012

The judge who conducted a two-year inquiry into the health of one of British Columbia's most lucrative fisheries has concluded the federal government's changes to the Fisheries Act have the potential to harm -- not help -- Fraser River sockeye.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Bruce Cohen also said it was "regrettable" the government didn't wait to pass Bill C-38 until after he had submitted his report.

"I find it difficult to avoid the conclusion that legislative amendments in Bill C-38 lower the standard of protection for Fraser River sockeye salmon," he said.

Bill C-38 was tabled five months after Cohen's hearings were over and it was enacted this summer. The bill changes how fish habitats are protected and puts in place new management enforcement and environmental assessment provisions.

Cohen said his biggest worry is that those changes are focused more on developing fisheries than promoting habitat, even though experts have stressed eco-based values such as promoting biodiversity.

He said changes to the Fisheries Act might actually authorize harm to fish habitat. They appear to be taking the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in a very different direction than the one he laid out in his report, he said.

"DFO's first priority must be the health of wild stocks." Cohen said repeatedly during the news conference.

"What about the future?" Cohen asked. "I my view, unless significant, remedial measures are introduced soon, the stressors that are currently believed to affect sockeye negatively will continue to do so."

Read more here

Report on sockeye salmon collapse released | CTV British Columbia News