Category Archives: Salmon Farming and Aquaculture

Newfoundland Salmon Farm Quarantined due to Suspected ISA Virus Outbreak

Oceans, Salmon Farming and Aquaculture, ,
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Read this story from FIS (Fish Information & Services trade publication), reporting that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has quarantined a salmon farm off the coast of Newfoundland due to a suspected outbreak of the deadly Infectious Salmon Anemia virus. (July 6, 2012)

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has quarantined an fish farm on the south coast of Newfoundland due to a suspected outbreak of infectious salmon anaemia (ISA).

Newfoundland and Labrador veterinarians detected the virus during routine testing at the site, explained Miranda Pryor, the executive director of the NL Aquaculture Industry Association.

“In the ocean, there’s a lot of naturally occurring viruses and bacteria and other things that can impact our farming situations,” said Prior, CBC News reports. “And unfortunately, it appears that this may be the case at this site right now, maybe impacted by something it caught from the wild.”

While ISA is harmless to humans, it can kill up to 90 per cent of the salmon it infects, depending on the strain.

Prior added that the aquaculture pen suspected of containing infected fish has been quarantined to minimise the risk of spreading the virus throughout the facility.

This is the first time a fish farm has been quarantined in Newfoundland and Labrador, she highlighted.

CFIA has taken samples that it will hand over to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) for testing. Obtaining these test results could take weeks. If ISA is confirmed, CFIA may take further action to obstruct a possible outbreak.

Although the agency is refusing at this time to release the name of the company that runs the quarantined facility, Cooke Aquaculture assures it is not one of its sites.

Two weeks ago, evidence of another outbreak of ISA was found at Cooke Aquaculture’s fish farms in Nova Scotia which CFIA has been investigating. The company documented many cases of ISA and engaged in the killing of affected fish; affected facilities were put under quarantine until all fish were removed from the site and all pens, cages and equipment were cleaned and disinfected.

In May, CFIA quarantined a third salmon farm in the province of British Columbia in just two weeks over fears about the presence of haematopoietic necrosis virus (IHN).

Read original article: http://www.fis.com/fis/worldnews/worldnews.asp?monthyear=&day=6&id=53635&l=e&special=&ndb=1%20target=

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Harper's Team BC: The PM poses with his BC caucus - all of whom should resign, according to Rafe (photo: Alice Wong staff)

If I was a BC Tory Under Harper, I’d Resign

Canada, Energy and Resources, Oceans, Oil&Gas, Pipelines and Supertankers, Politics, Salmon Farming and Aquaculture, Western Canada, , , , , ,
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I have received a lot of feedback on my recent blog on John Weston, MP.
 
Let me say that this was directed to Weston because he is my MP and it applies with equal force to all Tory MPs from British Columbia.
 
I’ve been asked if I would resign were I in John’s position and I say YES. Now, I realize that’s easy to say – he who has not sinned has not been tempted. I have no doubt, however. I sat in a cabinet that had half a dozen ministers who would have resigned under these circumstances. Premier Bill Bennett recognized this and it was taken into his consideration, I’m sure.
 
Now, under our system – such is the measure of its idiocy – all elected members on the government side must often compromise, otherwise the government couldn’t function. There were occasions where cabinet passed policy that I had spoken out against in the past and I told the press that when cabinet makes a decision all must support it. But these were areas of policy, not matters that go to the root of your commitment to your voters and your constituency. They were not matters of conscience. Any who have sat on the board of, say, a golf club will readily get the distinction between matters of business and matters of conscience. Premier Bill Bennett understood the distinction – Stephen Harper, no doubt also understands but he knows his backbenchers well and knows that there is almost nothing that goes to the conscience of his MPS because they have none.
 
Let’s be clear what issues we’re talking about here.
 
The environment of BC as a whole is not merely threatened but is on the brink of disaster from policy decisions already taken by the Harper government. I refer, of course, to its support of the Enbridge pipeline and expansion of Kinder Morgan’s pipeline to Vancouver; its open support of tankers loaded with deadly bitumen from the Tar Sands; its ongoing support of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to promote fish farms while their statutory basic raison d’etre is to protect our salmon; and its utter abandonment of protection of fish habitat as demonstrated in its gutting of the DFO in BC.
 
These, I contend, are not merely matters of policy but go the very root of what British Columbia is and as such simply cannot be supported by any Member of Parliament from our province.

Ask yourself this: if in the past election Tory candidates were asked if they support the above policies, I suggest that not one of them would have answered yes. If they had been and they replied that they were for these policies they would never have been elected and they know that.
 
I pick on Weston because, as I say, he’s my MP. In fact, the entire BC Conservative caucus ought to resign en masse. That they haven’t and won’t brands them as they are – lickspittles and toadies who put their parliamentary seat before their duty.
 
My prediction is that Weston will be rewarded with a cabinet seat in the next major shuffle – after all, he has been faithful to Harper and he’s moved his family back to Ottawa, which move could well have come from a nod or a wink from Harper.
 
After all, if sacrificing your constituency and your province for personal gain is to mean anything, there must be a reward and in my view it will come.
 

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Parasite Turning Farmed Salmon Sold at Costco to Mush

Oceans, Salmon Farming and Aquaculture,
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Check out this video and story from CTV News on BC-farmed salmon being sold at Costco stores infected with the Kudoa parasite, which turns the flesh into “slimy mush”. (July 3, 2012)

Some B.C.-farmed salmon is reaching store shelves with a parasite that can liquefy the fish’s flesh into an unappetizing goop, CTV News has learned.

 

Consumer Dale Reynolds recently picked up a salmon fillet from Costco, but the texture made him think twice about serving it to his family.

 

“I started noticing it had indentations in it,” Reynolds said. “Started taking a closer look and noticing these pit holes that were in it and wondering what was going on, what was eating at it. It just didn’t look normal.”

 

Marine Harvest Canada, B.C.’s largest fish farming company, confirmed to CTV News that the fish was infested with the Kudoa thyrsites parasite – the second most common parasite in farmed salmon, which causes a condition known as “soft flesh” syndrome.

 

“It’s unacceptable that someone was able to purchase a piece of this salmon,” spokesman Ian Roberts said. “It’s rare that someone would find this in the market.”

 

The parasite doesn’t pose a health risk to humans, but can render fish flesh into a jelly-like consistency, according to the Pure Salmon Campaign.

 

Kudoa can also survive long after the salmon is killed, and the parasite’s longevity is making it a widespread problem in B.C. Marine Harvest alone spent $12 million last year to clear out infected fish and provide refunds for tainted products, and there are estimates that Kudoa affects 20 to 50 per cent of all salmon farmed in the province.

 

The industry is currently studying the microscopic menace to protect farmed salmon, but experts say the greater risk is the impact the parasite could have on fish in the wild.

 

“What we don’t know is the magnitude and impact on the larger ecosystem,” said John Volpe, a University of Victoria environmental studies professor. “This parasite is like this time bomb inside the fish.”

 

Costco didn’t respond to a CTV News interview request, but a manager told an undercover reporter that the problem is not uncommon.

Watch video: http://bc.ctvnews.ca/parasite-ridden-salmon-sold-in-b-c-stores-1.864202

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Norwegian Salmon Farming Industry in Dire Financial Straits

Oceans, Salmon Farming and Aquaculture,
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Read this blog from Alexandra Morton, summarizing the dire financial situation for the world’s biggest salmon farming operators, all headquartered in Norway. (June 25, 2012)

In 2009, I met with the previous CEO of Marine Harvest in Norway. She asked me, “what do you want?” When I said, “you have to move your industry out of the narrow Fraser sockeye migration route off Campbell River,” she said it could not be done, because their share price must rise every quarter. However, today Marine Harvest is moving farms from exactly that area trying escape a parasite that liquifies salmon flesh (Kudoa). People don’t want to consume their salmon through a straw.

Screen Shot 2012-06-26 at 11.31.29 PMKudoa, the white balls in this picture, releases an enzyme that liquifies the flesh after death. Salmon farms are almost certainly enhancing this parasite similar to how they enhance sea lice, viruses and bacteria

“Kudoa is a typical customer claim. At 4Q11, Marine Harvest continued to report Kudoa challenges linked to the Campbell River area…. The company will concentrate production at the best sites, while other sites will be closed down in order to improve biological performance.” Download MHG4Q11update080212 copy.pdf (884.4K)

“For Marine Harvest Canada, the 2011 profit was affected by exceptional customer
claims and discards at harvesting totalling NOK 67.7 million due to the parasite Kudoa thyrsites. A restructuring plan for Canadian operations led to restructuring costs of NOK 23.4 million“

“Operating revenues for Marine Harvest Canada were NOK 1 182 million in 2011 (NOK 1 371 million). The average price achieved in CAD was 11% lower than in 2010 due to high presence of Kudoa combined with a general reduction in the market price. Total costs related to discards and claims as a result of soft flesh (Kudoa), amounted to NOK 68 million/NOK 2.00 per kilo harvested in 2011 (NOK 24 million/0.72 per kilo harvested).”Download MH_AnnualReport_2011_Web copy 2.pdf (6264.7K)

Read more: http://alexandramorton.typepad.com/alexandra_morton/2012/06/how-viable-is-salmon-farming-.html

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BREAKING: First Detection of Salmon Alphavirus in BC – Alexandra Morton

Oceans, Salmon Farming and Aquaculture, ,
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Read this blog from salmon biologist Alexandra Morton, claiming her team has discovered salmon alphavirus for the first time in BC. (June 21, 2012)

On March 25, 2012 we purchased 11 farmed steelhead and 3 Arctic Char heads from the Fairway Market in Victoria, BC and sent samples from them for testing for three European farm salmon viruses.

8 came back positive for the salmon heart virus (piscine reovirus)

 

7 came back positive for Salmon Alphavirus.

 

7 tested positive for both

This is the first-ever report of Salmon Alpha virus in BC although there is a single report by Dr. Michael Kent, of the disease it causes, Pancreas Disease, in Atlantic farm salmon being raised in BC in 1987. The reason I asked the lab to test for these European viruses is because Dr. Gary Marty, the BC farm salmon vet, reported lesions in farm salmon that caused him to include Salmon Alphavirus in his reports to Mainstream and Marine Harvest on at a least 6 occasions from 2007-2009…

…First recognized in Scotland in 1984, SAV was subsequently detected in Ireland and Norway. There are three closely related viruses in this viral family and they are recognized as serious pathogens of farmed Atlantic salmon and rainbow trout in Europe. SAV 1 is the causative agent of pancreas disease (PD). SAV2 is the causative agent of sleeping disease of rainbow trout. SAV 3 has only been detected in Norway (as of 2007) causing Pancreas Disease in Atlantic salmon and rainbow trout.

Pancreas Disease is spreading in salmon farms the length of Norway. Marine Harvest was recently instructed to slaughter an entire farm in Norway by June 20th (Intrafish June 8). There were 90 cases in 2011 and the virus has spread to 8 farms in northern Norway this year (Intrafish May 31, 2012). Salmon Alpha virus survives well outside the fish drifting through the water spreading the infection. Chile became extremely alarmed when rumours of Salmon Alphavirus popped up there in 2008.

Read full blog: http://alexandramorton.typepad.com/alexandra_morton/2012/06/first-detection-of-salmon-alphavirus-in-bc-farmed-steelhead-1.html

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Stephen Hume on BC Govt’s Routine Failure to Inform Public on Health, Safety Issues, Salmon Diseases

Canada, Oceans, Politics, Salmon Farming and Aquaculture, Western Canada, , ,
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Read this column by Stephen Hume in the Vancouver Sun on the BC Government’s systemic failure to disclose vital information to the public concerning matters of disease, health and safety. (June 6, 2012)

The provincial government routinely fails its legal duty to promptly inform citizens of risks to public health and safety, warn legal scholars at the University of Victoria.

Failures to disclose include air pollution, deteriorating infrastructure, parasite infestations, contaminated water and disease risk. Relevant information has been withheld from potential victims, scientists and the media — in some cases for almost a decade, says the university’s Environmental Law Clinic following a study of six cases across B.C.

On Tuesday, the group asked the province’s information and privacy commissioner for a full investigation into what it says appears to be “an ongoing system-wide failure” by government to disclose in timely fashion information with clear public safety implications.

The pattern needs to be addressed “before a catastrophe occurs,” it warned.

“Concerns about ‘panicking’ the public must not become an excuse for withholding information,” the call for investigation says. “In many cases, the fact that the information is alarming is precisely why it must be disclosed.”

The submission, filed on behalf of the B.C. Freedom of Information and Privacy Association, says that under provincial law, public bodies are required to act “without delay” in publicly disclosing information about any “risk of significant harm to the environment or to the health or safety of the public.”…

…In 2002 and 2003, back-to-back collapses occurred in wild pink salmon populations migrating between Vancouver Island and the mainland. Concerns were raised that sea lice infestations around fish farm pens might play a role.

“The scientific community lacked important data on the abundance of sea lice at particular farms,” the researchers noted. But although the province held detailed records, it “refused to release the data, instead prioritizing the concerns of the aquaculture industry that the data be kept confidential.”

Only eight years later, following a direct order from the office of the information and privacy commissioner, did the province eventually release the critical data to scientists investigating the role of sea lice in wild salmon losses in 2002 and 2003.

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/health/Hume+taken+task+failure+inform+public/6735884/story.html
 

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Salmon biologist Alexandra Morton

Alexandra Morton: Farm Disease Secrecy Act Quietly Withdrawn by Minister

Farmland and Food Security, Food, Oceans, Salmon Farming and Aquaculture, ,
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The following is a press release from Alexandra Morton

Victoria (May 31, 2012) For Immediate Release.

In the face of enormous public outcry, agriculture Minister Don McRae quietly withdrew his Bill 37 that would have made disease reporting in animals an offence punishable by two years in prison and $75,000.  The stated intent of the Bill was to encourage greater disease reporting by farmers in BC.

On May 3, Privacy Commissioner, Elizabeth Denham wrote a highly critical letter calling Minister McRae’s bill “extreme”, pointing out Bill 37 “would override the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act” saying “this is a matter of deep concern considering the importance of disease management” and tying it to salmon farming.

Citing the debate in the House between Official Opposition Critic for Agriculture, Lana Popham and McRae, arguing the definition of the word “person”, Andrew Gage of West Coast Environmental Law wrote McRae, “I strongly advise that you seek legal advice…”.

A change.org petition continues to grow targeting supermarket chains Loblaws, COSTCO and Safeway asking them to stop selling farm salmon that have tested positive for viruses.

On Tuesday, McRae began to retreat telling the media that he was going to amend his Bill to suggest that it would not apply to media or the public, only to government workers, but he left that on the order paper, never standing in Parliament to bring it forward.
 
“If Minister McRae wants higher disease reporting compliance, why didn’t he create a Bill to make it mandatory that all farmers in BC report disease, instead of attempting to take away free speech in violation of the Constitution of Canada,” says biologist Alexandra Morton. “I am deeply grateful for all the people who wrote McRae and signed the change.org petition, this was an extremely close call with oppression.”
 
Bill 37 could rise when the BC Legislature sits again.

-30-

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Seattle Times on Alexandra Morton: Meet Salmon Farming’s Worst Enemy

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Read this feature story from the Seattle Times on BC salmon biologist Alexandra Morton and her work to unmask the harmful diseases associated with the salmon farming industry. (May 26, 2012)

BROUGHTON ARCHIPELAGO, B.C. — She’s perched in her boat near a fish farm, talking about diseases, the kind that might escape and kill wild salmon. Then she spies a worker peeling toward her in a boat.

Alexandra Morton, bane of North America’s salmon farms, runs a hand over tired eyes and awaits a confrontation.

It’s no surprise this eco-provocateur is again in someone’s sights.

The biologist has spent countless days just like this — zipping through a pristine jumble of uninhabited bays and islands to check on Canada’s remote fish farms. Few activists try harder to convince the globe that salmon farming threatens the marine world. Few are taken as seriously — much to the chagrin of her many enemies.

It was Morton who stunned U.S. scientists last fall with trace evidence found in wild salmon of a virus that killed millions of farmed fish in Chile.

Researchers from Washington state to Washington, D.C., scrambled to grasp the risks of so-called infectious salmon anemia (ISA), a virus typically linked to fish farms. Congress demanded federal agencies test American fish. Wild-salmon lovers seethed. Leaders of British Columbia’s $500 million-a-year salmon-farming industry scoffed — in part because they so distrust Morton.

Then, just last week, another virus raced through salmon farms at Vancouver Island and Bainbridge Island, forcing operators to kill hundreds of thousands of farmed fish on both sides of the border. Unlike ISA, this virus, infectious hematopoietic necrosis (IHN), is native to wild Northwest salmon, but experts worry that the clustering of nonnative Atlantic salmon in farm-fish net pens could amplify the pathogen and make it more virulent or cause it to mutate into something far more deadly for wild stocks.

Now, as researchers in both countries struggle to determine if a wild fish-killing pathogen is here or coming, Morton — a Connecticut native and former killer-whale biologist — is everywhere. She’s testifying in Canadian court, blogging about viruses, shuttling about in her sea dory. She gathers farmed-fish heads at ethnic groceries and travels the province teaching groups to sample fish. She hunts for clues to support her belief that Atlantic-salmon farms are big trouble.

Her single-mindedness, bombast and memorable white mane make her a target for an industry sensitive to criticism. (One company sued an activist friend of hers for creating cartoon cigarette packs with the slogan “Salmon Farming Kills Like Smoking.”)

Morton has heard rumors fish-farm workers keep pictures of her boat thumb-tacked to their bulletin boards. The B.C. Salmon Farmers Association dedicates a Web page to correcting Morton’s statements. The B.C. government is considering making it a crime for anyone to release — or a journalist to publish — information about disease outbreaks, including on salmon farms. Fines could reach $75,000.

“Alex hides nothing about the fact that she doesn’t believe in salmon aquaculture,” says Ian Roberts, with Marine Harvest, a seafood company that raises half of B.C.’s farmed salmon. “She’ll go to any length to prove her feelings are justified.”

Already on this windy mid-May morning, Morton has trained her field glasses on a farmed-salmon pen only to find a worker staring back through binoculars. When another farmer warily pulls alongside her boat, Morton turns to her most potent weapon: charm.

“Can I help you guys at all?” he asks.

“We’re just looking,” Morton says cheerily and pumps him for information. “How old are these fish? How long have they been in the water?”

Morton extracts a few nuggets before the man jets away, a victim of Morton’s disarming agreeableness. She shrugs. “It’s not the workers I have a beef with,” she says.

Read more: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2018296338_viruslady27m.html

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2nd BC Salmon Farm Quarantined from Virus

Oceans, Salmon Farming and Aquaculture,
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Read this story from CTV.ca on the decision by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to quarantine a second salmon farm in BC in under two weeks as a result of an outbreak of the deadly IHN virus. (May 23, 2012)

For the second time in less than two weeks, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has quarantined a B.C. salmon farm over concerns about the presence and possible spread of a virus.

Grieg Seafood announced Wednesday that while tests haven’t yet confirmed the presence of infectious haematopoietic necrosis virus at its Ahlstrom Point farm, near Sechelt, B.C., the agency has quarantined the site, home to about 310,000 coho.

That official quarantine follows a voluntary isolation implemented by the company last week after a routine test identified a “low-positive result” for the virus.

Earlier this week, Mainstream Canada announced its Dixon Bay farm, north of Tofino, is now empty after tests confirmed May 14 the presence of the virus, leading to the cull of more than 560,000 young Atlantic salmon.

“Really, it’s about saying we’re in this stage where we know this virus can affect farm-raised Atlantic salmon and we want to do everything right to make sure that we are not going to be spreading it from there,” said Stewart Hawthorn, Grieg Seafood’s managing director.

“So the quarantine order is to prevent any risk of any spread from that location.”

Read more: http://www.ctvbc.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20120523/bc_salmon_farm_quarantine_120523/20120523/?hub=BritishColumbiaHome

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