From the Courier-Islander – Jan 13, 2011

by Dan McLennan

In the world of closed containment aquaculture, it appears size
matters. Never was that more true in the Campbell River area than in the
past few weeks as a massive floating solid-wall tank was built on the
waterfront by the Agrimarine Industries/Middle Bay Sustainable
Aquaculture Institute (MBSAI) partnership.

“It feels wonderful,”
laughed Robert Walker, vice president for Agrimarine Industries, at the
Middle Bay site Wednesday. “It has been a very long time and it’s
exciting to see it. This is the first one in the world and we’re very
much looking forward to getting fish in it.”

After years of
design, government approval, funding efforts and redesign, sections of
the gargantuan fibreglass tank were assembled on site in the last two
weeks. The 3,000-cubic-metre tank has a 24-metre inside diameter and a
depth of almost nine metres. At press time yesterday, the plan called
for the tank to be towed into place and filled with seawater by the
afternoon.

From the Vancouver Sun – Jan 13, 2011

by Margaret Munro

Volcanic eruptions, giant squid and sea lice have all been invoked to
explain the wild swings in one of Canada’s most valuable fisheries.

Now
scientists have raised the spectre of a mysterious virus killing huge
numbers of Pacific salmon before they reach their spawning grounds.

“The
mortality-related signature reflects a viral infection,” a team of
federal and university researchers reported Thursday in a study into the
collapse of British Columbia’s famed Fraser River sockeye runs.

The
compromised salmon that appeared to have a viral infection at sea — a
phenomenon co-author Scott Hinch at the University of British Columbia
describes as “dead fish swimming” — were 13.5 times more likely to die
before spawning than healthy fish.

The study, published
Thursday in the journal Science, does not identify a microbial culprit,
but suggests the virus may be associated with leukemia and lymphoma.

“There is no doubt there is some form of pathogen involved,” Hinch said.

From SalmonGuy.org – Jan 10, 2011

An Initiative of the BC Salmon Farmers Association Invites
the Public to Get the Straight Facts on Salmon Farming at their New web
site, www.BCSalmonFacts.ca

“If it wasn’t so sad, it would almost be funny,” says
Mary Ellen Walling, Executive Director of the British Columbia Salmon
Farmers Association. “Many people are being fed a diet of
misinformation and that’s exactly why our members have launched
www.BCSalmonFacts.ca, a new web site where we will separate myths from fact and set the record straight.”

In addition to the new website, members of the BC Salmon Farmers
Association are also launching a television and print media advertising
campaign urging viewers and readers not to believe everything they hear
about farmed salmon without first checking the facts.

“At BCSalmonFacts.ca people will be able to separate fact from
fiction,” says Clare Backman, Director of Environmental Compliance and
Community Relations at Marine Harvest Canada, a member of the BCSFA.
“It’s about time the real story was told.”

There are video clips and forums on the site with links to articles
of interest. On the forums people can post questions and get straight
answers. There is also a Facebook page and a Twitter feed.

So I suppose Backman figures that the general public won’t catch the
bias involved in this initiative? Or the peculiar coincidence that the
salmon farmers are under considerable pressure in the current Cohen
Commission?

I tend to get a little chuckle out when I hear some company or
industry association carry on about how they’re going to: “set the
record straight.”

It’s a downward spiral. You are basically saying, hey general public
you’re stupid, you’ve been duped, you don’t know how to do your own
research and come to your own beliefs. You need to be spoon fed our
farmed spin to really understand the issues.

Read full article