SEA LICE, SALMON - CANADA (BRITISH COLUMBIA)

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SEA LICE, SALMON - CANADA (BRITISH COLUMBIA)
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A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org

ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Disease

Date: 13 Dec 2007
Source:BC News [edited]
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7142053.stm>


Extinction threat to wild salmon
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Wild pink salmon around the Broughton Archipelago are declining
rapidly and will die out within 10 years if no action is taken, say
researchers. They say the data, published in Science, raises serious
concerns about the global expansion of aquaculture. Sea lice from
farms [aquaculture farms - Mod.TG] are known to infect wild salmon,
but until now the impact on wild populations has been uncertain.

"The impact is so severe that the viability of the wild salmon
populations is threatened," said lead researcher Martin Krkosek from
the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada.

Modelling studies
Dr. Krkosek and colleagues compiled data on the numbers of pink
salmon in rivers around the central coast of British Columbia. They
compared populations of salmon that had come into contact with salmon
farms with those that had not been exposed, from 1970 to the present day.

Using a mathematical model of population growth rates, they show that
sea lice from industrial fish farms are reducing the numbers of wild
pink salmon -- a Pacific salmon species -- to the extent that the
fish could be locally extinct in 8 years or less.

Dr. Krkosek said the population growth rate was "severely depressed.
It means that the probability of extinction is 100 percent and the
only question is how long it is going to take," he told BBC News.

Natural parasites
Scientists say commercial open-net salmon farms are a "haven" for sea
lice -- naturally occurring parasites that attach to the skin and
muscle of salmon. Mature fish can survive being infested by a few
lice but tiny juvenile salmon are particularly vulnerable to attack.
They come into contact with sea lice when they swim past fish farms
on their migratory routes from rivers to the sea.

"Salmon farming breaks a natural law," explained study co-author
Alexandra Morton, director of the Salmon Coast Field Station, located
in the Broughton Archipelago. "In the natural system, the youngest
salmon are not exposed to sea lice because the adult salmon that
carry the parasite are offshore. But fish farms cause a deadly
collision between the vulnerable young salmon and sea lice. They are
not equipped to survive this, and they don't."

Scientists say there are a number of solutions to the problem,
including moving farms away from rivers used by wild salmon or
putting farmed salmon in pens that are completely sealed off from the
surrounding environment.

"The most obvious thing to do is to move the farm out of the way of
the wild fish," Dr. Krkosek told BBC News. "Don't put them on the
migration route, and don't put them near the spawning rivers. Another
option is to move to closed containment technology where the net pen
is replaced with a physical barrier that prevents the exchange of
parasites -- that would solve the problem too."

National treasure
Dr. Krkosek said the impact of fish farms on wild salmon has been "an
emotionally, politically and economically charged debate" in Canada.
"Salmon are considered a natural treasure to Canadians, but salmon
farming has a lot of economic opportunity -- we really need economic
activity to supplement coastal economies where fisheries and other
resource centres are not doing as well," he explained. "So there are
economic benefits to having salmon farms, but the way that it is
currently being done is very damaging to the environment and there
are better ways of doing it."

The report in Science has implications for other parts of the world
where salmon is farmed, such as Norway and Scotland. Other species of
salmon are known to become infected with sea lice, but they vary in
their ability to withstand this.

Sid Patten, chief executive of the Scottish Salmon Producers'
Organisation, said the Canadian research bore "little resemblance to
the situation in Scotland". He said fish farmers, wild fish interests
and the Scottish government had been working together for many years
around the north-west coast and islands to develop local area
management plans "for the benefit of both wild and farmed salmon".

"I am delighted to report that there are very positive results coming
from this process such as increased numbers of wild salmon returning
to some rivers," he said. "This summer, the Scottish government
presented our work to the Canadians who were very interested in
exploring a similar model for Canada."

[Byline: Helen Briggs]

--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail promed@promedmail.org


[Please see ProMED-mail post 20070301.0730 for detailed information on
sea lice.
A photo of an infected fish may be seen at
<http://www.sfu.ca/cstudies/science/sealice/Slide23.jpg>.
A greatly magnified version of the sea louse, as seen with the scanning
electron microscope and incorrectly colored for ease of understanding what
we are looking at, may be viewed at:
<LINK>.
- Mod.TG]

[see also:
Sea lice, aquaculture - Canada (BC) 20070301.0730
2004
----
Infectious salmon anemia - Canada (NB) 20040807.2165
2003
----
Infectious salmon anemia - USA: OIE 20030625.1569
1998
----
Sea trout, lice infestation - UK (Scotland) 19980711.1
 
On another forum there was a post about fish farming on the Gulf coast and if sportsfishermen were opposed to the fish farming in the open water. The sea lice problem in the Salmon was mentioned in that thread.

What one has to ask is if there is a bias in the study that would favor natural fisherman or fish farmers? Studies in wild fish are hard to do. This may be a significant study, which would argue against fish farming;at least, near migratory routes. On the other hand, I wonder how accurate the suggestion is that the Salmon will be extinct in 10 years. Certainly the salmon fishery has been heavily stressed (as have most fisheries in coastal areas).

It certainly gives pause about fish farming.
 
This is an issue of great concern to all who'd like there to be wild salmon available for our children and grandchildren to enjoy. The research I've seen is sobering to say the least. An interesting side note: the head researcher on one PBS show I watched had a 22' C-Dory as her research vessel! Mike.
 
In addition to the lice problem, there are fairly frequent net pen releases (e.g. weather breaks a pen open). These can release 10's to hundreds of 1000's of non-native Atlantic salmon into a local area. These released fish then compete with local species for food. Most of the farmed fish are sterile but the technique for producing sterile fish are not 100% perfect. In addition to the competition for food, there is a concern that these fish may someday establish a viable breeding population on the coast. In addition, the salmon farms release high concentrations of nutrients and fish waste in the area of the farm since they have to put a lot of food into the pens.

For these reasons (and the fact that wild pacific salmon taste better), friends don't let friends eat farmed salmon!
 
In response to Adelines entry, I watched a documentary on this lady a year or so ago. She convinced the DFO to shut down the farm fishing one year while the wild salmon where passing by all the pens to head for the rivers and creeks to spawn. It was one of the highest rates of return in recent history. Very little sign of sea lice on the returning wild salmon. Yet the fish farms convinced the DFO that we were NOT the problem. It seemed so obvious that they were, where are these guys heads, probably enjoying a nice warm climate after getting their palms greased.
Jimbo
 
the sea lice issue has been going on for years ... the ones doing the research are not some radical tree huggers ... the university of Calgary found a 95% kill rate on the juvenile in their study this was a few years back so i forget most of it but their method was to net the juvenile's on their migratory run before the fish farm than re-net them north of the fish farm they found 95% with lice .. the study was more intense than i have stated i think the conclusion was a juvenile with one lice on them was pretty well toast but two or three lice attached was finished ... in a natural environment lice have a hard time attaching to juveniles ..

the lady in the above picture lives in the area and spent years studying and documenting the problem, she if i got it right is a Washington university graduate and blown off because she is American

it seems know major B.C. university (there's three of them) will get on board and stop the madness their research is on whales .. the government increased the fish license and the last comment a few years back they gave the companys five million (of tax payers money) to do more research ... our media outlets do not seem to carrier the stories or question the government at all .. yet if a politician slips out some racial comment or the like, its plastered on the news for a week ...

my own thoughts i hope some large U.S. game club or eviromental group comes on board stirs up the cause .. grrrrrrrrrr !!!
 
Depending on the depth of their "Green", some will conclude that this dilemma is somehow tied to global warming! Which should prove what I've thought all along; that all manner of parasites have origins in that camp.

Am I being fashious? Do I have my head in the sand? Not really, but I have to wonder how much effect my pleadings would have at a national level. Heck I can't even get C-dory to respond to some simple warranty items. :roll:

Mike
 
A few years ago in BC there was a huge movement against the fish farms. A popular radio host took the side of the enviromentalists and ended up losing his job. Many of us In Bc have always known the fish farms are dangerous but like many other places , money talks. If we listen to the enviromentalists and they are wrong , the fish stocks still survive. If they are right and we don't listen then we can sit around and tell our grandkids that we really did once fish for a species called salmon. I would prefer to err on the side of caution.
 
ryder":106dex59 said:
A few years ago in BC there was a huge movement against the fish farms. A popular radio host took the side of the enviromentalists and ended up losing his job. Many of us In Bc have always known the fish farms are dangerous but like many other places , money talks. If we listen to the enviromentalists and they are wrong , the fish stocks still survive. If they are right and we don't listen then we can sit around and tell our grandkids that we really did once fish for a species called salmon. I would prefer to err on the side of caution.
Click to expand...

I agree. The science really is there that shows the effect of fish farms on native salmon populations. But like you say, money talks (to the legislators.)
 
I wholly agree with Ryder on this one. I'm personally quite conservative and therefore believe that we should be very cautious with and protective of a (species, food resource, recreational medium) if eventual extinction is a serious possibility. Note that the sky has already "fallen" on several animal species and/or local populations due to the irresponsible, often piggish behavior of our species. This includes a few local salmon runs. Fortunately many other species have made dramatic recovery where governments and the public pay attention to scientific research and population trends. It really is possible to wipe out a local marine population in a short time with a few particularly damaging blows. People don't always self-regulate, so environmental protection needs to one of the clear functions of government, as much as many of us may mistrust government generally. Even if you fall squarely into the "subdue the wilderness" crowd, I just bet your family's boating experiences would be diminished without bald eagles, Dahl's porpoise, orca whales, Dungeness crab, wild salmon, blue heron, etc. to enjoy, interact with and in some cases harvest. Note too the tendency of the offending industry to characterize any unfavorable scientific research as "biased research". For years this was the response of the U.S. tobacco industry to medical research on the damaging health effects of smoking. Because of increased domestic scrutiny and regulation, these companies are now turning to foreign countries, including Canada, to maintain and expand their sales. I beg your pardon for my strident tone, but this is something I'm pretty passionate about. Thanks, Mike.
 
I believe that the farms are causing some of the problems, but just closing them down is not the answer, why? because people all work at these farms, local businesses up and down the coast rely on the economic impact of these operations, and people eat fish. Fish farming was suppose to be the cure for the over fishing by the fleets that nearly wiped out the salmon populations up and down the west coast. So with the money that can be made and the need for fish that I dont think the netters can meet ( 80% of all fish eatten is farmed fish) then the need for a solution that both sides can live with is the only outcome that should be taken. There is a solution that will work. Whether its the timing of the runs or the locations of the farms, off shore solves a lot of the problems, the answer is out there but No is not the answer. Thats what puts a lot of people, people that have spent their lives outdoors and living off the enviroment, off about the enviromentally movement. I beleive that there are answers to dams with out knocking them down, having a supply of timber with out going out of counrty or putting whole towns out of work. I agree that the total destrution of these runs of salmon has to stop but it is not all the runs and the sky is not falling. hopefully people can find a solution to the problem that allows the farms and cheap supply of fish with out kiling the native runs. As far as not eating farmed fish, Seems to me that I see those bumper stickers on the trucks of net boat owners. owners that would get a lot more money per lbs then today if the fish farms went away. Same boats that over fished the wild population to begain with and got us looking at fish farming as a way to save the wild runs.
 
Starcraftdom: You make many good points, some of which I agree with. Your'e right about the commercial fishing industry: They've fought tooth and nail against most fishing restrictions (except those that apply to competitors) and would likely catch "the last fish" if allowed to do so. Funny they should now be troubled by the potential degredation of slamon runs they've efficiently degraded for decades! Unfortunately most industries, including my own (I'm a building contractor), show little inclination to self-police in the absence of government regulation. Talk of economic impact, job loss, and biased studies is the normal response. And dude, I'm as put-off by Al Gore and his crowd as you are! But scoffing and beer emoticons is much less than this issue deserves. Mike.
 
I think there seems to be a lot of confusion on what's going on regarding the salmon. I would like to remind some of you more skeptical folks that it is in no one's political interest to stop fish farming. The enviromentalists get to apply for lots of money to keep an eye on the fish farms. The fisherman are assured of lots of fish so their quotas are larger. The fish farms get to keep employing people. The scientists get grants to figure out how to produce more fish etc etc. There is only one reason to stop fish farming. "It's hurting the wild salmon". This is why I caution some of you to think this through before you start condeming those concerned with the current problems.
 
ryder sorry but you are wrong about nothing to be gained. So follow along. if there are no fish farms the supply of fish goes down so the price goes up. if no farms then the only way to get fish is to net them with boats in the wild. If the price per pound is say $1 with the farms and $10 with out the farm then the net guys are going to get paid 10x as much for the same amount fo fish OR the over sea operators come in and fish just out side the boundry of canada and the U.S. to get fish and sell it at $5 lbs. or the money will make it worth fishing illegly and selling on the black market. Good example is when fish prices went up a little and the tribes at neah bay netted 80,000 more king then they where allowed. Well the state made up for it by taking away the three weeks on king season in the sound so its all good. We can not up the amount of fish taken in the wild and fish farms keep the price down so if they go away prices and profits for the fleets go way up....
 
I would like to edit my most previous post as follows: I apologize for a tone that suggests all commercial fishermen lack concern for the sustainability of the resource. Of course I know this is not true. Mike.
 
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