Media Releases & Recent Articles
Additional Clarification on Issues Being Raised in the Media
August 11, 2006 - In recent weeks there have been several articles published which require both correction and clarification. There were a number of allegations made and an alarming lack of factual accuracy that require response. Most of us who work in salmon farming live in BC's coastal communities. We've raised our kids here, invest volunteer time in community activities, and regard our marine environment as an asset that we borrow from future generations. That's not spin. That's just how we feel.
Setting the Record Straight
Sometimes information appearing in the media merits correction or clarification. This can be especially true of special interest columns written for community newspapers.
In recent weeks there have been several articles published which require both correction and clarification. The first column appeared in the Terrace Standard sports section, written by Rob Brown whose column "The Skeena Angler" typically deals with sports fishing. The other was by Ray Grigg, whose environmental column "Shades of Green" appears in the North Island Courier. In both articles there were a number of allegations made and an alarming lack of factual accuracy that require response. Here's our response to these columns.
"Spin unravelled" Rob Brown, The Skeena Angler, Terrace Standard, July 12. Click here to read Brown's full column.
Click here to read the guest editorial by Mary Ellen Walling, BC Salmon Farmers Executive Director which provoked this article.
Mr. Brown writes... |
The facts... |
| “. . . Mary Ellen Walling,
shill and apologist for fish farmers. “Such is the modus operandi of the PR hack [Walling]: trot out some vague facts, steer away from the inconvenient truths and create the big lie.” |
Ouch. This was hard for us to read. Frankly we were
shocked by Mr. Brown’s comments – he can’t
have ever met Mary Ellen. The facts are that Mary Ellen has lived and worked on the coast of Vancouver Island for over 20 years. During that time, she has given countless hours of volunteer time to various community initiatives, has raised her kids here and enjoys her grandkids. Mary Ellen’s husband was a dairy farmer and she has loads of first hand experience in the agriculture sector. She is also in the final stages of earning a Master’s degree. She’s smart and knowledgeable, bases her information on facts and science and we view her as an advocate for coastal communities, including aquaculture. |
| “What [Walling] conveniently omits is that farmed fish also pack around antibiotics, dyes, pesticides, mercury and other heavy metals, and that the amount of healthful Omega fats they contain is less than the amount found in mother nature's product.” | Let’s look at this... Antibiotics: can only be prescribed by a vet to treat illness and are administered in the feed. 97% of salmon feed is antibiotic free. Dye: no dye is used in salmon farming. Wild salmon get their colour from eating marine organisms which contain carotenoids. Farmed salmon eat those same carotenoids in their food. Pesticides, mercury & heavy metals: these are present in pretty much all of the food we eat. So the real question is, are the levels found in wild and farmed fish safe? The answer is “yes” – both wild and farmed salmon test well within the safe consumption levels set by health authorities in Canada and the US. Omega fatty acids: farmed Atlantic salmon, containing 1.9 grams per serving, provides higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids than most other fish sources. |
| “We are supposed to be impressed by the fact that fish farming has been practised in B.C. for 30 years and that it generates a lot of capital - a whopping $450 million, claims Walling. So what? say I” | “So what?” Here’s what... Farmed salmon is BC’s largest agricultural export. The industry directly employs 4000 people and relies upon the services of more than 5000 suppliers. Salmon farming has created jobs and opportunities in coastal communities largely dependent upon the resource sector, allowing residents of those communities to continue to work and live at home. |
| “Walling would have us believe that somehow the longevity and profitability of that industry make it a good thing? The tobacco industry has been thriving on this continent for more than two centuries now, and it's been enormously profitable. Would we all be better off if it had never existed? “ | Frankly, this is a ludicrous comparison.
Smoking causes cancer. The July 14 issue of the Globe
and Mail reported that tobacco is expected to kill one
billion people this century. Eating salmon –wild or farmed – makes a significant contribution to a healthy diet and has been shown to reduce risk of cardiovascular disease by up to thirty percent when consumed two or three times a week. |
| “Walling and her ilk never factor the loss of wild fish, jobs in the fishing industry, and the enormous long-term environmental costs into their accounting . . .” | In many areas such as Terrace, the
downturn in the wild fishery has nothing to do with
salmon farming. In BC, just like in many other parts
of the world, landings of wild fish have levelled off
since the mid-1980s, yet the world’s appetite
for fish has continued to increase. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, US demand for seafood is projected to increase by 30 – 50% by the year 2010. Salmon farming offers a way to meet that demand without overfishing a finite resource – wild salmon. |
| “Curiously, Walling makes no mention of the fact that the pollution from a single fish farm is on par with that from a small town, that Canadian fish farms still discharge more than 10,000 tons of uneaten food annually, and that fallowed or not, the ocean floor under fish farms is a dead zone.” | No mention is made of these
points because they are not true. Poop: The claim that fish waste is equal to raw human sewage is misleading at best. Human waste contains E. coli and other bacteria harmful to human health. Fish waste contains no harmful bacteria. It is made up of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, potassium, nitrogen, phosphorous, calcium, iron, zinc, and other nutrients. Hardly “sewage”. The dead zone: Catchy title but, again, not accurate. Ongoing studies have been done to assess "benthic" impact -- the impact on the collective organisms inhabiting the seabed under the farms. These studies show that when farms are properly sited - as they must be to meet today's regulatory requirements - water currents and tides disperse organic waste from under the pens minimizing impacts on the sea bed below. |
| “Conspicuously absent from Walling's piece is any mention of sea lice or the vile pesticides fish farmers use to fight them. The reason for this is that Walling knows as well as I do that the sea lice problem is devastating to wild salmon and there is no effective way to eradicate it.” | There is a kernel of truth
in this statement of Mr. Brown’s. He is quite
right when he says there is no way to eradicate sea
lice. The reason for that is because sea lice occur
naturally in all oceans. Here’s what you need
to know about our fish:
|
“The public relations strategy of salmon farming” Ray Grigg, North Islander, June 30, 2006.
The main point of the article attempts to show how far corporations, companies and people will go to mislead the public.
Mr. Grigg writes... |
Our view... |
| “Basically, the [public relations] strategy is to attack and discredit any and all critics,. . .” | Whose strategy is Mr. Grigg writing about? It sounded to us like he was referencing the approach of salmon farming critics here. It certainly describes what we’ve experienced: the work of scientists with PhD’s from prestigious universities whose work shows salmon farming is sustainable are disparaged, while opponents with limited scientific credentials who advocate “simple” science are lauded as the “real” scientists. |
| “The longer fish farms operate, the more they will become an integral and indispensable part of community economies.” | And this is a bad thing? We have a hard time understanding how strong, viable coastal communities can be anything but a good thing. When an industry creates jobs and opportunities for people who can then choose to work and live in their home communities it contributes to a sustainable community future. |
| The main point of the article attempts to show how far corporations, companies and people will go to mislead the public. | Let’s set the record straight... Salmon farming is the most heavily regulated of any type of agricultural activity. The BC industry has a record of strong compliance as released by the provincial government in their recent results. http://salmonfarmers.org/files/08_03_06.html The aquaculture industry will not be able to succeed unless it uses sound ecological practices and manages resources sustainability. With global demand for salmon growing, farming is one way to protect a precious — and finite — resource, B.C.’s wild salmon. Most of us who work in salmon farming live in BC’s coastal communities. We’ve raised our kids here, invest volunteer time in community activities, and regard our marine environment as an asset that we borrow from future generations. That’s not spin. That’s just how we feel. |
BC Salmon Farmers Association
Phone: 250-286-1636
Fax: 250-286-1574
Toll Free: 1 800-661-7256
Phone: 250-286-1636
Fax: 250-286-1574
Toll Free: 1 800-661-7256