Sometimes information appearing in the media merits correction or clarification. This can be especially true of special interest columns written for newspapers. While we understand that these opinions are sometimes misinterpreted as fact, it’s important that readers have access to factual and accurate information about salmon farming in British Columbia.
April 30, 2009
Sometimes articles that appear in magazines require clarification or correction. This is certainly the case with a piece entitled “The Trouble with Salmon” that ran April 12, 2009 in an online publication called Best Life. We tried to reach the editor but were not able to contact anyone at the publication.
The author, Taras Grescoe, writes evocatively of the beauty of British Columbia’s west coast. However, we feel his depiction of salmon farming might have been more realistic had he toured a farm, spoken to a farmer, talked with someone from the Centre for Aquatic Health Sciences or one of the other research institutes actively looking at aquaculture, or met with a representative of a feed manufacturer.Mr. Grescoe concludes “The choice seems easy enough: Buy wild Alaskan instead of farmed salmon.” Before doing that we would like to note that many Alaskan salmon are cultured at private non-profit (PNP) hatcheries and most of these fish are transferred to sea pens as well and are raised on the same diet as BC farmed fish for two to nine months. In Alaska, the fish are then released from their sea pens to forage in the wild before they return as adults and are caught by commercial fishers. In British Columbia, salmon remain on the farm for 18-24 months until harvest.
And in these difficult economic times, it is also worth pointing out that in British Columbia today, direct employment in hatcheries, grow-out, other farm activities and processing is over 6000, generating an economic output of over $800 million in 2008, with many jobs located in coastal communities hard hit by the economic downturn.
| In "The Trouble with Salmon" Taras Grescoe says... | We reply... | |
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Raising salmon – an ocean fish – in an ocean environment replicates their natural environment. An average farm is the same size as a community hockey rink. Here's a salmon farm photo:
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BC’s salmon farmers must meet stringent federal provincial and international environmental standards. Pollution is unacceptable – both to regulators and to farmers. Click here to see a list of the environmental regulations and to compare BC to other farming jurisdictions around the world. Both wild and farmed salmon are recommended by Health Canada as a healthy food choice and excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids, which help protect against heart disease. |
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| “Industrial-scale fish farming, promoted as a panacea to world hunger and the salvation of the wild fisheries, is turning out to suffer from the sins besetting the most notorious confined animal feeding operations on land: overcrowding, disease, contamination from pollutants, and overmedication with pesticides and antibiotics.” |
In 2005, the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization reported than 75% of the world’s capture fisheries were at, or near, their maximum harvest rates. Yet global demand for fish is increasing. In North America, demand is expected to increase 40% by 2010. Farming is the best way to meet that demand without putting undue pressure on wild stocks. Maintaining healthy stock is essential to profitable farming. Growing healthy farmed fish requires high quality, nutritious feed, maintaining reasonable stocking densities, and ensuring good water quality. Good fish husbandry relies on vaccination, the use of antibiotics when required to treat illness, disease screening and vigilance in all aspects of caring for the fish. Salmon farmed in BC are closely monitored for good health and the results are publicly available in the BC Fish Health database. http://www.al.gov.bc.ca/ahc/fish_health/index.htm Pesticides are not fed to the fish and antibiotics can only be administered to treat illness and only with a veterinarian’s prescription. Over the life of a farmed salmon, three percent of its feed will contain antibiotics. Fish farms use the least amount of antibiotics of any agricultural sector. |
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| “Even today’s most efficient farms require at least four pounds of wild-caught fish (dispensed in pellets) to produce a single pound of salmon.” | In fact, farm raised salmon consume just over a kilogram of fish feed for each kilogram of weight they gain – making salmon farming one of the most efficient forms of animal production. | |
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Feed is expensive and farmers do not like to waste it. Underwater cameras monitor the fish during feeding. During feeding, fish are closely monitored using underwater cameras. Once the fish are full, the feed supply is halted. This limits the amount of waste feed falling to the ocean floor. The impact of the farm on the ocean floor is strictly managed. All sites are assessed during each production cycle by federal and provincial biologists. Inspection reports are available at www.agf.gov.bc.ca/fisheries/aqua_report/index.htm If impacts are evident 30 metres from the ocean pen, the site must be fallowed until the ocean floor has rejuvenated – this can take from three weeks to a few months. |
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“. . .the returns of sockeye, Chinook, and chum in the rivers beer the salmon arms had gone into precipitous decline.” |
Sadly, returns of salmon all up and down the Pacific Coast are in decline – in areas with salmon farms and in many areas where salmon farming is not practiced. Changing water temperatures and salinity levels, the impacts of urbanization and industrial development, and a host of other factors have an impact. Salmon farming also has an impact but is the only sector subject to intense scrutiny from provincial and federal government regulators as well as other stakeholders, including environmental groups. | |
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In British Columbia, concerns have been raised about the adverse impacts of sea lice on wild salmon. In response, the BC government implemented strong precautionary regulations for salmon producers to minimize any potential harm to wild stocks. In BC, the discovery of three or more lice on any fish triggers the need to either harvest or treat the fish with an anti-parasitic medication, known as Slice (emamectin benzoate, Intervet-Schering Plough Animal Health) a proven therapeutant. The product is fed to fish and is only available under veterinary prescription plus approval by Health Canada.
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December 29, 2008
An article/column by Mark Hume, printed in the December 26, 2008 edition of the Globe and Mail, lays the blame for declining wild salmon stocks on salmon farming. Unfortunately, he fails to look at this critical issue in the context of all factors that affect wild salmon populations and have resulted in declines along the entire west coast of North America. Our wild salmon and their protection deserve a more thorough assessment of all factors that influence wild salmon populations –anything less is a disservice to wild salmon and to Mr. Hume’s readers.
Here’s how we responded to Mr. Hume. In a letter to the editor of the Globe and Mail, Mary Ellen Walling, BCSFA Executive Director, writes the following:
Mark Hume flags an important issue for BC: the protection of wild salmon. It is unfortunate that his passion is not matched by a willingness to look a little deeper at the causes of the current problem.
The easy thing is to blame salmon farming for wild fish declines. But the reality is much more complex. All up and down the coast, from Alaska to California, in areas with farms and in many areas without farms, salmon populations are in decline. The causes appear to include increased salinity, changes in water temperature, loss of habitat, urbanization and a host of other factors.
As Mr Hume correctly notes, salmon farmers can mitigate the impacts of farming to ensure we raise a healthy nutritious and sustainable product.
A lot more work on the part of the larger population will be required if we are to move beyond rhetoric and take a hard look at making changes to address the larger environmental issues.
To read Mr. Hume’s Globe and Mail article/column click here
A February 2008 report from the BC Pacific Salmon Forum “Broughton Archipelago: A State of Knowledge” reviews all impacts of human development and industry during the past 50 years in this ecosystem. To read this report click here (Note: file size is >20 MB)
Not all scientists agree with Mr. Hume. To read a commentary from the December 2008 issue of Science magazine click here
October 31, 2008
An article, “The Quality Revolution”, printed in the October issue of Canadian Business Magazine presents a one sided view of salmon farming that deserves rebuttal.
Mr. Volpe apparently “spends a lot of time these days pondering the ocean’s limited capacity to put more fish on the global table”. His suggestion that we should only eat wild fish in season does nothing to protect wild fish and ignores the benefits of sustainable aquaculture. For five years, farmed salmon has been British Columbia’s largest agricultural export. Today, our fish are in demand around the world. Not just because of their great flavor and the fact that fresh fish is available year round, but also because British Columbia is recognized as a leader in sustainable aquaculture practices.
Salmon farmed in British Columbia meet the highest standards for food safety, are raised within a regulatory regime that is the most stringent in the world, and play an important role in meeting a growing global demand for fresh fish without putting undue pressure on diminishing wild stocks. That’s the real “quality revolution”.
Mary Ellen Walling, BCSFA Executive Director, responded to the article's author, Andrew Nikiforuk, with the following letter:
Dear Andrew Nikiforuk,
I read your article “The Quality Revolution” in the October 27 issue of Canadian Business. As the executive director of the BC Salmon Farmers Association I was both surprised and disappointed that you did not contact me when writing a piece that has such a clear focus on salmon farming in British Columbia.
John Volpe’s views are well known to us and he is, of course, entitled to his opinions. However, had you had the opportunity to visit a salmon farm or to talk to some of the men and women who work in BC’s aquaculture industry you would hear a very different story.
I appreciate that when writing a feature article you, too, are entitled to your opinion. However, there are factual inaccuracies in your piece that could easy have been avoided. For example, it is simply not true that “fish farms consume vast amounts of drugs and chemicals”. Fish farmers are the only farmers who require a veterinarian’s prescription to administer antibiotics and these drugs can only be given to treat illness. Over the life of a farmed salmon more than 95% of its diet is free of any antibiotics.
You also state that “populations of sea lice in swarms 33,000 times their normal size are now depopulating wild stocks at an alarming rate.” Again, not true. Sea lice are an issue being managed by farm companies and farms have strict management protocols administered as a condition of license. Farmed fish enter the water lice free and should lice be detected on the fish all of the salmon on the farm are treated. The threshold for treatment is three lice. All up and down the Pacific Northwest coast there is concern for wild salmon populations. There are declining returns in areas with salmon farms and in many areas without. Changes in water temperature and salinity, impacts from urbanization, climate change and deforestation all play a role.
Mr. Volpe’s assertion that we should eat less fish but only wild fish will do nothing to help meet growing global demand for a healthy and nutritious fish such as salmon. Sustainable salmon farming – such as is mandated in British Columbia – offers much more promise to both meet a growing food demand while not putting undue pressure on wild stocks. I would invite you to visit a farm so you might have an opportunity to see for yourself how salmon are raised and the many steps we take to ensure we farm sustainably.
To read the Canadian Business Magazine article click here
October 27, 2008
An October 21, 2008 column by Walter Cordery in The Nanaimo Daily News contains numerous misleading statements and fallacies with regards to the monitoring and treatment of sea lice at BC salmon farms. Mr. Cordery did not attempt to contact the BC Salmon Farmers Association or one of numerous veterinarians who are fish health experts prior to writing his article; therefore, the article does not provide his readers with an accurate and balanced understanding of salmon farming and the sea lice issue.
To read Mr. Cordery’s article click here
To read what Health Canada has to say about emamectin benzoate (Slice) use click here
To read information from the Association of Aquaculture Veterinarians of BC click here
To read the 2007 Ministry of Agriculture and Lands Fish Health Program report click here
For more information on sea lice from the BCSFA click here
To view a video that explains Marine Harvest’s sea lice management program click here
The following are responses to the inaccuracies and misrepresentations presented in Mr. Cordery’s article.
| Walter Cordery writes… | The facts are… |
| “…the lice, which seem to multiply exponentially wherever salmon farms are located.” |
This is not correct. Sea lice on farmed salmon are monitored and recorded at each farm site on a monthly basis. The results of this monitoring are shared with and audited by the BC Ministry of Agriculture and Lands to ensure adherence to regulations that are designed to protect both the health of farmed salmon and of wild fish populations. Information on monitoring is available on the Ministry’s website at http://www.agf.gov.bc.ca. All life stages of the two common sea lice species are included in this monitoring program. If sea lice numbers exceed three motile lice per salmon, harvest of the fish or treatment with Slice is mandated. This treatment trigger level is lower than in other salmon farming areas thereby ensuring that numbers of lice do not “multiply exponentially” and become a health concern for either farmed or wild salmon. While not all farmed salmon are treated with Slice during their lifespan, of those that are, the vast majority will be treated just once throughout their saltwater growth phase (up to 24 months). Most farmed salmon will be treated just once throughout their saltwater growth phase (up to 24 months). Slice treatment is prescribed and monitored by licensed veterinarians. |
| “So sea lice has been a problem around aquaculture facilities for decades in places like Ireland and Scotland and we started monitoring them in 2003.” | In British Columbia, unlike other salmon farming jurisdictions, sea lice have never been a fish health management problem because of low numbers of lice in the Pacific Ocean. Prior to the development of a formalized sea lice monitoring program in 2003, BC companies had sea lice monitoring programs as part of their fish health management. |
| “Morton and others conclude sea lice infestations caused by the farms are driving populations of wild salmon to extinction.” |
Declining wild salmon populations are being seen throughout North America’s west coast even as far away as California –in areas with or without salmon farms. Numerous factors are named as contributors to declining populations, these include: logging, fishing, mining, human development, climate change and changing ocean conditions. There is a lot of debate on what are the effects of sea lice from farmed salmon on wild salmon populations. Ms. Morton’s research represents one side of the debate. Research from both sides of the debate is available at www.pacificsalmonforum.ca. |
| “…operations have a history of sea lice infestations that biologists like Morton claim is spreading to nearby native populations, decimating their numbers.” | As Mr. Cordery states Ms. Morton is making a “claim”. As stated above, research from both sides of the debate is available at www.pacificsalmonforum.ca. |
| “Farmed and Dangerous says that “outbreaks of sea lice are so prevalent in industrial net-pens that the use of Slice has become standard operating procedure.” |
Use of Slice to treat infections of sea lice where numbers are three motile lice per fish or more is adherence to regulation, not ‘standard operating procedure’. Once again, this treatment trigger level is lower than in other salmon farming areas, thereby ensuring that lice levels are low. While not all farmed salmon are treated with Slice during their lifespan, of those that are, the vast majority will be treated just once throughout their saltwater growth phase (up to 24 months). Slice treatment is prescribed and monitored by licensed veterinarians. |
| In 2003 alone, 37 million farmed salmon in Canada were treated with this chemical, with little or no regards for other sea creatures who may be affected by it.” |
Slice is a registered for use with farmed fish in several countries including Norway, the UK and Chile. In Canada, an Emergency Drug Release (EDR) is issued by Health Canada’s Veterinary Drugs Directorate upon acceptance of a detailed veterinary submission. All emamectin benzoate usage must be accounted for. Regarding EDRs, their use is only allowable where there is adequate evidence that the drug poses no known health risk to the animals to be treated or to consumers. Emamectin benzoate is approved for use in Japan and in the US on vegetable crops. In the US, the Environmental Protection Agency, allows for its use of leafy vegetables, turnip greens, cottonseed, fruiting vegetables and products such as tomato paste. These regulations establish tolerances for “indirect or inadvertent combined residues of emamectin” in food animals that may consume these vegetables. |
| “…we allow an untested chemical to be used in the ocean to protect farmed salmon? We don’t know if salmon treated with Slice are safe to eat.” | Emamectin benzoate is not an “untested chemical”, it is a proven therapeutant. Its use in other food production and the establishment of tolerances for these food products as well as the animals or humans who consume them is the result of a significant research including the effects of average consumption rates as well as toxicological assessment. “Based on these risk assessments, EPA concludes that there is a reasonable certainty that no harm will result for the general population…from aggregate exposure to emamectin residues.” |
October 10, 2008
A response by Catherine Stewart of the Living Oceans Society to a recent article by Ruth Salmon, Executive Director of the Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance, includes many inaccuracies regarding the strict regulatory process to which BC salmon farmers adhere. BC salmon farmers operate in a consistently transparent fashion whether they are sharing information with the government or, as Catherine Stewart found out, with environmental organizations.
To read Ruth Salmon’s article “It’s time we used the oceans for farming rather than for hunting” click here.
To read Catherine Stewart’s response click here
| Catherine Stewart writes… | The facts are… | |
| “By and large, the salmon farming industry in B.C. reports to its association who provide cumulative data to governments. Data such as the number of escaped Atlantic salmon, how many sea lions were shot or drowned in net cages or the regional total of antibiotics pumped into the fish.” |
Stewart implies our regulatory environment is lacking. Her assertion that our members report through the Association to government on escapes, predator control and antibiotic use is simply not true. Escapes must be reported directly to the government within 24 hours. Predator control is reported directly to government. Upon harvest of any fish treated with antibiotics, the farm company must produce a statement with specific information on the fish harvested to verify compliance with the withdrawal period.
All companies farming salmon in British Columbia undergo an annual inspection of their facilities by government. Employees are interviewed, the farm operations procedures, practices and maintenance records are reviewed and a visual examination of the site is conducted. Key components of these on-site inspections include a review of the management plan, escape reports, inventory records, inspection records, escape response, therapeutant use and records, installation of containment structures, net cage configuration and storage, net cage inspections, boat docking, fish handling, predator control, blood water disposal, net treatment, cleaning and waste disposal, disinfectant use and disposal, mort storage and disposal, refuse storage and disposal, sewage treatment and disposal, water use and licensing, wildlife predator trapping predator management, fuel product use, storage and containment and environmental management. To view the BC Ministry of Agriculture and Lands 2007 Fish Health report click here To view to the BC Ministry of Agriculture and Lands 2007 Regulatory Compliance report click here |
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| “…one company, Mainstream, used 562,732 kilograms on just eight farms -- an unbelievably high amount. We contacted the company who resolved the error and provided the correct figures.” | It’s good to hear that Mainstream Canada promptly resolved the error by providing corrected figures to Catherine Stewart and to the provincial government. The figure originally quoted represented the total amount of medicated feed utilized for the eight treatments, not the amount of medicant used. | |
| “We asked, but our government clearly isn't asking. It just accepts the voluntary company reports and then publishes regular reports proclaiming overwhelming compliance with ‘the toughest regulations in the world.’” | A comparison of regulations in BC with other salmon farming jurisdictions can be seen here. | |
| “Returns of wild salmon to the Broughton Archipelago are at an all-time low…” |
Low returns of wild salmon have been seen along the entire coast of the Pacific Northwest down to California. This is a concern for everyone. Wild salmon populations are being affected in areas where there have never been any salmon farming. Regarding the Broughton, the BC Pacific Salmon Forum commissioned an interesting report highlighting the negative effects of logging, fishing, mining, human development and climate change on wild salmon populations in the Broughton Archipelago over the last 50 years. Pink salmon populations naturally fluctuate dramatically, but as Ruth Salmon stated in her article, the largest return of pink salmon every recorded in that area was in 2001 more than a decade after the start of salmon farming in the Broughton. This provides reassurance that these operations are not affecting wild pink populations. |
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A presentation on the Quatsino Sound Clam Study by Mr. David Schmidt of North Island Biological Consultants concluded that in the study area, generally no effects could be seen that directly link to fish farm operations; biomass showed an upward trend, metals were similar to control site and in some cases lower and no trace of SLICE was found in clams. For Mr. Schmidt’s study (Power Point): click here » |
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| “Our governments are failing to protect our salmon, our oceans and our future from open net-cage salmon farms. That is a fact.” |
It’s unfortunate that Ms Stewart fails to recognize the extraordinary efforts farm companies have taken and are continuing to take to protect BC’s wild salmon. Everyone has a role to play. Both the location and day-to-day operations of all Canadian aquaculture facilities are regulated by five federal agencies: Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Environment Canada, Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, and Health Canada. All proposed aquaculture developments are subject to an environmental review, which includes the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act. Couple that with the extensive BC regulations, and the recent independent assessment by IFQC, an international independent and accredited certification body that British Columbia has a very thorough regulatory framework governing aquaculture, B.C. either leads or is highly comparable to other producing regions on an international basis with government oversight processes that are remarkable for their depth of detail and frequent reliance upon quantitative measurements and that BC farm companies have been achievers in environmental management. BC salmon farmers share information with coastal stakeholders including government and, as Catherine Stewart found out, environmental organizations. We care about the environment, our communities and stakeholders’ concerns. There is always room for improvement and we are committed to finding solutions that work for everyone. |
September 18, 2008
An article was published by D. Reid in the Times Colonist which requires both correction and clarification. There were a number of allegations made and an alarming lack of factual accuracy that require response. We worked with the Centre for Aquatic Health Sciences to clarify the factual accuracy of some of the statements made.
Click here to read Reid’s article.
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Mr. Reid writes... |
The facts are... |
| “New studies from the U.S.A., Canada and Norway indicate lice and the diseases they carry are killing all five salmon species in B.C. and also herring." |
Sea lice occur naturally in all oceans. Here’s what you need to know about our fish: Farm salmon stocks enter the marine environment lice free. Salmon farmers use management techniques to minimize the presence of sea lice within their stocks. This includes monitoring and reporting, fallowing (leaving a farm site empty for a period of time), combined with the practice of growing only one age or year class on a farm. This ensures sea lice are not spread from older fish to younger fish, which effectively breaks their host / parasite cycle. If a lice outbreak occurs, farmed fish are treated for sea lice with a medication added to fish feed which is only available under veterinarian prescription. |
| “Her research indicates that sockeye smolts migrating up Johnstone Strait from the Fraser River have been infected with lethal numbers of infected lice as they swim through the Campbell River area. Little wonder this year's run of Fraser sockeye was one of the poorest on record -- and the problem will continue unless we do something.” |
Sea lice data collected through audited processes shows low levels of lice on salmon farms in the Johnstone Strait. Link to the sea lice data on the BC Ministry of Agriculture and Lands website. Early Fraser River Sockeye returns indicate a large reduction in the number of returning fish in 2008. The plight of the Fraser River sockeye is mirrored by similar declines reported in rivers from California to Alaska. While BC salmon farmers share concerns about these reduced Pacific salmon returns this year, we disagree with those researchers who conclude that salmon farming is responsible for these declines. We wish to explain why blaming our operations for impacting these stocks may be convenient but is unfounded.
Ongoing research is concluding that Pacific salmon are resistant to damage from sea lice except in their extreme infancy when first leaving their natal rivers. Regarding the Fraser Sockeye returns, the closest salmon farm is located approximately 110 km away from the Fraser River’s mouth. There is no opportunity for out migrating Fraser River salmon fry to come in contact with farmed salmon during their critical early life stages and; therefore, no chance for the alleged disease or sea louse transmission to occur. Additionally, Sockeye salmon spend the first year of their life cycle in freshwater and have fully developed immune systems by the time they migrate to saltwater. |
| “Morton has now found lethal levels of fish farm sea lice in chinook smolts from the Megin River that flows into Clayoquot Sound, meaning all the United Nations World Heritage 650,000-acre Site salt-waters are a gauntlet of sea-lice death for all species of salmon migrating through the narrow fjords near Tofino.” | There are low levels of lice on the salmon farms in this region. As well, several of the farms contain Chinook salmon which have been shown not to be highly affected by sea lice. |
| “Morton and others have discovered viral outbreaks from now antibiotic resistant infected lice from the Johnstone Strait all the way up to Bella Bella on the mid-coast. This is also wiping out herring stocks to the point where DFO no longer assesses their spawn in Kingcome Inlet.” |
Anti-parasitics are used to treat for lice and there is no evidence to show that there is any resistance to the anti-parasitic treatment used in Canada. And by the way, sea lice are not treated using antibiotics. The lice infecting herring is Caligus lice –a parasite with a wide host range, that is, found on many different species of fish in the marine environment. Levels of this louse on farmed salmon are almost non-existent. |
| “From 2001 to 2003, 12,000,000 farmed Atlantic salmon died in B.C. from the infectious haematopoietic necrosis epidemic.” | IHN is an endemic disease –that is, a disease found in wild salmon. Farmers and veterinarians successfully managed the problem by culling infected stocks during the outbreak. Vaccine development has been undertaken and we continue to monitor to ensure that our stocks remain healthy. Fortunately for the industry we have not seen the disease since. |
| “Even Canada's highly regarded -- and DFO's own scientist -- Dick Beamish, has published research showing that when Atlantic salmon are removed wild salmon smolts thrive.” | Was the Department of Fisheries and Oceans even contacted for comment? I can’t imagine Dr. Beamish making a claim like this –in fact his research shows quite the opposite. Click here to review his papers. |
In BC, just like in many other parts of the world, landings of wild fish have leveled 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 over fishing a finite resource – wild salmon.
