Campbell River Mirror
September 30, 2010

Fish farms are being blamed by the Wilderness Tourism Association (WTA) for plummeting salmon returns to the Glendale Creek in Knight Inlet.

“We are seeing a disturbing trend,” Dean Wyatt, owner of the Knight Inlet Lodge, said in a press release issued by the WTA. “In 2004 we had pink returns of about 660,000. That number dropped to 182,000 in 2006 and 15,000 in 2008. And now it looks like less than 20,000 are coming back to Glendale, similar to 2008. With 4.8 million fish leaving the Glendale in 2009, a worst-case scenario should have seen 40,000 salmon return.”

Wyatt’s numbers are based on the most recent DFO bulletin reporting results of a Sept. 13 survey of salmon in Knight Inlet indicator streams.

The bulletin says, “Pink are near peak spawn in most systems except Glendale, which is typically later than the other monitored systems. Returns to date are similar to slightly better than brood returns observed at similar times in 2008 except for Ahnuhati. The Kakweiken River has the highest concentration of pinks out of all the systems monitored. Numbers in Glendale have increased significantly since the last flight but there is little indication in the lower river or approach waters that any more pinks will return.”

A press release from the WTA, a vocal aquaculture opponent, blamed fish farms for the situation.

“While British Columbians are celebrating the massive returns of Fraser River sockeye salmon, other key BC salmon runs are experiencing a drastic collapse,” the WTA release says.

Read related story: Courier Islander; September 29, 2010; "Trying to figure out the problem"

September 29, 2010
CBC News

Environment Canada has launched four active investigations into the alleged illegal use of the pesticide Cypermethrin in the Bay of Fundy.

Last fall, federal government investigators found the chemical cypermethrin present in weak and dying lobsters in the Bay of Fundy.

Now, further inspections done over the past few months have turned up detectable levels of cypermethrin at two other aquaculture sites in southwest New Brunswick.

The chemical is illegal for marine use in Canada, but it's used in other countries to combat sea lice.

The initial discovery of lobster kills in the Grand Manan and Deer Island areas late last year launched two investigations that are still ongoing.

Ever since, Environment Canada officials have been monitoring the Bay of Fundy through routine inspections and sample collections.

Between May and July, they found levels of cypermethrin in certain fish farms in Charlotte Country, which led to two new investigations into its alleged use.

Read the full story on CBC News 

Read related stories:

• Telegraph Journal; October 1, 2010; "Aquaculture company denies using harmful pesticide - Investigation: Environment Canada probing discovery of illegal substance in Bay of Fundy"
• CBC News; September 30, 2010; "Fish farm pesticides should be banned: association"
• Telegraph Journal; September 25, 2010; "Bay of Fundy Mystery: What killed the lobsters" 

September 27, 2010
World Fishing Today

An old fish farm site will soon become First Nation healing centre that will bring social and economic benefits to the Northern Vancouver Island.  

Marine Harvest Canada, a salmon farming company, has now transferred ownership of a freshwater salmon farm to the Quatsino First Nation. The company has future plans for the new healing centre which include providing a healthy environment for healing as well as raising fish in the aquaculture facility.

Quatsino Chief Tom Nelson said that it is pleasure to provide the people with this type of therapy centre on the North Island, that will provide First Nation people recovering from health or social issues a chance to return back home to a healthy environment and continue their healing.

As per the information the new facility includes accommodation buildings, fish rearing equipment and aquaculture license and operates within the traditional territory of the Quatsino First Nation at Victoria Lake. Vincent Erenst, Managing Director at Marine Harvest, points to new recirculation technology advancements at its Sayward North hatchery facility as the reason for divestment of the Victoria Lake site.

He said that it is good to have such a use of this property. The site includes a turn-key aquaculture facility which the band can use for rearing fish. This will allow the band to teach people valuable life skills, create jobs as well as creating economic opportunities for the band. Band members and Marine Harvest staff will gather to celebrate the transfer of the facility to the Quatsino First Nation on Sept. 25th. 

Source: World Fishing Today

Rear related story in:

• North Island Gazette; Novermber 25, 2010; "Fish farm transferred" 

Sunday Herald
September 26, 2010
Sunday Herlad (Scotland)

One of Scotland’s leading fish farm companies may face prosecution after thousands of salmon were accidentally killed by an overdose of an unauthorised and highly toxic pesticide.

The Sunday Herald has learned that investigators found significant quantities of pesticides banned for use on fish farms, during raids on boats used by Hoganess Salmon, run by the Lakeland Group at Burrastow near Walls on the west coast of Shetland.

Excessive amounts of the pesticides, meant to kill the lice that eat away at salmon are thought to have been used to douse the fish, causing mass deaths and destroying other marine wildlife.

It was initially reported that 6000 fish died in the incident, which took place on August 15, but investigators have told the Sunday Herald that the total could be up to 20,000.

Read the full story in Sunday Herald (Scotland)

Natalia Real
Setptember 24, 2010
Fisheries Information Service

The Metro grocery chain has announced the implementation of its sustainable fisheries policy such that it will begin offering its consumers fresh and frozen wild and farmed seafood products from sustainably managed fisheries by June of next year. Seven threatened species will no longer be offered.

Metro will quit selling seven threatened species - Atlantic cod (West), bluefin tuna, orange roughy, Chilean seabass, New Zealand hoki, skate and shark – to be reintroduced if future scientific reports conclude that stocks have reached acceptable levels.

The sustainable fisheries policy applies in Metro supermarkets and discount supermarkets in Ontario and Quebec; the changes are being implemented gradually until fully realised by next June.

All the chain’s suppliers will have to sign a code of conduct on their commitment to the new policy, and suppliers making concrete progress toward sustainably managing their activities and promoting recognised standards will be favoured.

Metro has developed a new and more transparent labelling system for the traceability of its seafood products to help shoppers make educated decisions about the seafood they eat. The new labels will include the scientific name, the product's origin, the fishing type and the presence of a standard if applicable.

Read the full story on FiS

Dan Maclennan
September 24, 2010
Courier-Islander

BC Salmon Farmers are concerned proposed Pacific aquaculture regulations from DFO will be too costly for the industry.

They also want more clarification in some areas of regulation.

"The federal government has allocated $8-8.5 million to pay for this new regulatory system each year," the BCSFA said in a release Monday. "Salmon farmers don't feel that's enough to cover the increased staffing and monitoring that has been outlined in the regulations - and are sensitive to significant fee increases for their operations because of the already-high operational costs in the area.

"BC is already considered a high-cost area for production - and any marked increase to operational costs would challenge our companies in the international seafood market," they said.

Regulatory jurisdiction over aquaculture is slated to transfer from the provincial government to the federal government in December. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans unveiled a set of draft regulations in July, seeking comment over a 60-day period which ended last week. The BCSFA said Monday it submitted its formal response after extensive discussions with salmon farmers. The BCSFA represents all of the province's major salmon farm companies as well as processing, shipping and supply and service companies.

Read the full story in the Courier-Islander

Read related stories

Black Press
September 23, 2010
Campbell River Mirror

Optimism for the future of the Fraser River’s iconic salmon was in short supply at a public forum of the Cohen Commission in New Westminster Monday.

Many of the 60 participants predicted this summer’s record sockeye run will prove a flash in the pan, giving way to further stock declines.

Several speakers told inquiry head Bruce Cohen they believe much of the fishery’s trouble stems from habitat destruction through industrialization of the lower river, particularly the north arm between Richmond and Vancouver that some said seems dead to salmon.

“There’s something terribly wrong here,” retired fisherman Terry Slack said, noting development covers most of the banks of those channels.

Slack also pointed to Metro Vancouver’s sewage treatment plants, which pump “a river of effluent” out every day, hurting juvenile salmon.

“We have to get these plants to clean up,” he said.

Read the full story in the Campbell River Mirror

Sarah Schmidt
September 21, 2010
Edmonton Journal

This photo provided by AquaBounty Technologies Inc. shows the size comparison of a genetically engineered farmed salmon alongside a normal Atlantic salmon of the same age.
Photograph by: AFP, Getty Images, Postmedia News

The Canadian government could derail efforts to bring the first genetically engineered fish to dinner plates in the United States by shutting the door on the company's efforts to transform its hatchery in Prince Edward Island from a research facility to a commercial operation.

AquaBounty Technologies Inc. is awaiting final approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that would make its jumbo salmon the first GE animal approved for human consumption.

AquaBounty plans to ship the fish eggs to Panama to be grown and processed, then shipped as table-ready fish to the United States for retail sale. As a key step in the approval process, the company's environmental assessment was debated Monday by the U.S. administration's veterinary advisory group.

The panel raised concerns about the impacts on human health and the environmental of the AquAdvantage salmon, genetically engineered to grow twice as fast with a gene from an eel-like fish, called an ocean pout, and a growth hormone from a chinook salmon. The panel reserved judgment.

The FDA declared earlier this month that the salmon engineered in P.E.I. are as safe to eat as other Atlantic salmon.

Opponents in the U.S. warn that if approved, the GE salmon would open the door for other modified animals, such as a GE pig developed at the University of Guelph, to be approved for human consumption without consideration of health and environmental concerns.

They also complain that GE animals for sale at the grocery store might not be labelled as such.

Read the full story in the Edmonton Journal

Read related stories 

Jessica Leeder
September 20, 2010
Globe and Mail 

That is the central question swirling among consumer groups getting ready for this week’s public hearings in the United States over the safety of the genetically modified salmon that is poised to become the first gene-altered animal to enter the North American food chain.

After a 10-year struggle over how to handle the fish, which was designed in a laboratory on Canada’s Prince Edward Island to grow twice as fast as its wild counterparts, the United States Food and Drug Administration decided to regulate the salmon using rules for veterinary drugs – as opposed to new food products.

A coalition of consumer groups preparing to speak out at the hearings, which began Sunday in Rockville, Md., are concerned that the drug-evaluation process – designed for pharmaceutical companies – hasn’t allowed for sufficient scientific examination of the food-safety issues surrounding human consumption of the fish.

Owned by the publicly traded biotech firm AquaBounty Technologies, the salmon could make its way to grocery shelves within the next two years if regulators approve. The FDA said last month that the salmon appear “as safe to eat as food as other Atlantic salmon,” after a preliminary analysis of the scientific documentation provided by the biotech firm, which has been working for a decade to win approval for their creation.

If the salmon wins final FDA approval, it would effectively pave the way for other scientifically engineered animals to enter the food chain in the U.S. In Canada, AquaBounty requires Canadian Food Inspection Agency approval to sell its product, but the company is only in the very early stages of that process.

 Read the full story in the Globe and Mail

Read related stories

Fisheries Information Service
September 17, 2010

A team of scientists from the Aquatic Biotechnology Center of the University of Santiago, have discovered that there is a link between the infectious salmon anemia (ISA) virus that hit the Chilean salmon industry and the Norwegian strain of the disease.

The researchers compared the genomes of infected fish in Chile with the information of specimens infected in Norway, reports the newspaper El Mercurio.

"It was logical that the disease had come with its own host, which is the Atlantic salmon," said Marcelo Cortez San Martin, an expert who participated in the project.

The studies results were published this month in the Virology Magazine, one of the most prestigious in the world for its field.

Scientists who conducted the investigation confirmed that the virus entered the country through imported eggs and ruled out the possibility that the disease was latent historically in Chile.

"The theory that everyone believes, and is highly accepted, is that the virus came from the eggs. When Chile began in the industry, they did not have the technology to reproduce the fish. So initially, they had to be a big importer," said Cortez San Martín.

What scientists can not clarify is whether the arrival of this virus into the country was intentional or accidental.

Even last August, the Office of Puerto Montt decided not to persevere in the investigation to find any individuals responsible for the spread of the ISA virus due to a lack sufficient background information to accuse any person or company.

The National salmon farming industry has been facing the consequences of the ISA outbreaks since 2007: a deep crisis affecting sanitation, jobs and the economy.

Read the full story on FIS

Read related story on the Fisheries Information Service; September 24, 2010; "Study on ISA virus has global impact" 

Judith Lavoie
September 17, 2010
Times Colonist

Don't be fooled by the 30 million sockeye salmon streaming into the Fraser River, speakers warned B.C. Justice Bruce Cohen last night.

Despite the largest run in almost 100 years, sockeye are facing threats ranging from climate change to poisons pouring into streams from storm runoff, the Cohen Commission of Inquiry into the Decline of Sockeye Salmon in the Fraser River heard, as more than 120 people turned out for the Victoria forum.

The bumper run could well be an anomaly, said environmentalists and fishermen.

"This year was miraculously positive, but one year does not make a trend," said Alexandra Morton, a biologist from the Broughton Archipelago.

Salmon now making their way up the Fraser are one run in one year and demonstrate the lack of understanding and the fallibility of predictions from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, said several speakers.

"For a population which has exploited the salmon for so many years, we really do not understand the ecological nature of these fish," said Daniel Lousier of the Social Ecology Institute of B.C.

Erik Hobson [sic], president of SOS Marine Conservation Forum [sic], said the run points to the need for precaution and, like several other speakers, pointed a finger at open-net pen salmon farms.

A made-in-Canada closed-containment aquaculture industry is needed, together with a workable farm management plan and independent sea lice monitoring program, he said.

Read the full story in the Times Colonist 

Derrick Penner
September 14, 2010
The Vancouver Sun

Agassiz-based fish farmer Bruce Swift has come a long way from his first foray five years ago trying to sell his tank-raised coho salmon to local restaurants.

Today, he and wife Mary Lou, along with sons Eric and Crutis, operate an integrated system that produces around 3,000 salmon per year, uses its waste for raising other crops, and is heralded as the epitome of sustainable farming by locavore gurus (those who prefer to eat locally produced foods).

"It's just basic farming, farming 101," Swift said in an interview. "For us, having an integrated system where you have fish and you're utilizing the nutrients [the waste manure] trying to make money that way, that's the key issue," he added.

Swift's Agassiz farm, Swift Aquaculture, can't call its product organic, but it farms on organic principles eschewing the use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers, and it never uses antibiotics on the fish.

Swift said being able to sell the fish as a niche products allows him to command a bit of a premium price for the coho salmon.

Read the full story in The Vancouver Sun

Read related story in:

• The Vancouver Sun; September 11, 2010; "MDs sound warning about antibiotics in feed - There's lots of evidence that practice endangers humans, and government must step in, they say". 

Randy Shore
September 15, 2010
The Vancouver Sun

Scientists studying a 20-year decline in the Fraser River sockeye run say this year's miraculous abundance of fish is likely a blip and not a sign the fishery's problems are over.

Sockeye face myriad threats during their four-year life cycle, from food shortages, hungry sea lions and toxic algae to viruses, bacteria and sea lice, according to Simon Fraser University Prof. Randall Peterman.

Peterman is chairman of a panel of 11 experts from the U.S. and Canada assembled by the Pacific Salmon Commission to probe the available data on the decline of the Fraser River sockeye. The panel's report was released last week.

For this year's sockeye run, "all the different sources of mortality lined up to be favour-able at every life stage of the fish," Peterman said.

"Predation mortality, pathogens, starvation, all these things seem not to have been very important for the return this year. It was miraculously positive."

During the 1970s and 1980s, for every fish that spawned in the river, about six adult fish would return four years later. In recent years, after 20 years of steady decline, the number of fish returning for each spawner has dropped below one, culminating in 2009 when only 1.5 million sockeye returned despite predictions that 11 million fish would enter the river.

This year, 34 million sockeye returned to the Fraser.

"This year, productivity levels returned to about seven adults per spawner," Peterman said. "That's a dramatic turnaround, but one point does not make a trend."

Read the full story in the Vancouver Sun

Read related stories:

• FIS; September 20, 2010; "Cause of record Fraser salmon run a mystery:
• Crosscut (Seattle); September 20; 2010; "Huge Fraser sockeye run raises spirits, questions - Our Vancouver correspondent: Some 30 million sockey have returned this year, the second biggest on record. And it's all quite unexpected"
• Times Colonist; September 17, 2010; "Caution urged after huge sockeye run - It would be foolist to consider numbers a trend, commision [sic] told"
• Vancouver Sun; September 4, 2010; "Nature calls the shots in sockeye season, and diversity rules" 
• Kamloops This Week; September 12, 2010; "Salmon numbers will continue to vary"
• Burnaby Now; September 2, 2010; Lots of fish - but 'not out of the woods yet'
• Straight.com; September 2, 2010; "Critics claim wild fish at risk from farm stock - Open net-cage salmon farms are incubators of sea lice and diseases, according to opponents"

Nelson Bennett
September 15, 2010
Richmond News

Perhaps they were satiated by an abundance of sockeye, or just tired from catching so many of them.

Or maybe they have seen too many ineffective inquiries before to think anything will change.

Whatever the reason, when given the chance Monday to tell Ottawa via the Cohen Commission what they think is wrong with the Pacific salmon fishery, local commercial fishermen mostly held their tongues. So did anti-fish farm activists, who handed out pamphlets but did not formally address the commission.

Roughly 65 people attended a Cohen Commission public hearing at Steveston-London Secondary School Monday night. But only five addressed Bruce Cohen, a B.C. Supreme Court judge appointed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper to probe last year's Fraser River sockeye failure.

One of the speakers, Vivian Krause, a former fish farm consultant, was challenged on her accusations that scientists, universities and environmental organizations have been paid by American philanthropist organizations to sway the public away from farmed to wild fish.

Eric Wickham, a Vancouver fisherer who wrote Dead Fish and Fat Cats, said he found Krause's "conspiracy" theories disturbing and countered that the Canadian public has been subsidizing the aquaculture industry.

Wickham had been appointed as a "token" fisherman to AquaNet, which he said received "tens of millions of dollars" from Ottawa to support aquaculture research.

Read the full story in the Richmond News.

Related stories:

• Agassiz-Harrison Observer; September 29, 2010; "Cohen Commission meets with ARMS"
• Harbour City Star; September 17; 2010; "Commission examines reason for fish decline - Ironically, it comes at a time when sockeye returns are booming"
• Nanaimo Daily News; September 15, 2010;" Cohen salmon inquiry raises hope to save declining stocks - Few turn out to give evidence to travelling commission following record sockeye runs"

Read more related stories. 

Roszan Holmen
September 10, 2010
Victoria News

Despite an unexpected return of sockeye salmon to the Fraser River this year, a commission is continuing its investigation into the decline of the fish species.

The Cohen Commission, led by B.C. Supreme Court Justice Bruce Cohen, comes to Victoria Sept. 16 to hear what the public has to say about the issue.

The commission seeks to gather input into securing a sustainable future for the Fraser River sockeye, threats to habitat and how these can be mitigated, and plans for an effective harvest.

The commission was appointed in 2009 after years of declining salmon stocks. This summer, 25 million salmon made its way back to the river, up from only 1.5 million last year.

Media reports it is the largest return since 1913, though scientists aren’t clear about the reasons.

“Sockeye have been in decline in the Fraser River for decades now,” said Carla Shore, spokesperson for the commission. “One good year is tremendous, but has that solved our problems? We don’t know that.”

Despite the record return, the commission’s manadate hasn’t changed, she added.

Source: Victoria News

Read more related stories. 

Stephen Hume
September 4, 2010
Vancouver Sun

The curtain rises on the annual theatre of the absurd known as sockeye season on the Fraser, which begins with the comical ritual of clowns putting their oversized boots to the hangdog department of fisheries and oceans.

Columnists who apparently wouldn't know the difference between a sockeye and a sculpin cluck and scold in a Toronto newspaper. One enthusiastically advances the argument that we should whack 30 million of the 34 million returning salmon.

DFO is flogged for insufficient openings, for low exploitation rates, for inaccurate forecasts. Would someone remind Toronto's intelligentsia that Fraser River sockeye are jointly managed with the United States through the Pacific Salmon Commission?

But, hey, why let facts ruin a good scapegoating?

DFO was pilloried last year for overestimating. This year it's blamed for underestimating. Nature calls the shots here, not fish managers. If forecasting were certain, we wouldn't call them estimates.

Read the full story in The Vancouver Sun

Read related stories:

• The Province; September 26, 2010; "B.C. Rivers Day celebrations bolstered by record sockeye returns"
• Burnaby Now; September 4, 2010; "Lots of fish - but 'not out of woods yet'"

Read more related stories 

Dan MacLennan
September 3, 2010
Courier Islander

Concerns about sea lice developing resistance to Slice - and the absence of any other approved methods to kill them - are driving research towards a sea lice vaccine.

"As we know, everybody tends to use Slice, but there's a big negative side to using chemo-theraputants," Microtek International research scientist David Asper said in Campbell River last month after Federal Fisheries Minister Gail Shea announced funding for his vaccine research project. "One of the biggest keys right now is we're starting to see pockets of resistance. We haven't seen very much here but we're starting to see pockets in Norway as well as in Chile.

"The difference is in places like that you can use other drugs. On the west coast we can't. We're very limited to what we can actually use to reduce sea lice numbers. That's very important, because once Slice fails... we need to find other ways to reduce sea lice."

The $36,438 funding came from Ottawa's Aquaculture Innovation and Market Access Program (AIMAP). Asper hoped to move on to field trials by 2012. He said it's not yet been decided where tests will take place.

Read the full story in The Courier Islander.

Margaret Munro
September 2, 2010
Edmonton Journal 

An international program that purports to certify only sustainably harvested fish is failing to protect the environment and needs radical reform, says a highly critical report released Wednesday.

The certification program is run by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), created in 1997 by the World Wildlife Fund and Unilever, one of the world's largest seafood retailers. It has certified 94 fisheries that account for seven per cent of the global catch, including several in Canadian waters.

But many of the MSC's claims are nothing but "eco-babble" and very misleading, says Jennifer Jacquet, a University of B.C. researcher and co-author of a report in the journal Nature this week.

The non-profit council is based in London, England.

Its blue "eco-labels" can be found on seafood sold at Whole Foods Markets, Walmart and many stores in Europe.

Controversy has been brewing over the certification program for years, but the MSC's recent decision to slap its eco-label on an Antarctic krill fishery prompted the researchers to spell out their concerns, said Jacquet, a resource management specialist who authored the report with noted UBC fisheries biologist Daniel Pauly and colleagues in the U.S. and Italy.

Read the full story in the Edmonton Journal 

Read background stories. 

Gazette Staff
September 2, 2010
North Island Gazette 

Biologist Alexandra Morton says fish farms in the Broughton Archipelago are operating on expired Crown Land tenures but aquaculture companies say they are not to blame for the expired licenses.

“I don’t know how these foreign companies can be in full production for years on expired tenures, but these sites are the fishiest places in the Broughton ...,” said Morton in a press release last week. “I have made detailed application to MAL (Ministry of Agriculture and Lands) to use these sites for what they have done so well for 8,000 years – grow wild fish to the benefit of the people, the economy and future generations who might appreciate the food security in the years to come.”

But the B.C. Salmon Farmer’s Association says its members are simply waiting for the tenures on some of their farms to be renewed.

Read the full story in the North Island Gazette

Dan MacLennan
September 1, 2010
Courier Islander

Federal Fisheries Minister Gail Shea defended her governments draft Pacific aquaculture regulations in Campbell River last week, along with the manner in which they've been presented for public comment.

With a 60-day public feedback period set to close one week from tomorrow, the draft regulations have been under fire from tourism operators and environmental groups.

"The finfish aquaculture regulations are woefully inadequate to protect wild salmon", said Brian Gunn, President of the BC Wilderness Tourism Association (WTA). "They do not address the impacts that open net cage salmon farms have on the wild salmon stocks. For example, there are no requirements in the current proposed regulations for the salmon farming industry to monitor the health of juvenile wild salmon for impacts due to disease and sea lice around farms during their out migration. In fact there is little in the proposed regulations to protect wild salmon. DFO seem to have forgotten what should be their primary mandate, which is to protect our wild fisheries."

Read the full story in the Courier Islander

Read related story: 

• Georgia Straight; September 3, 2010; "DFO must ensure B.C. fish farms well monitored, says salmon activist Alexandra Morton" 

Bruce Swift dips a net into a watery vat and pulls up a crayfish, its claws pinching like a miniature lobster.

The freshwater crustaceans grow well here and are destined to be the key ingredient in a bowl of crayfish bisque at a high-end Vancouver eatery.

But they aren't the focus of the Agassiz fish farmer's operation.

Nor is the neighbouring hydroponic vat brimming with watercress or nearby plots growing wasabi and garlic.

They're all happy byproducts of Swift's main enterprise – farming coho salmon on land.

He and his wife MaryLou, both biologists, hand-feed the more than 2,000 juvenile coho swimming in large freshwater tanks in their barns.

It all happens far from salt water on their five-acre property, which looks like any other modest Fraser Valley hobby farm.

Rather than discharge the ammonia-laden wastewater from the salmon tanks as effluent, it becomes nutrients for the other crops and for algae that in turn feeds the crayfish.

"You've got to use those nutrients," Swift says, adding he'd otherwise be like a cattle farmer who makes no use of his manure.

The ability to pair salmon with companion crops is one of the attractions of this nouveau aquaculture.

"You don't need a lot of room and you can be as innovative as you want," he said.

If that's not green enough, the Swifts are working towards a closed-loop system that recycles all water, eliminating the need to draw from a local aquifer.

 Read the full story in the South Delta Leader

Neil Riddell
August 25, 2010
The Shetland Times

Environmental and animal welfare agencies are carrying out an investigation into the deaths of thousands of fully-grown salmon at a fish farm on the West Side earlier this month.

Acting in conjunction with the police, SEPA, Scottish Natural Heritage and government agency Marine Scotland, the Scottish SPCA searched Hoganess Salmon on Saturday and are now carrying out an investigation into alleged fish poisoning.

Hoganess Salmon operates two sites in Vaila Sound and three in Gruting Voe and has a potential production capacity of up to 7,000 tonnes. It operates from a base at Burrastow, near Walls.

Scottish SPCA chief superintendent Mike Flynn said: “I can confirm that the Scottish SPCA is leading an investigation into alleged fish poisoning in the Shetland Islands, working with SEPA, Scottish Natural Heritage, Marine Scotland and the police. The investigation is currently ongoing therefore no further information is available at this stage.”

Hoganess Salmon is part of the Lakeland Group, owned by Norwegian firm Marine Farms ASA. Lakeland managing director Willie Liston said the problem arose earlier this month when it was carrying out a sea lice treatment at one of the 16 cages it owns in the area.

Mr Liston said that somewhere between 5,000 and 6,000 grown salmon, weighing around 3.5kg each, had died and Lakeland was continuing its own internal investigation, as well as co-operating with SEPA and the SSPCA.

Read the full story in The Shetland Times

Stephen Hume
August 30, 2010
The Vancouver Sun

These are days of miracle and wonder for those of us who care about the fate of wild salmon.

And yet word was barely out that 25 million sockeye were bound for the Fraser River before worries arose about surplus salmon being "wasted" by permitting too many to spawn.

The B.C. Fisheries Survival Coalition, which usually vents its spleen complaining about aboriginal poachers, was spouting this specious nonsense as justification for more fishing opportunities, even though freezer capacity on the south coast is fully utilized, catches are reported rotting on boats because they can't be processed, and fishermen are practically giving away sockeye.

Still they fretted that too many spawners would result in mass mortalities as fish fought on the spawning grounds. This rationalization has been deployed as justification for over-harvesting before.

Similar stupidity arose in 2002. Science found no adverse effects from "over-spawning" then. In fact, this massive run in 2010 descends from the "over-spawned" brood of 2002 that returned to spawn in 2006.

There is no waste in nature. These surpluses are genetic insurance, a species' strategy for ensuring adequate reproductive capacity in the face of adverse conditions.

Historically, the more fish you put on the spawning grounds, the more fish return.

Science has found a direct correlation between decaying salmon on those same spawning grounds and nutrients available to the aquatic insects that sustain the next generation of hatchlings.

Pent-up demand following a series of lean fishing seasons is understandable but if there's something to be learned from the 2010 run it's this: First, we are indebted to conservationists who fought for the precautionary principle. Second, fisheries managers who stood their ground despite vehement complaint from industry were right.

Read the full story in The Vancouver Sun 

Read related stories:

• The Province; September 15, 2010; "First Nations will fish more sockeye"
• Vancouver Sun; September 11, 2010; "Gillnetters return to dock as sockeye season winds down"
• Bowen Island Undercurrent; September 7, 2010; "Sockeye fishing cut off to protect coho"
• CTV News; September 4, 2010; "Salmon run closing to commercial fishing two soon; MP"
• The Vancouver Sun; September 4, 2010; Nature calls the shots in sockeye season, and diversity rules"
• The Globe and Mail; September 1, 2010; "Experts casting about for correct new salmon quota - This year's fish run appears bountiful, but question about numbers to take in future remains contentious" 
• The Vancouver Sun; September 1, 2010; "Duh! Killing more fish isn't the way to get more fish"
• The Globe and Mail; September 1, 2010; "B.C. should look to Alaska for tips on salmon management" 
• CBC News; August 30, 2010; "Don't overfish salmon, warns native leader" 
• Times Colonist; August 29, 2010; Salmon run botched by DFO: critics - Tory MP, UBC expert say Ottawa too late in opening sockeye fishery" 

Read older related stories 

David Ebner and Wendy Stueck
August 28, 2010
The Globe and Mail

As fishermen haul in massive loads of sockeye salmon, the official estimate of this summer’s near-record bounty has been upped to 30 million, the second increase in four days, deepening one of Canada’s great scientific mysteries.

It is the most sockeye that have returned to British Columbia’s Fraser River in almost a century, and the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans responded to the new number Friday afternoon by increasing the total allowable catch for commercial fishermen by more than 60 per cent to 10.2 million sockeye, from 6.2 million on Tuesday.

The bounty is a radical reversal of a two-decade decline and comes after three years of no commercial fishing at all of Fraser River sockeye. Last summer was the most fearsome plunge, when only 1.5 million sockeye came back to the Fraser, a fraction of what was expected. With the spectre of the cod fishery collapse on the East Coast in the early 1990s, B.C.’s disappearing salmon sparked a federal judicial inquiry last fall.

There are many suspects in that disappearance. Warmer ocean water is believed to have reduced the amount of food for sockeye, and colder water recently might have helped this year’s massive run. The proliferation of fish farms on B.C.’s coast has been blamed for spreading sea lice, and other diseases that prey on young sockeye. Other predators, such as sea lions and seals, have been cited.

But most of all, what’s been exposed is a prediction model that has completely broken down after years of reliability.

This summer’s surprise abundance of sockeye, a rich red salmon, does not herald a fishery saved. The mystery hasn’t been solved, it’s deepened. The massive schools of sparkling silver sockeye, bounding through the Georgia Strait and up the Fraser River, indicates how little Canada really understands about the fish, part of B.C.’s economy and wilderness heritage.

Read the full story in The Globe and Mail 

Read related stories: 

• AOL News; September 10, 2010; "Sockeye Surprise: Salmon Return in Massive Numbers"
• Seattle Tiimes; September 10, 2010; "Big Fraser River salmon fun a boon to Swinomish - This year's Fraser River sockeye salmon run is shaping up to be a historic one, which is big news for the Swinomish Tribal Community"
• Campbell River Mirror; September 2, 2010; "Catch of the day: Sockeye, sockeye, sockeye"
• Seattle News; September 1, 2010; "Fraser River whopper sockeye run even bigger - A forecast released Tuesday by the Pacific Salmon Commission predicts some 34 million fish will return to spawn in the Fraser River, a substantial jump from last week's estimate of 25 million" 
• Nanaimo Daily News; August 31, 2010; "Salmon for everyone: Nanaimo fishermen in n the bounty" 
• The Globe and Mail; August 29, 2010; "Bountiful sockeye mean roadside sales - Natives get licenses to sell freshly caught salmon at produce stands"
• The Vancouver Sun; August 29, 2010; "'Ultimate salmon' packs the docks and boardwalks of Steveston"
• The National Post; August 28, 2010; "Salmon's bittersweet return" 
• Coquitlam Now; August 28, 2010; "Salmon returns break records - But are this year's high Fraser River numbers an anomaly or a sigh of change?"
• Burnaby News Leader; August 27, 2010; "Fraser sockeye count climbs to 30 million" 
• Langley Advance; August 27, 2010; "Salmon bounty boosts Kwantlen economy -Langley's Kwantlen First Nation is expected to reap an economic windfall from this year's sockeye run"

Read older related stories

Justine Hunter
August 26, 2010
The Globe and Mail

Federal Fisheries Minister Gail Shea was visiting British Columbia this week at an auspicious time. Her department has long been maligned for its management of the West Coast salmon fishery, and she just happens to land in the middle of a sockeye run so rich, the fishermen can't lift their nets fast enough.

If there is still a crisis, it just got a lot harder to explain.

Ms. Shea, faced with conflicting signals and bombarded with contradictory advice, might be tempted to turn to her own Department of Fisheries and Oceans for an explanation.

But the DFO is hardly riding a crest of confidence these days.

Last year, relying on data from the Pacific Salmon Commission, it planned for a fishery based on a Fraser sockeye run of 11 million: Just one million fish returned. This year, the forecast of 11 million fish was wrong again, with the number now pegged at 25 million or more - the biggest run since 1913.

There is euphoria on the fishing grounds, but little relief.

"Everything is not fine," said Paul LeBlond, former head of the Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences at the University of British Columbia. Yes, it is wonderful that the salmon are back this year, he said, but it underscores how little DFO knows about the fishery it is tasked to manage.

Read the full story in The Globe and Mail 

Dan Maclennan
August 27, 2010
The Courier Islander

The federal inquiry into the 2009 Fraser River sockeye collapse turned quickly into a two-and-a-half-hour aquaculture debate Wednesday night in Campbell River.

But amid the predictable rhetoric from both sides was a common dissatisfaction with fisheries management.

Aquaculture biologist Kevin Onclin, a former DFO contractor, had some of the strongest criticism for the $15 million Cohen Commission.

"Setting up proper monitoring and reporting of sockeye populations requires a lot of money, and without the funding, it's guesswork," he told Commissioner Bruce Cohen. "I think a better use of the money from this commission would have been to finance and improve the ongoing monitoring and management of the Fraser River sockeye."

Last year Fisheries experts predicted a return of 10.5 million sockeye to the BC coast, but only 1.5 million came back, one of the worst returns ever.

Established last November, the commission is holding hearings to investigate the collapse. Cohen is to make recommendations for improving the future sustainability of the sockeye fishery, including changes to DFO management of the fishery. Campbell River's was the second of eight public forums scheduled in communities along the sockeye migratory route.

The commission was directed to conduct the inquiry without seeking fault, but there was no shortage of blame to go around at the Campbell River meeting as First Nations, environmentalists and tourism operators blamed fish farm sea lice and disease for the sockeye collapse. These were countered by a succession of aquaculture industry biologists armed with presentations defending industry practices and dismissing the concerns of opponents.

Both sides agreed sockeye information and management is lacking from DFO. Highlighting that theme was Wednesday's news of a massive sockeye return this year - estimated at 25 million - which DFO failed to anticipate.

Read the full story in the Courier Islander

Read related stories:

• The Northern View; September 7, 2010; "DFO takes the brunt of the blame at Cohen Commission hearing" 
• Nanaimo Daily News; September 1, 2010; "Sockeye return is 'perfect miracle' - Judicial inquiry is needed to help examine the issues affecting Pacific salmon says anti-fish farm activist" 
• Campbell River Mirror; August 26, 2010; "Sockeye salmon inquiry has its plate full" 
• Comox Valley Record: August 26, 2010; "Salmon theories abound, but not many answers" 

Alistair Taylor
August 24, 2010
Campbell River Mirror

Sea lice vaccine research and a First Nations closed-containment aquaculture project were among six to receive almost $638,000 in funding from Fisheries and Oceans in Campbell River Monday.

Fisheries Minister Gail Shea announced the funding at the Campbell River Museum.

The 'Namgis First Nation's Mama'omas Enterprises received nearly $49,800 in funding from the Aquaculture Innovation and Market Access Program (AIMAP) to pilot a land-based closed-containment facility on the bank of the Nimpkish River near the First Nation's existing salmon hatchery. The project, which will raise coho and Atlantic salmon to full size, has leveraged another $230,200 in additional funding. The project will be developed with the SOS Marine Conservation Foundation.

'Namgis Chief Bill Cranmer thanked Shea for the funding, saying it will allow completion of front-end engineering and design for the pilot facility. The company hopes to investigate alternative energy sources, composting of solid waste and use of liquid waste as fertilizer. It's hoped the pilot project will lead to a large scale commercial facility.

"Minister Shea, I hope to invite you to join us at our Big House for dinner in August 2012 to celebrate our first harvest of salmon from this project," he said.

"It would be quite a breakthrough," Shea said, "quite a change for the industry if this project is successful."

Read the full story in the Courier Islander

Read related stories:

• Campbell River Mirror; August 24, 2010; "Feds fund sea lice vaccine, closed containment experiments" 
• On FIS (Fish Information and Services); August 24, 2010; "BC aquaculture sector gets USD 608,000"
• On CBC News; August 24, 2010; "Fish farming projects in B.C. get funding boost - Vaccine against sea lice blamed for wild salmon decline 1 of 6 to get grant" 

Justine Hunter
August 27, 2010
The Globe and Mail

Thirty million sockeye salmon are making their way back to the Fraser River, rivalling the great run of 1913, the Pacific Salmon Commission is expected to announce on Friday.

The latest update is based on field reports, including a test fishery near Port McNeill on Thursday that pulled in an unheard-of catch of almost 100,000 sockeye salmon. Those fish are still a week away from reaching the river.

After the near-collapse of the sockeye returns last year, the unexpected bounty has stretched the capacity of fishermen and processors this week after the commission changed its forecast to 25 million from 11.4 million.

Based on the growing numbers, the first major commercial fishery on the Fraser in four years will likely be extended next week. But the overriding question is whether B.C.’s fishing industry still has the capacity to process such a monumental harvest.

Read the full story in The Globe and Mail

Read related stories:

• The Globe and Mail; August 31, 2010; "B.C. sockeye prices plummet as supply runs high - Result of ripple effects of an unexpectedly strong sockeye salmon run flowing to consumers"
• The Vancouver Sun; August 31, 2010; "Great deals can be found at the roadside"
• Richmond Review; August 27, 2010; "Sockeye processors at capacity" 

Read background stories

Sarah Schmidt
August 27, 2010
Montreal Gazette

The developer of genetically engineered salmon for human consumption is now setting its sights on Health Canada, after U.S. regulators on Thursday announced their review of AquaBounty Technologies Inc.’s historic application for the American market is nearly complete.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration published details of the last stages of its review for AquAdvantage Salmon, made from eggs produced in a hatchery in Prince Edward Island. The genetically engineered fish can grow at twice the normal rate, and the company, headquartered in Massachusetts with Canadian operations in P.E.I. and Newfoundland and Labrador, has been trying for a decade to get approval to become the first genetically engineered animal that people would eat.

Read the full story in The Montreal Gazette

Related stories:

• CBC News; August 31, 2010; "Verdict on genetically modified salmon pending"

Read more related stories

Judith Lavoie
August 26, 2010
The Times Colonist

A northern Vancouver Island aboriginal chief is accusing the Department of Fisheries and Oceans of insufficient consultation on draft aquaculture rules.

Chief Bob Chamberlin of Kwicksutaineuk Ah-kwa-mish First Nation of Alert Bay said his band's territory is home to a third of the fish farms found on the coast of B.C., yet the First Nation was consulted for a "whopping three hours total."

"And this was with three other First Nations in the room at the same time," Chamberlin said.

The federal government will take over responsibility for fish farming from the province in December, following a B.C. Supreme Court ruling in response to a challenge launched by Alexandra Morton, a biologist and fierce opponent of fish farms.

Fish-farm opponents were hoping the change would mean tougher regulations, but say the draft regulations are too vague, do not require better environmental protection and could lead to expansion of the industry because of a newly streamlined licensing process

Read the full story in The Times Colonist

Justine Hunter
August 24, 2010
The Globe and Mail

Fishermen are scrambling to their boats to cash in on what is pegged as the strongest sockeye run on the Fraser in almost a century – just as an inquiry into last year’s collapse of that run gets under way.

Federal Fisheries Minister Gail Shea has been in B.C. this week and said the excitement she’s seen in fishing communities is palpable. “Everybody is abuzz about the great return of the Fraser sockeye,” she said in an interview on Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, the Pacific Salmon Commission revised its estimates, predicting 25 million sockeye are bound for the Fraser River this summer. That is more than double the early summer forecast, making it the best run since 1913.

Ms. Shea stressed, however, that it doesn’t mean the salmon crisis is over.

“We’re welcoming this with cautious optimism,” she said, but the unexpected bonanza also raises fresh questions to be answered by the Cohen Commission inquiry about what is influencing these unexpected variations.

This year was expected to be the peak of a four-year cycle and the pressure for commercial fishermen to take advantage of the run is intense, because it could be their only chance to make some money before the salmon numbers dwindle again.

“It’s exceptional, this is a great run,” said Phil Eidsvik, a commercial fisherman and spokesman for the B.C. Fisheries Survival Coalition.

Mr. Eidsvik will be climbing aboard his gillnetter on the Fraser River early Wednesday morning and expects to have his first set in the water by noon. “We’ll fish for 36 hours straight – it’s a brutal shift.”

The Pacific Salmon Commission revised its forecast based on jaw-dropping results from test fisheries in Johnstone Strait.

A fishing boat off Campbell River last week was hauling in salmon by the tens of thousands, including one day where the catch added up to 84,000 fish. “That’s the highest test results ever recorded in the history of British Columbia,” Mr. Eidsvik noted. Usually a test catch of 500 fish would be cause for celebration among commercial fishermen.

But he cautions that, amid the excitement, concerns about the management of the fishery remain.

Read the full story in The Globe and Mail

Read related stories:

• The Vancouver Sun; August 26, 2010; "Salmon from Fraser River returns to Vancouver menus"
• The Province; August 25, 2010; "Fraser River sockeye run biggest since 1913"
• The Vancouver Sun; August 24, 2010; "Record number of sockeye salmon return in B.C."
• BC Local News; August 24, 2010; "Sockeye run closes in on record"
• CBC News; August 24, 2010; "Fraser sockeye run hits 100-year high" 
• CTV News; August 24, 2010; "Best sockeye run since 1913 predicted in Fraser River"

Steve Carey August 22, 2010 Times Colonist

Right now, you can walk into a store and buy wild sockeye salmon. But depending on where it came from -- B.C., Alaska or Russia -- it might be from a fishery on the verge of collapse. So how does a consumer know what's green and what isn't when it comes to seafood?

A number of grocery chains and restaurants are partnering with seafood certification programs, such as SeaChoice or Ocean Wise. SeaChoice uses a retailer-first approach, working with retailers such as Overwaitea to carry sustainable seafood.

"SeaChoice works with retailers and people who procure the seafoods to look at what the most sustainable fisheries are, what the most sustainable seafoods are, and work in the marketplace to let producers know they need to change the way they're fishing, or else they'll lose their market," says Bill Wareham, the senior marine conservation specialist at the David Suzuki Foundation. "We're also trying to get the federal government to put in tighter regulations around seafood labelling, to make it easier for the consumer to know what's sustainable and what isn't."

Read the full story in The Times Colonist

Adrian Nieoczym August 22, 2010
The Globe and Mail

In a stunning turnaround, sockeye salmon have returned to Osoyoos Lake in the B.C. Interior at levels not seen in more than 60 years.

But instead of setting off celebrations, their arrival has ignited a battle for control of the fishery between local first nations and the federal government.

At 250,000, this summer’s sockeye run is the largest since the 1930s, when U.S. dam construction on the Columbia River decimated fish stocks. Salmon in Osoyoos Lake, which straddles the U.S.-Canadian border, reached a low of about 10,000 a year in the late 1990s.

After years of depressed runs, the dispute in the Interior is taking place during a summer when sockeye salmon numbers are surprisingly buoyant all over the province, increasing pressure on the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to allow more fishing and exacerbating tensions with native groups.

The high numbers in Osoyoos Lake this year prompted the DFO to allow both a limited commercial fishery, open only to local first nations, as well as a 10-day recreational fishery, open to all anglers.

It’s the first time recreational fishing for sockeye has been allowed on the lake since fishing regulations were introduced about 50 years ago, said the DFO’s chief of resource management for the B.C. Interior, Les Jantz. The recreational fishery opened on Aug. 13 and closed on Aug. 22.

The decision sparked outrage at the Okanagan Nation Alliance, a group of seven first nations that has been spearheading a project to restore the salmon run for more than a decade. For the past six years, those efforts have included releasing millions of salmon fry into nearby rivers.

The provincial and federal governments are both providing scientific and financial support to the project, but the bulk of the funding comes from power utility districts in Washington State.

“We’re just now beginning to see the fruits of our labour,” said the ONA head, Chief Stewart Phillip. “Then overnight, DFO makes this grandiose public announcement that they’re going to open up a recreational fishery without any real consultation with our elected leadership.”

Read the full story in The Globe and Mail

Related stories:

• Penticton Western News; August 19, 2010; "Groups divided over spawning salmon numbers"

August 19, 2010
Quesnel Observer

The Wild Salmon Express was in Quesnel last week drumming up support for Bill C-158.

Daniel van der Kroon and Michelle Nickerson, the two members of the Wild Salmon Express, are cycling the length of the Fraser River to promote Bill C-158.

The bill, proposed by Fin Donnelly, NDP member of Parliament for New Westminster-Coquitlam and Port Moody, would in effect require coastal fish farms to convert to closed containment systems.

van der Kroon, a third-year geography major at the University of the Fraser Valley, said the Wild Salmon Express is trying to get as many people as possible to sign specially-designed postcards, the postcards would be delivered to Donnelly’s constituency office.

The pair began their trek in Overlander Falls at the beginning of August.

They chose Overlander Falls because it is the highest reach for salmon spawning in the Fraser River basin.

Since then the Wild Salmon express has wound it’s way through as many towns as possible, including Valemount, McBride, Prince George and Quesnel and will eventually end in Vancouver.

“It’s a big task,” van der Kroon said of the trek that will cover 55 communities.

Read the full story in the Quesnel Observer

Dan MacLennan
August 18, 2010
Courier-Islander

The pending transfer of aquaculture regulation from Victoria to Ottawa has left "no one guarding the chicken coop", the Coastal Alliance on Aquaculture Reform (CAAR) said on the eve of a web-based seminar on Ottawa's proposed aquaculture regulations.

"The old game that the governments played, much to their advantage, was one of jurisdictional ping pong where both the feds and province shared responsibility and they'd point at the other guy and say 'it's not my job.'" CAAR's Catherine Stewart told the Courier-Islander Monday. "The recent game, since the (BC Supreme Court) ruling in February, is that neither government has been willing to fully accept responsibility for oversight, enforcement and management of this industry."

For evidence, she said, look no farther than the aquaculture industry's unilateral decision to stop supplying fish health and sea lice data to provincial regulators, and the province's subsequent termination of the program April 1.

"This is just appalling," Stewart said. "No one is guarding the chicken coop here since the court decision came down. It's just appalling that the industry is allowed to get away with this.

"On paper, the province is responsible until the hand-over, but the reality is they're washing their hands of it and laying off staff. The feds don't assume responsibility until December so they're not taking an active role."

Meanwhile, Stewart will be one of the hosts of a 'webinar' tomorrow afternoon, hosted by the Living Oceans Society and T. Buck Suzuki Foundation. Starting at 1 p.m., it deals with the draft federal aquaculture regulations, currently open to public comment. To register, reply to david@salmonsupporters.org for login details.

Read the full story in the Courier-Islander

Read related stories 

Kelly Sinoski
August 16, 2010
The Vancouver Sun

Fraser River sockeye are returning in droves, with commercial fishermen catching their limit within a few hours of casting their nets.

And with the estimated sockeye salmon stocks now at 14 million and expected to rise, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans is considering opening another commercial salmon fishery on the Fraser later this week, said Barry Rosenberger, federal fisheries director for the B.C. Interior.

The fishery would add to a sport fishery opened on the Fraser last week as well ongoing fisheries in Johnstone Strait and Juan de Fuca. The sockeye fishery was last open to commercial fleets in 2006 when a total commercial catch of 3.7 million fish was approved.

"It's phenomenal," said Jason Assonicis, co-owner of Bon Chovy Fishing Charter. "It's something we haven't seen in four years for sockeye."

Assonicis said he took out a fishing charter Monday morning for a planned all-day excursion, but they returned two hours later after catching their limit. "On a typical day right now we're getting 30 to 50 bites in the morning," he said.

In Port McNeill, commercial fisherman Julius Boudreau they're laughing at how many sockeye are available.

"It's out of the ordinary. The catches have been way more than the quota. It's crazy," he said. "We're seeing thousands and thousands of fish."

Phil Eidsvik, of the B.C. Fisheries Survival Coalition said seine fishermen are catching 10,000 to 15,000 fish in one set. There surplus is expected to result in a drop in the price of wild salmon, he said, but it won't likely be a huge amount.

He added there needs to be more fisheries opened to catch the surplus or the fish will be wasted. "We're looking at what looks to be a very large run coming," he said. He noted the stock could reach 20,000 but "we're fishing like it's 5,000.

"We're going to have to put some fisheries in if we're going to catch the surplus."

Stan Proboszcz, a fisheries biologist with Watershed Watch Salmon Society, said the increasing numbers of salmon are a result of the four-year cycle of the Adams River run. "Every four years we know a strong run is going to come back to us," he said.

Source: The Vancouver Sun

Related stories:

• TriCity News; August 17, 2010; "Sockeye surging as run strength builds" 
• The Province; August 15, 2010; "It's sockeye salmon season - Fraser River: Due to higher stock reported this year; recreational fishing is now open"

Read older related stories

Daniela Estrada
August 15, 2010
Inter Press Service 

The once booming salmon industry in Chile is trying to get back on its feet after the devastating health crisis that cut production in half. But its long-term viability has been called into question.

"Salmon farming expanded quickly, without a regulatory framework or adequate controls to prevent and anticipate environmental problems or the development of transmittable fish diseases," Carlos Chávez, an expert in environmental economy and natural resources at the University of Concepción, told Tierramérica. 

Chile is second in the world in farmed salmon, after Norway, and specialises in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), as well as rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch). 

After introducing these exotic species in the 1980s, the industry here grew exponentially until mid-2007, when the infectious salmon anaemia (ISA) virus began to spread through the fish farms in the southern Chilean regions of Los Lagos, Aysén and Magallanes. 

The virus forced producers to harvest the fish early and shut down operations in order to clear the waters. The fish farms hit bottom in January 2009. 

Read the full story on Inter Press Service 

Robert Freeman
August 12, 2010
Chilliwack Progress

Something out in the ocean may ultimately lie behind the decline of sockeye salmon returning to the Fraser River, says SFU fish biologist John Reynolds.

But something in the Harrison River species of sockeye may hold the key to the future of the “iconic” fish that has come to symbolize B.C. and the mighty Fraser River, he said.

Reynolds is chair of a salmon research lab at SFU and sits on the advisory panel to the Cohen Commission looking into the decline of Fraser River sockeye.

Last year, when only 1.5 million sockeye returned to the Fraser, instead of the 10.5 million forecast, the Harrison River salmon run more than doubled.

“They just came storming back,” Reynolds told a Rotary Club meeting last Friday. “We don’t understand why.”

But scientists note the Harrison fish is “different” than most salmon species, with a two-year-life cycle rather than the usual four, and it goes straight to sea instead of spending a year maturing in freshwater lakes.

Read the full story in the Chilliwack Progress

Stefania Seccia
August 12, 2010
Westerly News

The B.C. salmon farming industry's recent decision to have a third-party conduct its disease audit is being slammed by environmental groups as a refusal to cooperate that renders government officials impotent to regulate.

Creative Salmon and Mainstream Canada, which have salmon farms in Clayoquot Sound, back the decision, according to Colleen Dane, BC Salmon Farmers Association communications manager.

"[Who the auditors are] is still being determined," Dane told the Westerly. "We are coming up with the program during the interim."

Dane, who spoke on behalf of the two fish farming companies out of Tofino, said the decision was made to provide consistency during the industry's transitional phase from provincial to federal jurisdiction.

However in a media release August 4, Ecojustice and the T. Buck Suzuki Environmental Foundation said, as of April 1, salmon farms have refused to volunteer or make available tissue samples for government fish health and sea lice monitoring audits.

"The government's risky approach of voluntary self-reporting has backfired," said Randy Chistensen, Ecojustice staff lawyer. "The government now has little-to-no oversight of the industry and as such, has essentially abdicated any responsibility for industry's impact on the environment."

Read the full story in Westerly News

Read related stories

Kate Allen
August 11, 2010
The Globe and Mail

British Columbia’s dry summer is creating alarmingly low river levels throughout the province, a problem that could endanger fish populations in some regions, the provincial government warned Tuesday.

The Ministry of Environment is encouraging British Columbians to conserve water and create drought-management plans to mitigate the record low water levels in streams across B.C.

According to its website, the Peace, Liard and Skeena regions have been classified as Drought Level 3, which would indicate “concern for fish and water supplies, unless significant rainfall occurs.” Some areas in those regions only received a quarter of the amount of rainfall expected for this time of year.

The Lower Mainland also received only two-thirds of its usual rainfall. This could put salmon at risk, according to Diana Allen, a professor of earth sciences at Simon Fraser University. “The whole province is really suffering quite significantly from this dry spell,” Dr. Allen said.

In late summer, rivers in the province go through “low flow” periods after the snow pack has completely melted and glacier water stops running. Salmon spawn during this period.

Dry periods could affect salmon spawning in two ways: by creating water levels that are too low for fish to swim in, or by heating waters up, which deteriorates fish habitat.

“It’s the heat that is actually more critical sometimes than the low flows,” Dr. Allen said. Salmon are a greater concern than other species of fish. “I don’ t want to say they’re picky, but it’s a very narrow range they’re comfortable in,” she said.

Read the full story in The Globe and Mail

Read related stories:

• The Vancouver Sun and Times Colonist; August 11, 2010; Droughts in northern B.C. could threaten fish stocks"

August 10, 2010
BC Local News 

To make the tough job of managing and protecting our salmon resource even more confusing, sockeye salmon seem to be making a comeback in the very summer when the federally appointed Cohen Commission is studying their disappearance.

So we ask the question, is the commission still worthwhile if this year turns out to be a strong sockeye year, showing that their death has been greatly exaggerated?

The answer is – the inquiry should proceed aggressively and thoroughly to determine the reasons for the three previous disastrous seasons.

Then, thanks to the honest testimony from all involved, combined with rigourous research, perhaps some answers can be found to explain why sockeye vanished one year – then returned the next.

It’s never easy to be conclusive about natural cycles.

But it is easy to draw conclusions after the fact, such as the over-fishing that destroyed the Atlantic cod.

We cannot make the same mistake with B.C.’s iconic fish, the sockeye salmon.

The species means too much to all British Columbians – from the First Nations who first harvested them, to the resort and sports fishing industry that shares them with visitors from around the world, to the severely diminished commercial fishery – all groups agree on protecting the resource.

There may be differences in how that’s achieved, but one message from all groups is clear: Do what’s necessary to save the sockeye.

Source: BC Local News

Read background stories

Christine Dobby
August 10, 2010
The New Brunswick Business Journal

New Brunswick's salmon growers are hoping a novel treatment for sea lice involving a chartered well boat from Norway will help them control the parasite.

The Ronja Carrier, chartered by the New Brunswick Salmon Growers' Association at a cost of $12,000 per day for six months, has been at work in the Bay of Fundy since June, treating farmed salmon with a hydrogen peroxide-based mixture and gathering data to help get the new treatment method approved by the Pest Management Regulatory Agency, a division of Health Canada.

Pamela Parker, executive director of the industry-funded association, is optimistic about the project

"It's been working quite well," she said, adding "We get very good lice removal from the hydrogen peroxide. This is the first time we've ever been able to use it in a well boat in New Brunswick."

Sea lice, a naturally occurring parasite on fish, are transmitted to farmed salmon from a variety of sources, including wild salmon explained Parker. According to the NBSGA website, damage inflicted by sea lice weakens the fish and increases their susceptibility to potentially fatal secondary infections. Although, Parker said, it doesn't have a human health impact or affect the quality of the meat.

In the past, salmon farmers have relied on in-feed treatments - such as emamectin benzoate, sold as SLICE - which were very effective but Parker said species develop resistance to such solutions absent rotation with other tools, which is a necessary part of an integrated pest management program.

Read the full story in the New Brunswick Business Journal

Judith Lavoie
August 8,2010
Times Colonist

First Nations and salmon farm opponents will take to the water this fall to galvanize public support for ending open-net salmon farming in B.C. waters.

A flotilla of canoes will paddle down the Fraser River from Hope to Vancouver, arriving on the same day the Cohen Commission of Inquiry into the decline of Fraser River sockeye starts evidentiary hearings.

The Paddle for Wild Salmon builds on the success of the Get Out Migration, a walk down Vancouver Island that culminated with a rally at the legislature in May, said organizer Alexandra Morton.

"It seems to me that, for people to understand the severity of the situation, I have to do something like this," said Morton, a biologist and fierce opponent of salmon farms.

Morton said she is uncomfortable with being in the public eye. "I really am a hermit, but I need to capture people's imagination so they will hear what I have to say," she said.

First Nations along the route from Hope to Vancouver will be adding their canoes to the flotilla, and events are planned for communities along the route.

Read the full story in the Time Colonist. 

Read related stories:

• Mission City Record; August 26, 2010; "Pulling together for wild salmon"
• Straight.com; August 17, 2010; "Paddle planned to support B.C. wild salmon"
• The Valley Voice; August 14, 2010; "Return of the Paddlers"
• Hope Standard; August 12, 2010; "Paddle for Wild Salmon starting in Hope" 

Jes Abeita
August 6, 2010
The Vancouver Sun

The B.C. Ministry of Agriculture is no longer able to audit information on fish health and sea lice provided by B.C. salmon farms.

In April, the farms stopped providing the ministry with samples of fish tissue and carcasses, which the ministry normally uses to double-check information provided by the farms.

Industry representatives said they took the action in preparation for the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans' takeover of fish farm regulation from the province in December.

They said they're still collecting the samples, but believe the information should be audited by an independent, private company during the transition to ensure it is done consistently.

However, nobody is doing such audits at the moment: The fish farmers' association is still reviewing proposals from companies that want the job.

Patrick Vert, a spokesman for the agriculture ministry, said until the federal government takes over, "there is surveillance taking place but there is no data from carcasses or live fish," to track disease or lice.

Colleen Dane of the BC Salmon Farmers Association said farms have not changed their testing procedures, even though samples no longer go to the ministry.

"Fish health technicians collect samples from dead fish collected on the site," about once a week and test to find the cause of death, she said. The monitoring also includes checking live fish, selected at random, for sea lice. The information is put into a database and shared with the ministry.

Farmer's association executive director Mary Ellen Walling said that since the ministry was "winding down" its aquaculture department in preparation for the transition to federal oversight, the industry decided third-party auditing was the best way to safeguard the integrity of the information the farms are collecting.

David Lane, executive director of the T. Buck Suzuki Environmental Foundation, called the lack of audits on the salmon farms' data a "ridiculous notion." He added: "This is a long-standing program that the provincial government has done to audit the numbers that are collected by the salmon farming companies --for them to just drop that and stop complying means there is no government oversight."

Walling said the farms are still in compliance with management plans and ministry staff still visit the farms to check for compliance.

But Lane said compliance with the management plans is irrelevant without samples being submitted to provincial authorities for testing.

"I hope the DFO is looking very closely at this and realizing voluntary measures don't work," Lane said.

"This is just as if restaurant owners were doing their own food inspections and sending it off to the restaurant owners' association with no government inspectors coming in to take a look at things."

Trevor Swerdfager, director general of aquaculture management for the DFO, said the federal regulations will leave "no room for waffling around."

The proposed federal regulation would give the minister the authority "to require, not suggest or encourage or cajole, but to simply require as a condition of licence that sort of information be provided to us," Swerdfager said.

The proposed regulations can be veiwed online at http://www.gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p1/2010/2010-07-10/html/reg2-eng.html.

Source: The Vancouver Sun

Read related stories:

• Prince George Citizen; August 11, 2010; "No, thank you - Fish farms turn tail on tissue sample reporting"
• Courier Islander; August 11, 2010; "This is transparency?"
• Courier Islander; August 6, 2010; "Information gap infuriates fish farm opponents"
• Times Colonist; August 6, 2010; "Fish farm audits placed on hold" 

Darah Hansen
August 6, 2010
The Vancouver Sun and Victoria Times Colonist

British Columbia's commercial fishermen were out in Johnstone Strait off Vancouver Island Thursday to take advantage of the first significant Fraser River sockeye salmon opening in four years.

Seiners were approved to fish from 6 a.m. until 9 p.m. Thursday. The opening continued today with gillnetters joining the commercial fleet in the same area.

Phil Eidsvik of the B.C. Fisheries Survival Coalition said local fishermen are relieved to be back working.

"After ... years of no fishing, most guys know they have a big stack of bills to pay," he said.

Department of Fisheries and Oceans officials said returns this summer have so far been much better than expected.

That trend is expected to continue with seven to 11 million fish expected to return to the Fraser River by the end of the season, well above early forecasts of five to eight million.

The vast majority, 80 per cent, of the sockeye are expected to arrive in the coming weeks.

"At this stage this is a good fishery. Presumably things will continue to develop and we'll have other opportunities," said Barry Rosenberger, federal fisheries director for the B.C. Interior.

The sockeye fishery was last open to commercial fleets in 2006 when a total commercial catch of 3.7 million fish was approved.

A limited fishery opened in 2008 with only 17,000 sockeye caught.

The total allowed catch for the current two-day fishery is 150,000 fish.

Rosenberger said this year could yield a total catch of about three million fish, if runs continue to look strong.

Not everyone is happy about news of the sockeye opening.

Craig Orr of the Watershed Watch Salmon Society said it's too early to determine if the forecast number of fish returns is correct. 

Read related articles:

• Aldergrove Star; August 13, 2010; "Sockeye still coming in strong"
• Maple Ridge News; August 13, 2010; "The return of the sockeye"
• North Island Gazette; August 12, 2010; "Sockeye season is on"
• Peace Arch News; August 11, 2010; "Sockeye run a happy fish tale so far"
• The Royal City Record; August 11, 2010; "Sockeye fishery opens - Fisheries department say there are more fish in the sea this year"
• Chilliwack Progress; August 9, 2010; "First sockeye opening has them flocking to River"
• Nanaimo Daily News; August 9, 2010; "Island Fishermen hope to cash in on sockeye - As many as 11 million of the prized Fraser River run salmon are expected to return to spawning grounds this year"
• CBC News; August 7, 2010; "Salmon prices high despite strong sockeye run"
• The Province: August 6, 2010; "Sockeye return to the Fraser River, but fishers still stressed about 'what should be a great fishery every year'"
• BC Local News; August 4, 2010; "Sockeye rebound puts nets, rods in water"
• Westcoaster; August 3, 2010; "Sockeye Fishery Split"

Les Blumethal
August 2, 2010
The Washington Post

It may not be the 500-pound "Frankenfish" some researchers were talking about 10 years ago, but a Massachusetts company says it is on the verge of receiving federal approval to market a quick-growing Atlantic salmon that's been genetically modified with help from a Pacific Chinook salmon.

Read more related stories 

Jes Abeita
August 3, 2010
The Vancouver Sun

VANCOUVER - The Fraser River Sockeye Salmon fishery was certified as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council Friday, but conservation groups called the certification misleading to consumers.

The certification review, conducted by an independent assessor, was “a very thorough scientific process,” said Kerry Koughlin, the MSC’s regional director for the Americas, in defence of the decision.

The certification report lists 17 conditions the fishery must meet, including continued improvement of the sockeye runs and provisions to protect and rebuild both the Sakinaw and Cultus salmon populations — considered endangered by conservationists.

If conditions are not met, Koughlin noted, the fishery will lose the certification.

Also, the report mandates yearly audits to track compliance, which “set the stage for significant fishery improvement,” she said.

The MSC certification can translate into significant economic benefits for a fishery. “Some fisheries see a price premium because MSC-certified seafood is very much in demand,” Koughlin said. Others have to obtain the certification just to be able to sell their catch.

Koughlin said the MSC’s recommendations have helped other fisheries improve their practices and health, but conservationists say some of the fish in the Fraser River Sockeye fishery are endangered.

The fishery comprises genetic groupings or populations of fish that spawn in specific streams and lakes within the Fraser watershed.

Aaron Hill, an ecologist with the Watershed Watch Salmon Society, said some of those populations are critically endangered, meaning the lakes and streams where the endangered fish spawn could wind up with no sockeye salmon — even though there are still seemingly plenty of sockeye in the Fraser.

“We’re hemorrhaging biological diversity among the Fraser River Sockeye ... and we’re continuing to harvest these endangered stock,” Hill said.

Read the full story In The Vancouver Sun

Read related stories:

• World Fishing Today; August 9, 2010; "Fraser River sockeye salmon certification under criticism"
• Nanaimo Daily News; July 31, 2010; "Salmon designation is controversial" 
• Seafood Source; July 30, 2010; "It's official: Fraser Sockeye gets MSC eco-label"

Read background stories. 

Judith Lavoie
July 29, 2010
The Times Colonist

B.C. has a provincial flower, mineral, tree, bird, mammal and tartan.

Now it's time for a provincial fish, say salmon supporters.

Non-profit conservation organizations Pacific Salmon Foundation, Fraser Basin Council and Georgia Basin/Vancouver Island Living Rivers are appealing for support in an effort to have wild Pacific salmon designated as B.C.'s provincial fish.

"Pacific salmon are part of the social, cultural, economic and environmental heritage of British Columbians," said Brian Riddell, Pacific Salmon Foundation CEO.

"They have helped shape our history and, for First Nations, the relationship with salmon goes back thousands of years."

Al Lill, Living Rivers manager, said the idea is being floated to figure out whether it has widespread public support before an approach is made to the government.

"Salmon mean an awful lot to the population as a whole in B.C. It seems like a really good rallying point," he said.

If response is strong enough, a request could be made this fall, Lill said.

One question not yet resolved is which variety of salmon is most iconic -- the bright red of the sockeye, feisty coho favoured by sports fishermen, big chinook or possibly pinks and chums.

"We have had a lot of debates and decided not to pick any one of them, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was some sort of First Nations representation of salmon," Lill said.

There could also be a practical reason for designating wild Pacific salmon as the provincial fish, said David Marshall, Fraser Basin Council executive director.

"Making salmon an official symbol could help raise awareness of the value of salmon and strengthen the public's commitment to manage this important resource for the benefit of future generations," he said

Read the full story in The Times Colonist

See related stories:

• Courier Islander; July 28, 2010; "A truly wild idea" 

Black Press
July 29, 2010
North Island Gazette

Plans to add federal fisheries officers for aquaculture enforcement should consider the North Island.

“We have plenty of room here in the Port Hardy office, which has lost many staff over the past few years,” said Port Hardy mayor Bev Parnham. “It would make lots of sense to have those officers here, where the majority of the fish farms are located, rather than hundreds of miles away. I will be speaking to (Vancouver Island North) MP John Duncan about it.”

Regional chair Al Huddlestan agreed with that. “We already have a facility in Port Hardy that’s fully equipped,” he said. “The bulk or all of the jobs should go there.”

MP Duncan advocates splitting the staffing between Port Hardy and Campbell River, which both have DFO offices.

“Your regional district and mayor have been very vocal on this ... they wanted to see an increased presence in the Port Hardy office, even before this news,” said Duncan, who estimates DFO staffing in Port Hardy has dwindled from 15 to five in recent years. “I want to see the original 15 back in Port Hardy, plus some of the 50 for aquaculture.”

The story started when Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) director general of aquaculture Trevor Swerdfager announced more federal fisheries officers will be hired and trained to inspect salmon farms and shellfish operations on the B.C. coast.

Read the full story in the North Island Gazette. 

Read related stories in: 

• North Island Gazette; July 29, 2010; "DFO staffing needed here" 
• Nanaimo Daily News; July 13, 2010; "Aquaculture takeover may be Nanaimo jobs windfall"
• Campbell River Mirror; July 13, 2010; "More federal fisheries officers expected to patrol aquaculture sites" 

 Read further related stories 

Linda Watts
July 26, 2010
Vancouver Courier

If there’s any one food that exemplifies British Columbia’s cuisine, it would have to be Pacific wild salmon. We have First Nations people to thank for introducing us, and the rest of the world, to this indigenous resource that turned out to be an exceptionally healthy food.

Salmon is a good source of protein, vitamin D, selenium and zinc. Compared to other animal-based protein foods, salmon is generally lower in saturated fats and high in omega-3 fats: docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA).

EPA and DHA are believed to be critical to the neurological development of infants. Internationally, experts agree that women who eat healthy quantities of low contaminant-containing fish during their pregnancies have healthier babies.

Some research suggests that omega-3 fats prevent blood clot formation and irregular heartbeats, which often lead to heart attacks. But when these data are thoroughly examined, the relationship between omega-3s and cardiovascular health remains unclear.

Newer studies are linking omega-3 fats with the prevention of depression, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. However, more research is needed to better understand their role.

The inconsistent outcomes of studies regarding omega-3 fats may be about fish oils having different effects in people depending on their age and health status. Or, the benefits of fish are not about what they contain as much as it’s about the food that fish replaces in our diets.

While research findings on omega-3 fats aren’t entirely compelling, public health agencies like Health Canada recommend eating fish on a regular basis. Canada’s Food Guide encourages us to eat at least five ounces (150 grams) each week of salmon or other fish rich in omega-3s such as anchovies, Arctic char, herring, mackerel, sardines and trout.

Health Canada believes these fish are generally low in environmental contaminants like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). But, sadly, all fish and seafood have PCBs and related toxic chemicals to some extent. Farmed salmon are even more concentrated in toxins because they’re fed fish meal and fish oils that contain PCBs. According to the Dietitians of Canada, the amount of contaminants in fish meal depends on its continent of origin: fish meal from Europe contains more PCBs than meal from South America. In Canada, farm-raised salmon are fed the latter.

Read the full story in The Vancouver Courier

Kristen Douglas
July 22, 2010
North Island Gazette

The ‘Namgis First Nation want to show the world that there is another way to farm fish.

And to prove their point, the band, along with the help of the SOS Marine Conservation Foundation, are building a land-based, closed-containment facility.

The pilot project, which will provide an alternative to open-net fish farms, will attempt to demonstrate that salmon can be grown to full-size in closed containment, according to ‘Namgis Chief Bill Cranmer.

“It’s an option of fish farming without all the negative effects of open-net fish farming in the Broughton Archipelago,” said Cranmer. Those effects include sea lice infected fish, damage to clam beds and even possible damage to the herring population, according to Cranmer who noted there has not been a commercial herring fishery here in about 30 years.

Read the full story in the North Island Gazette

Brian Lewis
July 20, 2010
The Province

It’s beginning to look as if this season’s spawning sockeye salmon runs up the Fraser River may not repeat last year’s disaster.

That’s when official forecasts called for a total return of over 10 million fish, but subsequently less than two million of this highly valued fish actually returned from the Pacific Ocean.

And since 2009 marked the worst in a number of years of declining returns, it was enough to prod Ottawa to turn its attention westward and establish the Cohen Inquiry into the Fraser’s vanishing sockeye.

But when this judicial inquiry begins formal hearings this fall, it may be against a backdrop of a much-improved Fraser sockeye return.

Early estimates for the total 2010 return call for seven to 11 million sockeye to migrate up the Fraser, and several external factors are giving rise to increased optimism.

First of all, the Early Stuart run, which begins the season now, appears better than expected.

Although downgraded slightly in the Pacific Salmon Commission’s weekly forecasts last Tuesday, the estimate now stands at about 90,000 returns, compared to a preseason estimate for about 41,000 fish.

Read the full story in The Province

Related stories:

• Westcoaster; August 3, 2010; "Sockeye Fishery Split"

Read more related stories

Sarah Schmidt
July 14, 2010
Montreal Gazette

OTTAWA — Farmed fish raised in open net pens in the ocean — blamed for threatening wild salmon on the West Coast — could soon have Canada's organic stamp of approval on their packaging if the federal government implements its plan for new organic aquaculture standards.

The summer consultations have just begun, but the draft proposal, presented by the Canadian General Standards Board and organic aquaculture working group at Fisheries and Oceans Canada, has already fired up a debate about the industry's environmental practices and whether the move just muddies the meaning of "organic" for consumers.

Ottawa's proposed organic certification system for farmed fish also puts Canada at odds with the United States, where draft rules of the U.S. National Standards Board would disqualify non-native species that are raised in open net pens from carrying the U.S. government's organic label.

This would mean the overwhelming majority of fish produced by B.C. salmon farms would fail the U.S. organic test, but meet the proposed Canadian standards.

While Atlantic Canada has some aquaculture operators, salmon farming is now the single-largest food production sector in the B.C. economy, providing farmed Atlantic salmon to consumers across Canada and internationally.

B.C. is also the world's fourth-largest farmed salmon producer in the world, after Norway, Chile and Scotland, according to the federal government.

Read the full story in the Montreal Gazette.

Related stories:

• KPLU Radio; August 20, 2010; "Organic Label for BC Farmed Fish?"

July 13th, 2010
Globe and Mail

The federal Fisheries Department unveiled new rules Monday to take over the licensing of fish farms in British Columbia.

But the proposed regulations will only apply in B.C., where a court ruling last year forced the provincial government to relinquish that jurisdiction to Ottawa.

Under the new rules, the province will continue to grant the leases for fish farms, but the Fisheries Department will be the licensing authority in the province.

“The court decision that gave rise to the regulation applies uniquely and solely in British Columbia and so this regulation is built for British Columbia aquaculture and applies only in British Columbia,” said Trevor Swerdfager, director general of fisheries and aquaculture management for the department.

“It is very much a B.C.-oriented exercise and the federal government has no plan — no plan whatsoever — to expand the implementation or the application, rather, of this regulation outside British Columbia.”

Mr. Swerdfager said the industry will continue to be regulated by provincial and territorial governments in the other nine provinces and in the Yukon. Nunavut and the Northwest Territories do not have aquaculture activity, he said.

The new rules will take effect in mid-December, following public consultations.

Read the full story in the Globe and Mail

Read related stories:

• The Province; July 16, 2010; "Biologist looks forward to feds overseeing fish farms"
• Courier Islander; July 16, 2010; "Federal aquaculture regulations unveiled"
• Prince Rupert Daily News; July 15, 2010; "New federal regulations for fish farms"
• Campbell River Mirror; July 13, 2010; "More federal fisheries officers expected to patrol aquaculture sites"
• Nanaimo Daily News; July 13,2010; "Aquaculture takeover may be Nanaimo jobs windfall- Roughly 50 new positions will be created on Vancouver Island to regulate industry"
• Vancouver Sun and Times Colonist; July 13th, 2010; "DFO plans new rules to police salmon farming - Fisheries department adding 50 staff in new $8-million section" 

Kathryn Blaze Carlson
July 13, 2010
National Post

The tentative schedule for the judicial inquiry into the collapse of Fraser River sockeye has been pushed back by at least a month, as the commission council awaits thousands of federal documents and emails that have yet to be disclosed.

Evidentiary hearings were anticipated to begin on Sept. 7, but a spokesperson for the Cohen Commission said the date has been postponed to Oct. 25.

“We need to review tens of thousands of documents and more than 200,000 emails, and the government is working on getting them over to us,” said Carla Shore, spokesperson for the commission. “My understanding is that it’s not a question of an unwillingness to disclose the documents, it’s more a question of pulling it all together. Documents are coming in every day.”

Ms. Shore said the documents — comprised of “whatever had been determined to be relevant to our investigation” — are outstanding from a number of federal departments, including the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

The Cohen Commission, which was born in 2009 at the behest of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, will look into the causes for the decline of Fraser River sockeye and will also examine the policies and practices of the DFO — including forecasting and risk-management.

Federal forecasts for the Fraser River sockeye run have been notoriously inaccurate: Last year, the DFO predicted 10.3 million fish would show up, and only 1.3 million arrived.

“We fully support the delay,” said Phil Eidsvik, a spokesman for the B.C. Fisheries Survival Coalition. "There is a lot of information to gather and review, and it's a heavy burden. Better that they delay and do a good job."

Ms. Shore said the commission is still on track to issue its final report in May 2011.

Source: The National Post

Read background news stories

Kathryn Blaze Carlson
July 14, 2010
National Post

On the craggy shores of Fraser Canyon, where its namesake river rushes through narrow gorges, a “showdown” looms between a dozen First Nations families and the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

With their fishing nets mended and drying racks sturdied, elders from Sto:lo tribal communities are camped out in tents and cabins, waiting to begin their traditional dry-rack sockeye fishery. But the federal department has not yet opened the sockeye fishery in order to conserve the early Stuart run — the first of four groups of sockeye to migrate up the Fraser River.

“It’s bogus,” said Tyrone McNeil, a tribal chief and vice-president of the Sto:lo Tribal Council, and a dry-racker who ventures to the canyon each July in the hopes of catching and curing small sockeye for the winter larder. “We’re getting to the point where a lot of our dry-rackers are frustrated, and they may end up going out there and challenging DFO by setting nets and hanging fish.”

“We could be heading for a bit of a showdown,” echoed Ernie Crey, fisheries advisor to the council in the Fraser Valley region, and former advisor to the DFO.

Lara Sloan, a communications officer for the DFO’s pacific region branch, said that while there is currently “no fishing directed at sockeye,” the department recently issued a communal licence for a Chinook fishery — a species of salmon that is much larger, fattier and more difficult to cure than early Stuart sockeye.

Read full story in the National Post. 

Read related story in the Globe and Mail; July 14, 2010; "Sto:lo threaten to cast nets without licences - Federal officials say run is too small, but band says there are plenty of sockeye – and they will fish when their elder gives go-ahead".

Darrel Bellaart
July 13, 2010
Nanaimo Daily News  

Nanaimo stands to gain new jobs when the federal government becomes the regulator of the B.C fish-farming industry.

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans started writing fish-farming legislation for B.C. after the B.C. Supreme Court ruled last year the $600-million industry falls under federal jurisdiction.

The draft legislation is now under a 60-day public review.

When federal fisheries takes over, it will create an entirely new agency to manage and enforce the new rules regulating the industry, and that means about 50 good-paying new jobs.

About 10 to 15 enforcement officers will be needed, plus management and staff to collect and disseminate information to the public.

Nanaimo's central location, the expertise of Vancouver Island University and the Pacific Biological Station should all give it an edge.

How many jobs Nanaimo will get is unclear. Office space availability and proximity to fish farms must be considered.

"They will not be in Vancouver and they will not be in Victoria," said Trevor Swerdfager, DFO director-general of aquaculture management. "We expect the majority will be based on Vancouver Island. 

Read the full story in the Nanaimo Daily News. 

Read related stories in: 

• North Island Gazette; July 29, 2010; "Politicians fighting to get new DFO staff" 
• North Island Gazette; July 29, 2010; "DFO staffing needed here" 
• Campbell River Mirror; July 13, 2010; "More federal fisheries officers expected to patrol aquaculture sites" 

Read further related stories 

Robert Matas
July 13, 2010
Globe and Mail

It’s early yet, but the first forecast of the season indicates that sockeye salmon will return this summer in healthy numbers to British Columbia’s Fraser River.

About 11.4 million sockeye are expected to swim up the river this summer, analysts at the Pacific Salmon Commission say. Around two-thirds of those – more than seven million – will be heading to the fabled Adams River spawning grounds in south central B.C., about 60 kilometres east of Kamloops.

The forecast indicates salmon will be available for aboriginal, sport and commercial fisheries in August without compromising the sustainability of the runs.

“It would be a good run size, not a great run, but it would be decent fishing for everyone,” said Phil Eidsvik, a commercial fisherman and outspoken member of the B.C. Fisheries Survival Coalition.

“But, and it is a big but, salmon forecasts have been notoriously inaccurate for some 15 years. So we will believe the fish is there when the fish show up in the river,” he said. “Nobody is going to be running out, buying new nets and boats, not until we see some fish show up.

Read the full story in the Globe and Mail

Related story:

• The Province; July 13, 2010; "Fraser River sockeye on the rebound: forecast"

Read more related stories

Natasha Poon
July 13th, 2010
Metro Vancouver

The federal government is being taken to court in an effort to ensure the recommendations from the latest inquiry into disappearing Fraser River salmon are followed.

Ecojustice, Canada’s largest non-profit environmental law organization, said failure to act on 25 previous post-harvest reviews is prolonging the problem.

Ottawa unveiled new aquaculture rules yesterday — but only for B.C. — after a court ruling forced the province to give up jurisdiction over fish farms to the federal government.

Source: Metro Vancouver

Brandon Keim
July 13, 2010
Wired Science

The identity of a mysterious disease that’s raged through European salmon farms, wasting the hearts and muscles of infected fish, has been revealed.

Genome sleuthing shows the disease is caused by a previously unknown virus. The identification doesn’t suggest an obvious cure — for now, scientists have only a name and a genome — but it’s an important first step.

“It’s a new virus. And with this information now in hand, we can make vaccines,” said Ian Lipkin, director of Columbia University’s Center for Infection and Immunity, a World Health Organization-sponsored disease detective lab.

Two years ago, Norweigan fisheries scientists approached Lipkin and asked for help in identifying the cause of Heart and Skeletal Muscle Inflammation, or HSMI, the official name for a disease first identified in 1999 on a Norweigan salmon farm.

Read the full story on Wired Science

Wendy Stueck
July 12th, 2010
Globe and Mail

An independent adjudicator has upheld an assessment of the Fraser River sockeye salmon fishery, clearing the way for the fishery to be certified as “sustainable” by the London-based Marine Stewardship Council.

Three British Columbia environmental groups in February filed an objection to certification for the fishery. The groups – the David Suzuki Foundation, Skeena Wild Conservation Trust and Watershed Watch Salmon Society – also had concerns about the health of three other B.C. salmon fisheries involved in the process, but focused their objection on the Fraser River fishery as they believed it to be the most vulnerable. Commercial and sport salmon fisheries on the Fraser River have been curtailed in recent years as a result of lower-than expected returns.

The three other B.C. salmon fisheries were certified by the MSC earlier this month.

Under the MSC process, third-party certifiers review fisheries to determine if they are “sustainable.” Since the group was founded in 1997, it has granted its eco label to 89 fisheries around the world. An additional 120 fisheries are in assessment.

If an objection is filed, an independent adjudicator reviews the process and checks for errors made by the certifier – but does not reassess the fishery.

The pending Fraser Certification includes 17 conditions that must be achieved by the fishery within specified time frames, including recovery action plans for Cultus and Sakinaw sockeye and evidence that First Nation issues are being addressed.

The Cohen Commission, appointed last year, is studying the decline of sockeye runs on the Fraser River. Evidentiary hearings are scheduled to begin in September.

“For this fishery, there is uncertainty in the scientific community as to the reasons for low sockeye returns,” the MSC said Monday.

“However, there is general agreement that commercial fishing pressure is not the cause for these declines since breeding stock levels were high in the years that spawned the fish now returning in low numbers [four years previous].”

The MSC said the 600-page certifier’s report produced as part of the process is available to the federal commission.

Source: The Globe and Mail

Related stories:

• Prince Rupert Daily News; July 15, 2010; "Concerns raised over salmon certification"
• Straight.com; July 13, 2010; "Sustainability certification of Fraser River salmon fishery moves ahead"
• BC Local News; July 12, 2010; "Groups rail at fishy salmon decision"
• Vancouver Sun; July 12, 2010; "Fraser sockeye close to certified sustainable after adjudicator rules against objection"

Read further background and related stories

Kim Petersen
July 9th, 2010
The Dominion

TRADITIONAL TERRITORY OF SNUNEYMUXW FIRST NATION (NANAIMO, BC)—On May 8, 2010, thousands of people flowed across the lawns of BC's legislature in Victoria to protest open-net salmon farming, which Indigenous communities and others are blaming for catastrophic declines in the wild salmon population.

Calling for wild salmon to take priority over farmed salmon, a contingent led by First Nations set off on April 23 from Sointula, at the north end of Vancouver Farms, and walked for two weeks to Victoria.

Two local dailies, The Vancouver Sun and The Province, both gave a figure of about 1,000 at the legislature, while The Globe and Mail estimated 4,000, but Alexander Morton, one of the organizers of the “Get Out Migration” march, counted many more.

“The Parliament lawns reportedly hold 20,000 people and looking out over the sea of people less than one-third of the lawn was visible,” said Morton.

The Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest were historically referred to as the Salmon People—their communities, stales, and culture thrived in unison with the salmon, which provided sustenance for humans and much of the ecosystem.

But the increasing number of commercial fish farms, which raise salmon in open-net cages in the ocean, poses a threat to First Nations.

Read the full story on The Dominion

Brian Lewis
July 8th, 2010
The Province

Are European and Asian consumers being conned into buying B.C. salmon under the pretence that our fish are harvested in ways that preserve stock health and protect the marine ecosystems?

More to the point, are Fraser River sockeye about to be included in this "eco-label" certification scheme?

These kinds of questions keep people like Craig Orr, executive director of Watershed Watch Salmon Society, awake at night — because if the answer is "yes" to those questions, then we have a problem.

At the heart of this issue is a U.K.-based non-profit organization known as the Marine Stewardship Council, which utilizes independent third parties to investigate and subsequently certify specific fisheries throughout the world as meeting MSC criteria.

Thus, once certified, products from that fishery can carry the distinctive blue MSC label on the packaging — which, obviously, is intended to give consumers confidence that what they buy doesn't degrade the environment.

However, is this certification more about selling fish than protecting fisheries?

The MSC recently certified three B.C. sockeye-salmon fisheries — the Skeena and Nass rivers sockeye and the Barclay Sound sockeye.

Keep in mind that all three fisheries contain threatened and endangered salmon stocks that Orr says are "routinely" overharvested. "As disturbing as this is, the MSC has placed several conditions for improvement on these fisheries and we will be watching closely to see if these conditions are enforced," he adds.

But incredibly, Orr says the MSC was about to grant a similar certification to the Fraser River sockeye fishery — that is until Watershed Watch, the David Suzuki Foundation and SkeenaWild Conservation Trust collectively raised a red flag.

Read related and background stories.

Ian Bailey
July 7th, 2010
Globe and Mail

One of six members of a science advisory panel for a federal inquiry into declining Fraser River sockeye salmon stocks has quit so he can be a witness at the probe.

Brian Riddell, president and CEO of the Vancouver-based Pacific Salmon Foundation, which works to improve salmon habitat and enhance salmon populations, spotlighted the witness issue in a statement on Wednesday that constituted his only comment on his resignation.

Through a spokesman at the foundation, Mr. Riddell declined an interview request to elaborate on his statement.

He said he agreed to serve on the panel of the inquiry out of a commitment to studying and sustaining Pacific salmon, “with my initial understanding that panel members could also be called as witnesses.

“However, that understanding has now changed. The commission policy is now that panel members cannot be called as witnesses.”

Carla Shore, a spokeswoman for the inquiry, said it's “highly likely” Mr. Riddell will be called as a witness, and noted that he had made a “helpful” contribution, to date, to the inquiry process.

If other members of the panel are to be called as witnesses, they will be asked to step down, she said.

Read the full story in the Globe and Mail. 

Read related stories in the:

• Vancouver Sun; July 8th, 2010; "Fisheries Scientist leaves salmon inquiry"
• Vancouver Sun; July 7th, 2010; "Former federal fisheries scientist resigns from Cohen commission of inquiry into Fraser salmon" 
• Nanaimo Bulletin; July 7th, 2010; "Salmon expert resigns as Cohen Commission adviser" 

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Kathryn Blaze Carlson
July 7th, 2010
National Post

Commercial fishers on British Columbia's Fraser River have stayed tied to the dock for the past three summers, waiting for a viable sockeye run that could fill their nets as they have in distant decades.

But this year, if rumours and federal projections prove true, anglers, commercial boats and First Nations bands alike might finally catch some respite.

The pre-season forecast from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans -- released late last month -- anticipates that 11.4 million sockeye will return this summer and, if the turnout south of the border is for once an indication, the Fraser River could soon be aflutter with fish.

Sockeye have already been eyed on the west side of Vancouver Island, and Washington State is seeing a record run of the fish in the Columbia River.

"Everyone out here has their fingers crossed, and they're hoping that the forecasts are somewhere in the ballpark," said Ernie Crey, fisheries advisor to the Sto: lo Tribal Council in the Fraser Valley region, and former advisor to the DFO.

"They hope it will point to Fraser River sockeye probably surviving into the future."

Mr. Crey said that although federal projections for the Fraser River run have been historically inaccurate -- last year the DFO predicted 10.3 million fish would show up, and only 1.3 million arrived -- the latest estimation may ring true.

This year marks the return of the fabled and populous Adams River run, which comes in the final year of the sockeye's four-year life-cycle and will comprise most of the late-summer sockeye run, Mr. Crey said. 

Read the full story in the National Post.

Read related story:

• Westcoaster; July 23, 2010; "Sockeye Run Reaches One Millon"
• Digital Journal, July 9, 2010; "Canadian Dept. of Fisheries & Oceans predicts good BC sockeye run"
• Nanaimo Bulletin; June 30, 2010; "Big sockeye run possible"  

July 6th, 2010
Times Colonist

The provincial government spent six years -- and a lot of taxpayers' money -- fighting to keep statistics on sea lice and farmed salmon secret. It lost. The information and privacy commissioner ultimately ruled the government had no legal reason to keep the information from the public. It ordered the Agriculture Ministry to release the data to Ecojustice and the T. Buck Suzuki Environmental Foundation, which filed the requests for data from 2002 and 2003 back in 2004.

The organizations, believing the case settled, then filed requests for data from more recent years to allow analysis of sea-lice trends.

And again, the provincial government has said no. This time, it is basing the refusal on an entirely different section of the freedom of information legislation.

The government had justified the first refusal by claiming that releasing the information would hurt the interests of the salmon aquaculture companies. That argument was rejected by the information commissioner.

Read the full story in The Times Colonist

Read related stories:

• The Province; June 30, 2010; "It's clear the Libs put aquaculture ahead of wild fish - Gov't playing foul with our tax dollars" 
• The Globe and Mail; June 29, 2010; "Environmental groups accuse B.C. of changing rules over lice ruling"

 Read background stories

Wendy Stueck
July 6, 2010
The Globe and Mail

An independent adjudicator is scheduled to decide by July 10 whether B.C.’s Fraser River sockeye fishery meets the standards of a “sustainably managed fishery” set by the Marine Stewardship Council.

The London-based MSC had been poised to grant the label, used around the world, to the Fraser River sockeye fishery earlier this year but delayed that decision after three environmental groups registered a formal objection to the process.

Those groups now hope the adjudicator will decide that there are enough problems with the certification to send it back for review.

“We think they made some serious factual errors on their assessment and they passed the fishery on some pass-or-fail scores that they should have failed them on,” Watershed Watch spokesman Aaron Hill said on Tuesday. “So we think there is a good chance of the adjudicator asking the certifier to reconsider those decisions.”

Under the MSC process, a third-party certifier reviews a fishery to determine whether it meets MSC standards concerning the status of fish stocks, the impact of a fishery on its marine ecosystem and the management system that oversees the fishery.

Three other B.C. sockeye fisheries – from Barkley Sound, Skeena River and Nass River – were granted MSC certification on July 2.

Conservation groups have concerns about the three other sockeye fisheries, but focused their opposition on the Fraser River fishery because it is considered to be the most unhealthy.

It was closed for a third year in a row last summer when the numbers of fish returning to the river to spawn fell millions short of pre-season estimates. The Cohen Commission, headed by BC Supreme Court Justice Bruce Cohen, was established last year to study the decline. Evidentiary hearings are scheduled to begin in September and to investigate whether factors including environment, fish farms, predators and water temperatures have played a role in the decline.

Most of B.C.’s sockeye is exported as frozen or canned product, with about 10 per cent sold as fresh.

Kerry Coughlin, regional director, Americas, with the MSC, said certification includes “chain-of-custody” requirements that track fish as they move from the water to boats to processing plants and ultimately to market

Source: The Globe and Mail 

Read related stories:

• The Province; July 8th, 2010; "U.K. group eyes eco-approval for Fraser sockeye - Certification seems more about selling than protecting failing run"
• The Vancouver Sun; July 6th, 2010; "Fraser River Salmon fishery falls short of sustainability certification"
•  CBC News; July 6th, 2010; "B.C. sustainable salmon labels raise doubts - 'It becomes meaningless' , ecologist warns"
• World Fishing Today; July 5th, 2010; "B.C. sockeye salmon fishery gets MSC certification - Three units of B.C. sockeye salmon fishery has completed full assessment of MSC certification" 

Grant Warkentin
July 6th, 2010
Campbell River Mirror

Don’t call her “your honour,” “your excellency” or “your worship.”

Just “ambassador” will do for Else Berit Eikeland, Norway’s representative in Canada, who was in Campbell River last week to get a look at the aquaculture industry.

New to the position ,  Eikeland said she came to B.C. to learn more about fish farming. She toured the operations of the three Canadian companies with Norwegian parents –  Marine Harvest, Mainstream Canada and Grieg Seafood.

“It is very interesting to me to see areas where there are major Norwegian investments,” she said.

Speaking with the media before a reception for industry representatives and politicians last Wednesday evening, the ambassador talked briefly about her background.

She grew up in a small coastal village to working-class parents. And she takes a working-class, common-sense approach to politics and the fish farming industry, which should stick to the facts, she said.

“Transparency, openness and research –  that’s really the key factors for the industry,” she said.

The industry is moving in the right direction, with more companies making sea lice sampling data available online for the public to see, she said. And companies need to spend time on research, too, she added, focusing on facts and avoiding emotional and opinion-fueled debate.

Read the full story in the Campbell River Mirror

Read related story:

• Oceanside Star; July 8th, 2010; "Norwegian Ambassador seeking science-based discussion of fish-farms - Island tour includes stop at Deep Bay research centre" 

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