December 23, 2011
The Fish Site

Minister of Fisheries, Lisbeth Berg-Hansen said that this ceiling will limit total losses as a result of escapes.

After extreme weather earlier this year, there were two serious and large fish escape incidents. Minister Berg-Hansen said that this extreme weather, that Norway has been more exposed to, confirms the need for new and stricter requirements for fish farms. (NYTEK Regulations).

This scheme will come into force on 1 January 2013.

Another measure introduced by the Minister is a pilot scheme to keep juvenile fish on land, in aquaculture facilities, longer before transferring them to sea.

Allowing the fish to grow longer onshore will allow producers to identify cases of sea lice and treat the fish before transferring them to sea, preventing spread of the lice.

"This will provide both environmental and fish health benefits. By putting larger, more robust fish into sea will result in less disease, as well as reduce escape risks," said Minister Berg-Hansen.

Read the full story on The Fish Site. 

Courier Islander
December 21, 2011

This week marks the first anniversary of the federal government taking regulatory control of the province's aquaculture industry - and BC's salmon farmers are looking forward to a new year that will see the Pacific Aquaculture Regulations more established.

"The transition last year was a big one - it required a lot of work from many people," said Mary Ellen Walling, Executive Director of the BC Salmon Farmers Association. "We look forward to seeing these regulations settle more into place as we continue to move forward."

In February of 2009, the BC Supreme Court ruled that aquaculture should be under federal regulatory control rather than the previous provincially-led regulatory program. Following an extension in early 2010, the official transfer date was Dec. 18, 2010.

While the regulated requirements for BC's salmon farms in many areas stayed the same as they were with the province, there remained alterations that needed to be worked through - such as changes in staff contacts, reporting procedures and the inspection process.

One of the biggest changes in the public eye has been quarterly reporting of information about egg imports, sea lice, marine mammal interactions, incidental catch and escapes. While quarterly fish health reports were made available by the province while it was in regulatory control, the BCSFA feels this additional reporting is a good step, though it can be challenging to put in context since the BC industry is the only food production business providing this level of data publicly.

Read the full story in the Courier-Islander. 

Read related stories: 

• Fish News Eu; Decmeber 20, 2011; "Canadian salmon farmers mark anniversary of aquaculture regulations" 

December 20, 2011
Fisheries Information Service 

Disease in salmon is caused by a number of factors in combination, including many micro-organisms, various environmental influences, aquaculture conditions and incorrect nourishment. If one is ignorant of the factors which contribute to the development of diseases and their relative importance, it is difficult either to prevent them or treat them, according to Nofima Mat, the Norwegian Institute of Food, Fisheries and Aquaculture Research.

Facts

IPN (Infectious pancreatic necrosis); HSMI (Heart and skeletal muscle inflammation); CMS (Cardiomyopathy syndrome); PGI (Proliferative gill inflammation). There are many examples of multifactorial diseases. By way of this project, scientists at Nofima together with Aqua Gen AS and the Norwegian Veterinary Institute are seeking to boost knowledge of the development of combination diseases of this kind, assess the effects of a number of variables and find possible correlations between the various factors.

These are some of the diseases which are today causing problems for the salmon industry. At national level, IPN is the disease for which the greatest numbers of annual outbreaks are reported.

Field data from Troms and Finnmark among others, shows that each year IPN is shown in more than half of all aquaculture facilities. Several of the other diseases often follow in the wake of IPN.

Read the full story on the Fisheries Information Service. 

Mark Hume
December 20, 2011
Globe and Mail

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency plans to test nearly 8,000 wild and farmed salmon over the next two years to find out if three potentially deadly fish diseases are present in British Columbia waters.

The project is an intensive investigation aimed at detecting any signs on the West Coast of infectious salmon anemia, infectious pancreatic necrosis or infectious hematopoietic necrosis.

"All three diseases are highly contagious, can cause mortality in wild and aquaculture salmon," states a ministerial briefing note prepared by CFIA staff and updated Dec. 8. "Surveillance objectives are to determine the absence/presence of three diseases of trade significance ... [and] to support international trade negotiations by making [a] disease-freedom declaration that will stand international scrutiny," states the note, which was filed as evidence recently at the Cohen Commission of inquiry.

A draft copy of the CFIA surveillance plan was also entered at the hearings, which concluded on Monday.

During testimony, Kim Klotins, acting national manager of the CFIA's aquatic animal health division, said the plan is still being worked on, but it should be in place by early next year.

The draft plan states that 7,700 salmon will be collected for sampling over two years, and that nearly 20,000 tests will be undertaken on the fish.

Read the full story in the Globe and Mail.

December 17, 2011
CBC News

A government email describing a potentially lethal fish virus as a public relations problem has caused a stir at a federal inquiry in Vancouver.

The federally appointed Cohen Commission was called two years ago to examine what caused the 2009 collapse of the Fraser River sockeye.

The suggestion that an influenza-like virus had penetrated B.C. waters came just as the 21-month inquiry was wrapping up, prompting the commissioner to hold three more days of hearings.

On Friday, the federal inquiry heard from an expert in infectious salmon anemia (ISA) who detected the virus in a handful of B.C. fish earlier this year, setting off a chain of alarm bells throughout the government and the West Coast salmon industry.

Fred Kibenge, who runs a prestigious lab on the East Coast, detected the virus in two of 48 sockeye smolts, and the results of his work were widely publicized in October.

The ISA virus has infected and killed millions of fish in Chile, and is believed to have originated in Norway where its own stocks were devastated.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) immediately set about retesting Kibenge's samples, and told the media several weeks later they had found no evidence of the virus.

When news media made that the headline the next day, officials celebrated in a private email that has now been made public.

"It is clear that we are turning the PR tide in our favour, and this is because of the very successful performance of our spokes at the tech briefing," CFIA B.C. manager Joseph Beres wrote.

"One battle is won, now we have to nail the surveillance piece, and we will win the war, also."

Read the full story on CBC News. 

Read related stories: 

• Globe and Mail; December 16, 2011; "Federal agency accused of intimidation over salmon disease"
• CBC News; December 15, 2011; "Salmon virus in B.C. for decades, say biologists - World experts defend sample results"
• KPLU News; December 15, 2011; "Scientist claims evidence of salmon virus from early as 1986, feared lab would be closed"
• KPLU News; December 14, 2011; "Hearing Thursday on decline of salmon in Canada's Fraser River"

December 16, 2011
Courier Islander 

Canada's fish health regulations are not stringent enough to prevent viruses from being imported to West Coast fish farms on Atlantic salmon eggs, says a former high-level provincial government fisheries biologist.

Sally Goldes, fish health unit section head at the B.C. Environment Ministry for 17 years, has submitted a paper to the Cohen Commission on the decline of Fraser River sockeye that says iodine treatment of eggs and the testing of overseas providers of salmon eggs - Canada's defence against disease transmission - are inadequate.

Goldes' submission were to be made public when the commission holds special hearings focusing on the Infectious Salmon Anemia virus.

"The data . . . [inadequate sample sizes, ineffectiveness of iodine disinfection, etc.] suggests that the current Canada Fish Health Protection Rules do not provide a high level of regulatory security against the introduction of ISAV into British Columbia," the paper concludes. "It is important to remember that iodine disinfection does not kill ISAV present inside the egg and it is unknown whether ISAV is in this location." Salmon farms in B.C. import Atlantic salmon eggs from such countries as Britain, the U.S. and Iceland.

The virus has devastated fish farms in Chile and Norway and is also present in Atlantic Canada. Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency announced in a news conference this month that no confirmed cases of the disease have been found in wild or farmed salmon in B.C.

Read the full story in Courier Islander. 

Joel Connelly
December 3, 2011
Seattle Post Intelligencer

Canada claimed Friday that "no confirmed cases" of infectious salmon anemia virus have been found in wild or farmed salmon, but we-have-the-last-word statements from the Great White North bring to mind a famous motto used by Ronald Reagan on dealing with the Russians:

"Trust but verify."

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency's no-tests-positive came four days after seattlepi.com revealed details of a 2004 draft report in which infectious salmon anemia, or ISA, was found in 117 fish taken from British Columbia, Southeast Alaska and Bering Sea waters.

On Friday, Keith Ashfield, minister of Fisheries and Oceans, solemnly declared "case closed," saying:

"After Canada's reputation has needlessly been put at risk over the past several weeks because of speculation and unfounded science, additional in-depth, conclusive tests, using proper and internationally recognized procedures, are now complete and we can confirm that there has never been a confirmed case of ISA in B.C. salmon."

Marching in lockstep with the salmon-farming industry, the Canadian government has a record of acting, well, fishy.

When President Obama meets Prime Minister Stephen Harper next Wednesday, the U.S. should ask for: a) immediate creation of an international evaluation board consisting of governments, fishers and Native groups; b) testing of salmon up and down the West Coast, in waters of both countries; and c) unrestricted testing by scientists of sample fish taken from salmon farms.

U.S. Sens. Maria Cantwell, Lisa Murkowski and Mark Begich delivered the rationale bluntly in a statement last month:

"We should not rely on another government -- particularly that may have a motive to misrepresent its findings -- to determine how we assess the risk ISAV may pose to American fishery jobs." 

Read the full story in the Seattle Post Intelligencer. 

Read related stories:

• CTV News; December 13, 2011; "Protest in Nanaimo takes aim at government cover up of deadly salmon disease"
• Juneau Empire; December 11, 2011; "Disagreement over salmon virus in Canada - Activist scientists finds virus in fish, Canadian government does not"
• Globe and Mail; December 4, 2011; "Food agency's handling of salmon virus scare commendable"
• Globe and Mail; December 2, 2011; "Lethal virus not found in Pacific salmon, CFIA says"

Read background stories. 

Craig Welch
November 29, 2011
Seattle Times

A decade before this fall's salmon-virus scare, a Canadian government researcher said she found a similar virus in more than 100 wild fish from Alaska to Vancouver Island.

Canadian officials never told the public or scientists in the United States about those tests — not even after evidence of the virus discovered in October was treated as an international emergency, according to documents and emails obtained by The Seattle Times.

The researcher's work surfaced only this week after she sought and was denied permission by a Canadian official to try to have her old data published in a scientific journal.

Scientists and wild-fish advocates long have feared the arrival of infectious salmon anemia (ISA) virus, a pathogen linked to aquaculture that has killed millions of farmed salmon in Europe and Chile. They say it could mutate and devastate wild fish stocks.

The virus never has been confirmed on the West Coast by follow-up tests, but word of the earlier research raises new questions about the Canadian agency charged with assessing the risk. Environmentalists in Canada and some U.S. politicians worry that Fisheries and Oceans Canada may be ill-equipped to deal aggressively with the risk because it's responsible both for protecting the country's wild fish and for promoting British Columbia's salmon farms.

U.S. scientists on Tuesday expressed dismay that the Canadians never had mentioned the researcher's work. The scientists also said they feared there had been little effort to conduct new tests to see whether she'd been right.

"We had no knowledge of any of this," said Jim Winton, a top fish virologist at the U.S. Geological Survey in Seattle, who reviewed the researcher's findings this week. "No one ever revealed that there was a publication that was ready to go to a journal or that the data were as compelling as they appear to be. This is puzzling and very frustrating. It's unfortunate that this information was not available sooner. This should have been followed up years ago."

Ted Meyers, Alaska's chief fish pathologist, agreed.

"If it were my lab," he said, "we would have looked a lot more thoroughly before we let 10 years pass. I have great respect for the scientists at Fisheries and Oceans, but I think sometimes the politicians get in the way."

Fisheries and Oceans Canada declined to answer questions Tuesday. It issued a brief statement acknowledging the researcher's work, but said the tests were in error. "Based on the best science available, it was concluded that her results had produced a false positive," the statement said.

But Winton and other scientists said the research appeared to be thorough. The type of genetic tests the Canadian scientist performed were unlikely to have produced all false positives, unless all samples were contaminated.

"The Canadian response is less than satisfactory," Winton said. "It seems inadequate to the occasion."

Read the full story in the Seattle Times. Also in Vancouver Sun /Boston Herald/Miami Herald/Sacramento Bee/The Olympian

Read related articles:

• Alaska Dispatch; December 16, 2011; "Pacific salmon virus fears may be overblown, Canadian scientists say"
• Fisheries Information Service; December 1, 2011; "Research finding ISA a decade ago ws 'covered up'"
• The Fish Site; December 1, 2011; "ISA Discovery Covered Up"
• Alaska Native News; December 1, 2011; "Canada covers up the presence of salmon virus on the west coast"
• Global News; November 30, 2011; "Canadian scientists spar over prescence of salmon virus off B.C. coast"
• The Seattle Times; November 30, 2011; "Cantwell irked by unpublished salmon virus study"
• CBC News; November 30, 2011; "Scientists at odds over B.C. coast salmon virus"
• United Press International; November 30, 2011; "Canada hid salmon virus for 10 years"
• Seatlle Post Intelligencer; November 29, 2011; A 'smoking salmon' report: Was deadly fish virus detected years ago?  

Read background stories. 

Bruce Erskine
November 29, 2011
Herald Business

Kelly Cove Salmon Ltd., a division of Cooke Aquaculture of New Brunswick, has been fined $40,000 by Health Canada for not using a pesticide properly.

Kelly Cove, which has come under fire from critics of its aquaculture expansion plans in Nova Scotia, was issued 10 notices on Sept. 29 for violating Health Canada’s pesticide compliance program.

The infractions occurred in New Brunswick.

The company was found to have applied the pest control product Salmosan 50 WP at rates that exceeded label directions for controlling sea lice on salmon.

Pesticide users are required to follow the directions on the pesticide label so as not to create an unacceptable risk to human health or the environment.

Health Canada determined that the increased pesticide application rate wasn’t a risk to anyone eating the treated fish.

The company didn’t contest the findings or the penalty and chose an early payment option, which cut the fine in half.

Cooke Aquaculture spokeswoman Nell Halse could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Health Canada also fined 620309 N.B. Inc. (formerly known as Northern Harvest Sea Farms Ltd.) $24,000 for similar pesticide compliance violation notices issued in New Brunswick on Aug. 16.

Read the full story on Herald Business. 

Read related stories. 

Carla Wilson
November 28, 2011
Times Colonist

Aquaculture giant Marine Harvest is cutting up to 60 jobs around the Campbell River area to cut costs as a global product glut pushes down farmed salmon prices.

So far, 20 employees, mainly administrative staff in the company's Vancouver Island base in Campbell River, were laid off, spokesman Ian Roberts said Monday.

Plans call for another 30 to 40 production staff to be cut, Roberts said. "That will take place over the next 12 months as we don't stock certain farms. We are hoping and expecting that most of that is just through regular attrition."

The company is hoping the situation is temporary. "We expect to be back to where we are today within two years, if the market does what it typically does. It is pretty cyclical," Roberts said.

Read the full story in the Times Colonist.

Read related stories:

• Courier Islander; December 16, 2011; "No word on North Island impact of DFO cuts"
• Courier Islander; November 30, 2011; "Layoffs hopefully temporary say Marine Harvest reps"
• North Island Gazette; November 3, 2011; "Marine Harvest to lay off dozens"

Christine Blank
November 27, 201
Seafood Source

A recent survey shows that some consumers are still concerned about eating farmed fish. At the same time, they are willing to pay a little more for sustainable food and seafood when they eat out.

In a recent Mintel survey of more than 1,900 U.S. restaurant patrons, only 25 percent of consumers believe that farmed fish is the same quality as wild fish. In addition, only 33 percent agree with the statement: “farmed fish is as safe as wild fish.” Mintel executives do not know why consumers have a lower quality and safety perception of farmed versus wild fish.

However, the Mintel report also found out that 57 percent of consumers are willing to pay more for local and sustainable food.

“There is a willingness to pay more for local and sustainable, because there is a higher quality perception. With sustainability, you are also paying it forward a bit. We may not be able to pay a lot more for our energy usage, but we can support those companies that fit with our ideals a little more easily,” said Eric Giandelone, director of research for Mintel Foodservice in Chicago.

Consumers are also willing to pay more for seafood from their region, such as Louisiana seafood or Gulf of Mexico seafood, to support the local community, said Giandelone.

Read the full story on Seafood Source.

The Fish Site
November 25, 2011

The humble maggot (larva of a fly) is being nurtured as an alternative protein source for livestock and fish farming feed, and could eventually reduce global reliance on the multi-billion dollar fishmeal industry.

A South African-based entrepreneur and his environmentalist brother have established a small pilot plant near Stellenbosch in the Western Cape, that will be up scaled next year into a trial plant converting millions of the grubs into one and half tons of a rich protein powder per day to supplement commercial livestock and fish diets.

According to its website, Agriprotein Technologies is pioneering the industrialisation of maggot farming as part of a “new industry called nutrient recycling: using organic waste to create protein” the core of which is a “protein-based feed [derived from maggots] for monogastric [single stomach] animals…. varying neither in protein content nor amino acid composition.”

The fishmeal industry predominantly catches small pelagic fish, which are processed into a highly nutritious powder that is one of the mainstays of commercial animal and fish food production, although opinion remains divided as to the impact the industry has on ocean resources.

Fishmeal as a protein powder is currently unrivalled. While vegetable proteins such as soya and sunflower are also used as supplements, they are less efficient.

Source: The Fish Site

Brendan Smith
November 23, 2011
The Atlantic

For decades environmentalists have fought to save our oceans from the perils of overfishing, climate change, and pollution. All noble efforts -- but what if environmentalists have it backwards? What if the question is not how to save the oceans, but how the oceans can save us?

That is what a growing network of scientists, ocean farmers, and environmentalists around the world is trying to figure out. With nearly 90 percent of large fish stocks threatened by over-fishing and 3.5 billion people dependent on the seas as their primary food source, these ocean farming advocates have concluded that aquaculture is here to stay.

But rather than monolithic factory fish farms, they see the oceans as the home of small-scale farms where complementary species are cultivated to provide food and fuel -- and to clean up the environment and fight climate change. Governed by an ethic of sustainability, they are re-imagining our oceans with the hope of saving us from the grip of the ever-escalating climate, energy, and food crises.

Read the full story on The Atlantic.com

Rob Edwards
November 20, 2011
Sunday Herald

They look like pristine, unpolluted beauty spots – but in fact they are contaminated with toxic pesticides.

The sea lochs that line Scotland’s north-west coast, famed for their natural splendour, are polluted by poisonous chemicals used by fish farms, surveys by the Scottish Government’s green watchdog have revealed.

The sediments in nine sea lochs – all of those surveyed by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) – have been found to contain detectable levels of pesticides widely used to kill the sea lice that eat caged salmon.

Environmentalists, anglers and creel fishers condemn the contamination as unacceptable, and claim the chemicals could be damaging marine wildlife.

Sepa has released the results of its latest surveys of sea lochs for four pesticides: teflubenzuron, diflubenzuron, emamectin and ivermectin. These are all compounds for treating salmon infested with sea lice.

Traces of emamectin were found in sediment at all nine lochs tested in 2008 and 2009, including Loch Linnhe, Loch Ewe, Loch Nevis and Loch Fyne. Teflubenzuron was found at six lochs, and diflubenzuron at four.

Sepa pointed out that although the chemicals were known to be used at fish farms, they could also be applied by foresters and land farmers trying to combat various pests. Further investigations were required to pinpoint the exact sources of the contamination, the watchdog argued.

Read the full story in the Sunday Herald. 

Ray Grigg
November 11, 2011
Courier Islander

The recent news that the European strain of Infectious Salmon Anemia virus had been found in two Rivers Inlet sockeye smolts sent a shiver of fear throughout the North Pacific region. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) dutifully notified Japan, Russia and the United States, the countries with an economic interest in the safety, security and health of wild salmon and other marine fish. The US states of Oregon, California, Idaho and Alaska all expressed alarm, one defining the situation as an "emergency".

The immediate panic subsided with the CFIA's recent announcement that re-testing of the sockeye samples did not find ISAv. Were the samples now too old? Had they been improperly stored? Could the original tests, done by one of the world's reference labs for ISAv, have been faulty?

Were the CFIA's tests faulty? Why had the many tests done on farmed fish not detected ISAv? Why had the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) not been testing for the disease in wild salmon? Why did no federal agency have a protocol for responding to an ISAv emergency?

Read the full story in the Courier Islander. 

Read related stories. 

Meera Bhatia
November 11, 2011
San Francisco Chronicle

Billionaire shipping tycoon John Fredriksen's Marine Harvest ASA, the world's biggest salmon farmer, is grappling with a supply overhang that is weighing on profit and may trigger a breach of loan covenants.

Marine Harvest's ability to honor loan conditions is being called into question after third-quarter net income declined 97 percent. The company's 225 million euros ($310 million) of convertible bonds due 2015 trade at 82 cents on the euro, according to Bloomberg Bond Trader prices. The bond has plummeted from 123 cents at the start of the year, underperforming peers in the UBS Convertible Europe Index, which have declined an average 7.6 percent.

Salmon prices are at a six-year low as farmers in Norway and Chile swamp the market to capture demand for the fish, a popular ingredient at sushi chains and whose Omega-3 oils may prevent dementia. Oslo-based Marine Harvest may need to renegotiate its debt with lenders including DnB NOR ASA, Nordea Bank AB, ABN Amro Bank NV and Rabobank if the slump persists.

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

Read related articles:

• Seafood Source; October 27, 2011; Global farmed salmon output up 19%

• Fish News EU; November 7, 2011; "Low farmed salmon prices hit Norwegian seafood export values"
• Fisheries Information Service; November 4, 2011; "Q3 comes in weak for Grieg Seafood" 
• Views and News from Norway; October 27, 2011; "Salmon producers face new crisis"
• The Star; October 25, 2011; "Marine Harvest girds for lowest profit since 2009"

Megan Fitzpatrick
November 9, 2011
CBC News

A First Nation in British Columbia lost its bid to gain widespread access to commercial fishing rights in a Supreme Court decision Thursday.

The aboriginal band, called Lax Kw'alaams, was seeking a declaration that it is entitled to a native right to harvest and sell all species of fish – including seaweed, shellfish and fish – in its traditional territory in the Prince Rupert region of the province.

The band currently has the right to fish for food, social and ceremonial purposes, but not to sell. The claim was denied in lower courts and the Supreme Court upheld those decisions, and their reasons, in its unanimous decision Thursday.

If the Lax Kw'alaams had been able to establish that trade was integral to their culture and sustenance prior to contact with the Europeans in the 1790s, the Constitution would have protected their aboriginal rights and they could have been granted access to sell products on a commercial scale.

The Supreme Court found that they were not primarily a trading people pre-contact and therefore their ancient customs and practices do not translate into a constitutionally-protected right to harvest and sell all kinds of fish in a modern commercial fishery.

A lower court previously found that while the band's predecessors, the Coast Tsimshian, did fish a variety of species including salmon and halibut, they only traded in a specific grease product called eulachon, derived from one species.

The Supreme Court agreed with the lower courts that the eulachon trade was sporadic and not central to their sustenance.

Read the full story on CBC News. 

Jeff Nagel
November 9, 2011
BC Local News

he Cohen Inquiry is being urged to recommend the removal of ocean-based salmon farms from the B.C. coast – even if science has yet to prove the farms are to blame for the decline of Fraser River wild sockeye stocks.

Gregory McDade, the lawyer acting for a coalition of groups opposing salmon farms, said in his final submission Monday it would be wrong to leave farms in the water while scientists study the risks to passing sockeye for another five to 10 years.

"The real issue here is proof versus risk," McDade told Justice Bruce Cohen, who is heading the probe of Fraser salmon returns.

"The risk here is real. Don't wait for 10 years until this is proven and we have no fish left."

The potential role of aquaculture has been the most acrimonious topics for the inquiry, which was named in 2009 to investigate the steep plunge in Fraser sockeye returns that year.

But two researchers dispatched by the inquiry to investigate the impact of farmed salmon came back in September deeply divided on the severity of the threat.

No smoking gun emerged that pointed to a single pathogen or illness – or other potential cause – for the decline.

"Which particular disease and when is not the issue," McDade said. "We're creating a dramatically changed environment every time we create a fish farm."

Read the full story in the BC Local News. 

Read related stories:

• Globe and Mail; November 8, 2011; "Salmon hearing participants clash openly in final submissions"
• Canadian Press; November 8, 2011; "B.C. salmon inquiry asked to weigh fish farms' risks on migrating stocks"
• TheFishSite; November 8, 2011; "Farmers voice final arguments at Cohen Inquiry"
• Canadian Press; November 7, 2011; "Fish farms' risks on the menu"

Elaine O'Connor
November 9, 2011
The Province

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency announced Tuesday that it hasn't found evidence of infectious salmon anemia disease in B.C. wild or farmed salmon, despite a Simon Fraser University report last month to the contrary.

However, officials acknowledge that poor sample preservation - rather than the true absence of the virus - could be behind failure to reproduce the results.

CFIA national aquatic animal health program director Con Kiley said that the negative result could have been a result of poor quality samples.

Department of Fisheries and Oceans research and lab manager Peter Wright agreed that the fish were in less than ideal condition, making drawing conclusions difficult.

SFU Prof. Rick Routledge, who initially reported finding the ISA virus, called for more testing before ruling out the presence of the virus in B.C.

He tested 48 wild salmon samples in May and June and found evidence of ISA in two smolts from Rivers Inlet on B.C's Central Coast.

Scientist and anti-farmed-salmon activist Alexandra Morton reported finding the virus in three of 10 wild salmon she tested from the Harrison River.

Routledge, a fish-population statistician, would like to see more properly preserved samples tested before the CFIA concludes that ISA is not a problem in B.C.

"I remain concerned that the evidence is as yet not thoroughly conclusive," Routledge said, "and there are a lot of questions that I feel can best be answered by collecting more fresh samples under [strict] protocol and with as much expertise as can be brought to bear."

Read the full story in the The Province. 

Read related stories:

• Globe and Mail; December 2, 2011; "Lethal virus not found in Pacific slamon, CFIA says"
• Aljazeera (includes video); November 28, 2011; "Deadly virus found in wild Pacific salmon". View on YouTube. 
• CBC News; November 21, 2011; "Salmon virus resports prompt federal review"
• Business Week; November 17, 2011 ; "That salmon sushi roll might have a big hidden price tag"
• Chinook Observer; November 15, 2011; "Canadian officials say 'No Confirmed Cases" of salmon virus"
• KLCC; November 15, 2011; "Scientists on trail of potential salmon killer"
• Courier Islander; November 11, 2011; "ISAv: Threat, Fear, Mystery and Warning"
• FishNewsEu; November 10, 2011; "Canada's reputation put at risk needlessly, says Ashfield"
• Courier Islander; November 9, 2011; "CFIA says no confirmed cases of ISA in B.C."
• Globe and Mail; November 8, 2011; "No cases of infectious salmon anemia in B.C., food agency says
• Times Colonist; November 8, 2011; "Virus fears for B.C. salmon unfounded, officials say"
• New York Times; November 8, 2011; "Further Tests Fail to Detect Salmon Virus"
• Seattle Post Intelligencer; November 8, 2011; "Canada officials: no salmon virus in B.C." 
• BC Local News: November 8, 2011; "No sign of virus in tested salmon: CFIA"
• Canadian Press; November 8, 2011; "Tests find no cases of infectious salmon anemia in B.C.: food inspection agency"

Craig Welch
November 6, 2011
Seattle Times

Three weeks after a potentially deadly virus was found for the first time in two juvenile wild sockeye on the Pacific Coast, it has been found again — this time in other wild salmon from British Columbia's Fraser River.

At the same time, salmon farmers on both sides of the international border have been highlighting the work of a Norwegian expert who got slightly different results when he tested for the virus, infectious salmon anemia (ISA), in the first two young sockeye.

So, is there a fish crisis, or isn't there?

In a word: maybe.

Researchers, salmon farmers and wild-salmon advocates have been on alert since mid-October, when laboratory results in Canada showed that two young sockeye from Rivers Inlet in northern B.C. were carrying trace amounts of a European strain of ISA.

The reasons for the anxiety are clear. While ISA poses no harm to humans, a related strain of the virus cost billions of dollars and killed tens of millions of farmed Atlantic salmon in Chile in 2007 and 2008.

On Sunday, U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., toured a U.S. Geological Survey laboratory in Seattle that specializes in fish diseases to highlight the efforts of state and federal agencies to establish rapid-response plans in the event more evidence of ISA surfaces.

"In the past it has moved through salmon populations with devastating quickness, causing the chain reaction of dying stocks," Cantwell said.

The virus wiped out more than half the salmon in Chile. But Chile doesn't have wild salmon, and scientists fear any virus found here could not only hurt fish farmers but could mutate into a strain that weakens or kills millions of Northwest wild fish.

Read the full story in Seattle Times. 

Read related stories: 

• Terrace Standard; Novembrer 9, 2011; "Fish harm two"
• Fisheries Information Service; November 7, 2011; "Doubts mount on suspected ISA findings"
• Idaho Statesman; November 7, 2011; "Virus found in salmon in Canada worries U.S. - Lawmakers and salmon industry want action to ensure that the disease doesn't spread to Idaho and other N.W. fish"
• Seattle PI; November 6, 2011; "Infection salmon anemia: Getting the jump on a disease of 'devastating' quickness'"
• Times Colonist or Vancouver Sun; November 5, 2011; "Inquiry to hold special session amid fears virus is affecting B.C. salmon" 
• The Province; November 4, 2011; "Lethal virus threatens wild salmon stocks"
• Vancouver Sun; November 4, 2011; "Lethal salmon virus now detected in four species"
• Global BC; November 4, 2011; "More salmon virus"
• Canadian Press; November 4, 2011; "Federal lawyers seek no word of deadly virus until salmon inquiry holds hearings"
• Globe and Mail; November 4, 2011; "Discovery of lethal fish virus in B.C. sockeye prompts special inquiry session" 
• Courier-Islander; November 4, 2011; "Cohen Commission sets 2 days aside for ISA concerns"
• BC Local News; November 4, 2011; "Salmon Inquiry to reopen hearings into virus reports" 
• Canadian Press; November 4, 2011; "Infectious salmon virus suspected in B.C. again"
• Chilliwack Progress; November 3, 2011; "Salmon virus not confirmed"
• Province: Noember 3, 2011; "Canada can't be trusted to identify salmon virus, U.S. senators say"
• FishNewsEU; November 3, 2011; "BC salmon farmers and Canadian politicians call for conclusive ISA test results" 
• Fisheries Information Service; November 3, 2011; "Senate passes amendment to research and address deadly salmon virus"
• Seattle Post Intelligencer: November 2, 2011; "Senators: Don't trust Canada, U.S. must test for salmon virus" 
• The Tyee; November 2, 2011; "Morton: More ISA virus found in BC wild salmon"
• International Business Times; November 1, 2011; "Another Pacfici salmon found with Infectious Salmon Anemia" 

 Read less recent related stories.

Judith Lavoie
November 5, 2011
Times Colonist /Vancouver Sun

The Cohen Inquiry, looking into the decline of Fraser River sockeye salmon, will hold a special two-day session next month because of the possibility a potentially lethal virus could be affecting wild salmon.

"Testing of samples of Pacific salmon from two areas of the province has indicated the possible presence of the infectious salmon anemia (ISA) virus in several Pacific salmon," said Brian Wallace, senior counsel for the Cohen Commission.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is doing further tests on the Fraser River coho and two sockeye from Rivers Inlet, which were initially tested at the University of Prince Edward Island. Results are expected in about one month.

A chinook and chum salmon have also tested positive for the virus, which has devastated fish farms in Norway, Chile and the east coast of Canada. There are different strains of the virus and, until now, it was believed the lethal European strain would kill Atlantic, but not Pacific, salmon.

"We have requested disclosure of documents related to these fish and the current testing," Wallace said in a statement.

The two-day hearing will "put new information about the possible presence of the ISA virus in B.C. on the commission's record," he said.

Biologist Alexandra Morton, who submitted the coho and sockeye samples for testing, applauded the decision to reopen hearings and said everyone is on a steep learning curve.

"Where is this happening and where does it come from and why didn't the province find it in Atlantic salmon which are the natural hosts for ISA," asked Morton, an avowed foe of ocean-based salmon farms.

Morton believes the virus is likely to have been introduced to the Pacific through imported salmon eggs.

"It's a complete wild card. We just don't know and that's what has everyone so afraid," she said.

Read the full story in the Times Colonist or Vancouver Sun.

Read related story: Globe and Mail; November 4, 2011; "Discovery of lethal fish virus in B.C. sockeye prompts special inquiry session"

Read more related stories. 

J.R. Rardon
November 3, 2011
North Island Gazette

There’s more economic bad news following layoff notices by one of the North Island’s largest employers.

J Marine Harvest recently announced a reduction of 60 people in its B.C. aquaculture operations in response to a jump in a global supply that has depressed the price of farm-raised Atlantic salmon.

J Two employees in Port Hardy have already received severance packages and roughly 12 per cent of Marine Harvest’s 550-person workforce in B.C. will be impacted between now and the end of 2012, Marine Harvest spokesperson Ian Roberts said.

J Of those, approximately 250 workers operate within the Regional District of Mount Waddington.

J “What we’re hoping is that most of that will take place through normal attrition,” said Roberts. “Severance packages have been given to some people, mostly in administrative positions,” he said.

J “Anyone who may be impacted has been notified that next year’s sites won’t be stocked at the same levels."

Read the full story in the North Island Gazette.

Read related stories. 

Cornelia Dean and Rachel Nuwer
October 17, 2011
New York Times

A lethal and highly contagious marine virus has been detected for the first time in wild salmon in the Pacific Northwest, researchers in British Columbia said on Monday, stirring concern that it could spread there, as it has in Chile, Scotland and elsewhere.

Farms hit by the virus, infectious salmon anemia, have lost 70 percent or more of their fish in recent decades. But until now, the virus, which does not affect humans, had never been confirmed on the West Coast of North America.

The researchers, from Simon Fraser University and elsewhere, said at a news conference in Vancouver that the virus had been found in 2 of 48 juvenile fish collected as part of a study of sockeye salmon in Rivers Inlet, on the central coast of British Columbia. The study was undertaken after scientists observed a decline in the number of young sockeye.

Richard Routledge, an environmental scientist at the university who leads the sockeye study, suggested that the virus had spread from the province’s aquaculture industry, which has imported millions of Atlantic salmon eggs over the last 25 years, primarily from Iceland and Scandinavia. He acknowledged that no direct evidence of that link existed, but noted that the two fish had tested positive for the European strain of infectious salmon anemia.

The virus could have “a devastating impact” not just on the region’s farmed and wild salmon but on the many species that depend on them in the food web, like grizzly bears, killer whales and wolves, Dr. Routledge said. “No country has ever gotten rid of it once it arrives,” he said in a statement.

The only barrier between the salmon farms and wild fish is a net, he noted at the news conference, opening the way for “pathogens sweeping in and out.” No vaccine or treatment exists for infectious salmon anemia.

Gary Marty, the fish pathologist for the province’s Ministry of Agriculture, said the Canadian Food Inspection Agency would seek fish samples from the researchers and run its own tests.

The British Columbia Salmon Farmers Association, an industry group, said fish health departments had regularly tested for the virus on the farms “and have never found a positive case.” Dr. Marty confirmed that no cases had been found in that testing.

Still, “if these results are valid, this could be a threat to our business and the communities that rely on our productive industry,” said Stewart Hawthorn, the managing director for Grieg Seafood, an association member.

At the news conference, the Simon Fraser researchers said Fred Kibenge, a researcher at Atlantic Veterinary College at the University of Prince Edward Island, the global center for tests detecting the virus, had confirmed its presence in the two fish. They called for widespread testing to determine where the virus exists in the region and in what fish.

Alexandra Morton, a researcher and activist who collected the sockeye samples and is an outspoken critic of salmon farming practices in British Columbia, called the virus “a cataclysmic threat” to both salmon and herring, which can also contract it.

Read the full story in the New York Times.

Read related stories and view News footage. Note that this is not a comprehensive list. News coverage is so extensive that it is not possible to include all items:

• Seattle Post-Intelligencer; November 2, 2011; "Senators: Don't trust Canada, U.S. must test for salmon virus"
• Nanaimo Daily News; November 2, 2011; "First Nation official fearful of B.C. salmon disaster"
• Lillooet News; November 2, 2011; "Deadly virus found in wild salmon - Lillooet Tribal Council calls for full investigation"
• Seatlle Post-Intelligencer; November 1, 2011; "A West Coast salmon epidemic: Get ahead of it, and get Canada off its behind"
• Vancouver Sun; November 1, 2011; "Reported virus could devastate wild salmon - Virulent strain of ISA also may affect Atlantic stocks in B.C. aquaculture facilities, advocates fear"; also as "BC wild-salmon advocates worried about European virus strain"
• Times Colonist; November 1, 2011; "Virus worries salmon interests"
• Vancouver Sun; Ocotber 31, 2011; "ISA virus is serious, so what's B.C. doing about it?"
• New York Times; October 28, 2011; "Virus in Pacific Salmon Raises Worries About Industry "
• Globe and Mail; October 28, 2011; "Lethal virus found in B.C. sockeye ‘threat’ to producers"

• KAYU; Ocotber 28, 2011; "Further sudy urged on virus found in Pacific salmon - a lethal and highly contactious fish flue virus has been found in wild Pacific salmon for the first time"
• Courier-Islander; October 28, 2011; "Newest threat calls for a code red"
• KSKA; October 27, 2011; "Salmon virus fears voiced, caution advised"
• Globe and Mail; October 25, 2011; "Lethal virus found in B.C. sockeye 'threat' to producers"
• Vancouver Sun; October 25, 2011; "Before judging, let agencies investigate infected salmon"
• Santa Cruz News; October 25, 2011; "Deadly fish farm virus found in wild Pacific salmon" 
• Chinook Observer; October 25, 2011; "There's somtehing fishy with some Canadian fish - Lethal marine virus found in B.C. salmon"
• The Fish Site; October 25, 2011; "Canadian ministers issue ISA statement"
• Fisheries Information Service; October 25, 2011; "Reports on ISA in BC salmon unconfirmed; Govt"
• KPLU News; Octobrer 24, 2011; U.S. Senate approves rapid response to fish-killing virus"
• Nanaimo Daily News; October 24, 2011; "Feds must take threat seriously" 
• New York Times; October 23, 2011; "A Salmon Virus: Where do we go from here"
• Seattle Times; October 22, 2011; "Whyfish virus spooks scientists" 
• CBC News; October 21, 2011; "West Coast salmon virus under federal investigation"
• Vancouver Sun; October 21, 2001; "U.S. senators raise alarm over B.C. sockeye virus"
• Courier Islander; October 19, 2011; "Virus found in two sockeye smolts"
• Fisheries Information Service; October 19, 2011; "Report on ISA in BC salmon disputed"
• France 24, News 24, ABS-CBN News; October 18, 2011; "Lethal European fish virus foudn in Canada"
• Fisheries Information Service; October 18, 2011; "ISA virus found in wild BC salmon"
• United Press International; October 18, 2011; "Deadly virus found in Pacific salmon"
• Washington Post; October 18, 2011; "Deadly salmon virus raises concerns in US, Canada"
• Seattle Times; October 18, 2011; "Lethal virus found detected in wild Pacific slamon"
• Nanaimo Daily News; October 18, 2011; "SFU salmon study nees more analysis"
• The Times; October 18., 2011; "Canada finds fish killing virus"
• Vancouver Sun; October 17, 2011; "Wild B.C. salmon test positive for 'lethal' virus linked to fish farms"
• Global TV News; October 17, 2011; "Sick salmon" 
• CTV / Canadian Press / Globe and Mail; Deadly European salmon virus found in B.C. stock" stock
• Metro News; October 17, 2011; "Highly infectious influenza-like disease detected in Pacific Salmon"
• News 1130; October 17, 2011; "Lethal Atlantic virus found in North Pacific salmon: Biologists say impact on wild salmon population could be devastating"
• BC Local News; October 17, 2011; "Virus deadly to farmed salmon detected in wild sockeye"

Click here for OIE (World Organization for Animal Health) form reporting postive results for ISAv. 

Mark Hume
October 25, 2011
Globe and Mail

The detection in B.C. sockeye of a virus that is lethal to Atlantic salmon has sent a shock wave through British Columbia’s fish farming industry, where annual sales of $250-million and some 3,000 jobs are at risk.

“It’s big, it’s scary – and we sure hope it’s not here,” said Grant Warkentin, a spokesman for Mainstream Canada, the second largest producer of farmed salmon on the West Coast.

Mr. Warkentin and his colleagues were stunned last week when Simon Fraser University held a news conference to announce two wild sockeye smolts had tested positive for the infectious salmon anemia virus. ISA has raced through fish farms around the world with devastating results, first in Norway in 1984, and most recently in Chile, where millions of fish died in 2007, crippling the industry.

ISA hit salmon farms in New Brunswick in 1996 and Maine in 2001 – but its detection in B.C. raises fears that it could sweep along the West Coast, devastating fish farm production, which is mainly Atlantic salmon, and leading to international trade bans on wild stock.

The ISA news was so alarming that within days, three U.S. senators had called for a federal evaluation of the risks. The First Nations Fisheries Council of B.C. made a similar request on the weekend, asking Ottawa “to identify the scope of the threat.”

The two samples that tested positive came from a batch of 48 juvenile fish collected by Simon Fraser University professor Rick Routledge, who for 10 years has been trying to unravel why so many sockeye are dying in the Rivers Inlet region, on B.C.’s central coast.

As part of a wide-ranging research effort, Prof. Routledge sent samples to be tested at one of the top ISA labs in the world. After he announced the results, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency visited his campus office and took away the 48 fish he’d sampled, plus 300 others not yet tested.

Mr. Warkentin said he was shocked by the university’s announcement, because the industry and provincial government have themselves tested 5,000 samples from farmed salmon over the past eight years – and all have been negative for ISA.

“It was a bit of a kick in the gut to everybody when we heard,” he said. “That’s probably one of the biggest fears that salmon farmers have … so if it’s here, we would be in big trouble.”

Read the full story in the Globe and Mail.

Read background and related stories 

October 27, 2011
FishSite 

This project is funded by the Technology Strategy Board, a joint initiative between the Scottish Government and the BBSRC.

It is led by an industrial partner, Pfizer inc., which has provided substantial match funding, and brings together expertise within Pfizer, the Institute of Aquaculture and the Moredun Research Institute.

UK salmon aquaculture produces 150K tonnes per annum, valued at greater than £1 billion, with key nutritional benefits for consumers.

Sea lice, parasitic copepods infecting salmon in the sea, are a key constraint to sustainability, costing the industry more than £30M a year to control. Sea louse control relies upon chemical treatment, but the development of parasite resistance to control is posing a major threat to the sustainability of the UK and global industry.

Read the full story on TheFishSite.

Analia Murias
October 26, 2011
Fisheries Information Service

The National Marine Fisheries Service (Sernapesca) confirmed the presence of HPR2 variant of the infectious salmon anemia (ISA) virus in three cages in a farming centre of the Aysen Region.

This variant produces lower mortality rate and fewer symptoms in Atlantic salmon, a species that is very susceptible to this disease.

The HPR2 outbreak was detected in Ballena 3 farming centre from the company Salmones Cupquelan.

The virus was found in 3 of the 16 cages of that farming centre, as indicated by the laboratory tests arranged by the Service.

Since finding a positive result, Ballena 3 Centre has already been added to the list of confirmed farming facilities.

In accordance with the Specific Health Programme of ISA Surveillance and Control, Sernapesca resolved to eliminate the salmon from the cages with positive results under the term and the biosafety procedures set by the regulation.

Read the full story on the Fisheries Information Service. 

Read related stories:

• Fisheries Information Service; November 18, 2011; "Marine Harvest has no expansion plans until 2013"

Jeff Bell
October 23, 2011
Times Colonist

Marine Harvest, a large Norwegian-based producer of farmed salmon, intends to plead guilty to a 2009 case of having "incidental bycatch" at two of its facilities near the north end of Vancouver Island in the Broughton Archipelago.

Incidental bycatch refers to the unintended capture of marine species, in this instance wild salmon and herring.

Alexandra Morton of the group Salmon Are Sacred, took the case to court on her own. She said it was subsequently taken over by the federal government.

Morton said her lawyer told her that it was the first time the Department of Justice had made such a move with a private prosecution. "We want to see this problem fixed," she said Saturday.

One way to do that could be to have fish farms turn off their bright lights, Morton said.

"They have these bright lights at night. They say it's to prevent their fish from maturing too fast - they want them to just grow but they don't want them to grow eggs - but people feel that it's attracting [wild] fish to the farms."

Young fish are small enough to find their way into the fish-farm pens, Morton said.

"We don't know if the farmed fish are eating them or not," she said.

"There needs to be a solid barrier between the wild fish and farmed fish."

Marine Harvest spokesman Clare Backman said the company will plead guilty in court Jan. 18. He said there are two counts of incidental bycatch, but he could not elaborate further on the case until after the legal proceedings are concluded.

Source: Times Colonist.

Read related stories:

• Courier Islander; November 18, 2011; "Pleading guilty - By their deeds shall thee know them"
• Courier Islander; November 2, 2011; "Company to plead guilty"

Peter O'Neil
October 21, 2011
Vancouver Sun

The Harper government, which on Thursday described as "inconclusive" tests showing British Columbia wild sockeye salmon have been infected with a potentially devastating virus, isn't taking the matter as seriously as top politicians in the U.S., the House of Commons was told Thursday.

The New Democratic Party drew attention to a statement issued earlier in the day by three American senators who have made a bipartisan appeal to U.S. government officials to probe the possible spread of infectious salmon anemia.

The senators, describing the disease as "the Canadian salmon virus," are calling on the National Aquatic Animal Health Task Force to analyze the risk of it spreading.

"We need to act now to protect the Pacific Northwest's coastal economy and jobs," Washington state Senator Maria Cantwell said.

"There's no threat to human health, but infectious salmon anemia could pose a serious threat to Pacific Northwest wild salmon and the thousands of Washington State jobs that rely on them."

NDP fisheries critic Fin Donnelly said the Canadian government isn't taking seriously the news earlier this week that two underweight sockeye tested positive for the disease.

RRead the full story in the Vancouver Sun

Read background and related stories 

Craig Welch
October 20, 2011
The Seattle Times

Here in the Northwest, where wild salmon is king, it's easy to forget that fish farmers rear millions of Atlantic salmon in net pens around Puget Sound.

But a new fish farm hasn't been added to Washington's marine waters in several decades.

Now an Oregon company, Pacific Seafood, wants to grow 10 million pounds a year of steelhead and Atlantic salmon in cages in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. That would nearly double the farmed fish grown in saltwater in Washington.

The proposal comes as long-simmering battles over the future of marine aquaculture heat up across the continent — and as the discovery of a potentially lethal fish virus rattles salmon farmers and wild-fish advocates alike.

Just this summer, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration outlined ways to encourage substantial growth in fish farming to counter a $9 billion seafood-trade imbalance.

Roughly 85 percent of fish and shellfish consumed in the U.S. is imported — half from fish farms in other countries. Some experts believe a global expansion of fish farming will be needed to provide the world's booming population with cheap protein.

Read the full story in the Seattle Times. 

Judith Lavoie
October 19, 2011
Vancouver Sun

The largest salmon farming company in B.C. is installing thick netting around its fish farms in an effort to reduce the number of marine mammals killed.

Marine Harvest Canada is using winter predator guards, made of high density polyethylene with a stainless steel core, around farms in areas such as Quatsino Sound, where the number of seals and sea lions killed jumped dramatically this year.

The nets, which cost $250,000 each, will encircle entire farms.

"While we need to prevent damage to our nets and the potential risk of escapes, these unusually high lethal interactions with marine mammals cannot continue," said James Gaskill, MHC production director.

Shootings and accidental drownings at fish farms were made public for the first time last month by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Critics were shocked by the numbers.

Marine Harvest killed 124 animals — including two Steller sea lions — during the first three months of the year and 92 in the second quarter.

Salmon farmers are allowed to shoot seals and sea lions that try to get into net pens. The company says the figures represent a twofold increase over last year and fourfold increase over 2009, probably because of an enormous increase in the number of marine mammals in areas such as Quatsino Sound.

A complaint by environmental activists from five countries, asking the U.S. to ban imports of salmon from farms where marine mammals are killed, is being reviewed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

"NOAA will respond to the organizations who wrote the letter. It would not be appropriate to discuss the response before it has been officially provided," said spokeswoman Christine Patrick.

Read the full story in the Times Colonist. 

Read related stories:

• Courier Islander; October 21, 2011; "Marine Harvest predator guards get praise, skepticism"
• FishNewsEU; October 20, 2011; "Scottish salmon farmers urged to follow lead of their Canadian counterparts"
• Courier Islander; October 19, 2011; $500,000 for two nets at farm sites"

Read background stories. 

Jennifer Feinberg
October 18, 2011
Chilliwack Progress

Yellow-tinged salmon carcasses showing up in local rivers this fall are raising red flags.

Longtime Chilliwack angler Chris Gadsden said he was shocked to find a yellow coloured chinook salmon recently in the Vedder Canal.

"I'd never seen one like that before, in my 30 plus years of fishing the Vedder," he said.

He was so concerned, he sent some samples to DFO by Greyhound bus for analysis.

Gadsden, 68, has a growing number of questions about what he found, especially in light of biologist Alexandra Morton's decision to sound the alarm on yellow salmon recently, suggesting they may be suffering from a form of jaundice.

But the yellow colouring of the carcass found in the Vedder is "not particularly" unusual, according to Lara Sloan, DFO media spokesperson, in an e-mailed response to the Progress.

Read the full story in the Chilliwack Progress. 

October 13, 2011
CBC News

Employees of the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans were told Wednesday their employer will soon be significantly smaller, and responsible for fewer things.

DFO also warned its workers that some of them will definitely not be working there once the department completes a $56.8-million budget-cutting plan by 2014.

"More savings are expected in the future," said a letter signed by Deputy Minister Claire Dansereau and two other top officials.

The letter and supporting documents, which were obtained by CBC News, say reductions are part of a "dynamic change agenda," and will apply broadly to services that include the Canadian Coast Guard.

The changes incorporate cuts that have already been announced, including a controversial move to shut down the Maritime Rescue Sub Centre in St. John's and a similar office in Quebec, with service to be provided by staff in other provinces.

A background note says that DFO is "winding down or shedding non-core programs," as part of "key transformations" intended to render a more modern style of managing fish stocks, ecosystems, aquaculture and vessels.

Read the full story on CBC News.

See CBC News video coverage. 

Read DFO memo. 

Anthony Esposito
October 11, 2011
Wall Street Journal 

SANTIAGO (Dow Jones)-- Chile's national fishing authority Sernapesca has identified the presence of the heart and skeletal muscle inflammation virus, or HSMI, in the local salmon industry, paper Diario Financiero reported Tuesday.

Chile's farmed-salmon and trout industry, one of the world's largest, has only recently recovered from the ISA virus -- infectious salmon anemia -- which hit Chile in 2007 and worsened in late 2008. The ISA virus crippled Chile's salmon industry, squeezing producers and cutting exports.

Mortality rates among fish hit by the HSMI virus -- which is also present in the world's premier salmon exporter: Norway -- vary between 1%-3%, which is much lower than the 50%-60% mortality rates associated with the ISA virus, Diario Financiero reported.

Although authorities' initial investigation discovered the presence of the HSMI virus in ten salt-water farmed-salmon operations, none of the fish were actually infected or had died because of it, the local paper said.

Authorities, which also recently discovered the presence of the HSMI virus in a fresh-water farmed-salmon operation, said they will ramp up oversight of the industry to prevent the virus from spreading.

Chilean producers are on pace to export a record $3 billion this year, equivalent to around 500,000 metric tons in salmon exports.

The Andean nation's largest farmed salmon producers include Australis Seafoods SA (AUSTRALIS.SN), Empresas AquaChile SA (AQUACHILE.SN), Multiexport Foods SA (MULTIFOOD.SN), Invertec Pesquera Mar de Chiloe SA (INVERMAR.SN), and Compania Pesquera Camanchaca SA (CAMANCHAC.SN).

Source: Wall Street Journal 

Mike Hager
October 10, 2011
The Vancouver Sun

A report that both the federal and provincial governments fought to keep secret will be released next week, the Cohen Commission ruled Friday.

Biologist Alexandra Morton claims her report conclusively links a virus from B.C.’s salmon farms to the decline of the Fraser River sockeye salmon population.

In his ruling, commission director Justice Bruce Cohen said Morton’s report, along with a host of others, deserve to be made public despite earlier attempts by government lawyers at the inquiry to bar the release of the biologist’s findings.

“The evidence that I read in the Cohen inquiry suggests that the wild salmon are dying of the pathogens that come out of salmon farms,” Morton said. “I know people would expect me to say that, but read my report — what’s in that report is just what the DFO has been saying.”

Morton’s report links a mysterious virus — which she identifies as leukemia — first present in B.C.’s farmed chinook salmon to the beginning of the Fraser sockeye’s decline in the mid-’90s.

Read the full story in the Vancouver Sun. 

October 10, 2011
FishNewsEu

FRASER River sockeye salmon are in worse trouble than previously thought, according to a lengthy draft report by Canadian federal fisheries scientists entered into evidence at the Cohen Commission of Inquiry.

The report examined the current status of 32 genetically distinct populations of Fraser sockeye, also known as "conservation units". The scientists found that eight populations are already extinct or nearly extinct. Of the 24 remaining populations, at least seven appear to be below their lower benchmarks for abundance, or in the "red zone", meaning they may be at risk of extinction, and only four were clearly in the "green zone". The scientists were not able to fully assess four of the stocks due to a lack of data.

Despite the ominous findings in the 181-page report, necessary measures to protect the salmon are not being put in place, according to the David Suzuki Foundation, Watershed Watch Salmon Society, SkeenaWild Conservation Trust, and Raincoast Conservation Foundation. The groups are calling on Canada’s Fisheries Minister Keith Ashfield to initiate recovery plans for the stocks at risk, as required under the federal government's Wild Salmon Policy.

"This report is very sobering," said Watershed Watch biologist Aaron Hill. "For reasons that are still not clear, we were blessed with a banner sockeye return in 2010. But the overall trend is down, and we can't let healthy returns to just a few Fraser tributaries distract us from the plight that most Fraser sockeye populations are now facing."

Read the full article on FishNewsEu.

October 10, 2011
Fisheries Information Service 

The Coordinating Body for the Defence of Muros and Noia inlets, which is against setting up cages for salmon farming in the area decided to lodge a complaint with the European Union (EU), in the absence of response from the Ministry of Marine Affairs, dependent on Xunta de Galicia.

The decision was made last Friday at a meeting held between representatives of fishermen's associations of the estuary, of the environmental associations Adega and Verdegaia, Asoar-Armega, of technicians, of mussel punts and of members of Lonxanet Foundation, among others.

The members of the Coordinating Body expressed concern about the attitude of the Galician Government, as they argue that setting up these cages in the estuary of Muros-Noia will harm shellfish catching-fishing activity.

According to the spokesperson of the platform, Luis Rodríguez, "after the seven days" during which the dead salmon appeared "in an advanced decomposition status," the Administration "has not given information or asked what is happening," the newspaper La Voz de Galicia reported.

For Rodríguez, the Ministers of Marine Affairs and of Environment have the "obligation" to manage the cleaning process of the inlet bottom.

Read the full story on the Fisheries Information Service. 

October 6, 2011
The Fish Site

CHINA - Canadian company AgriMarine, the leader in floating solid-wall containment technology and production for sustainable aquaculture, has signed an agreement with The People's Government of Benxi County with the intent of developing two additional farm sites in Benxi County, Liaoning Province, China. AgriMarine's flagship salmon and trout farm is situated in the clean water reservoir of Guanmenshan and plans to expand its operation into new sites on the nearby Guanyinge Reservoir.

Once sites on the Guanyinge Reservoir are selected, the Company will file all necessary permitting applications and third party environmental reports to obtain rights for long term land and water use.

The Company feels that the Guanyinge Reservoir is well suited for AgriMarine's non-polluting, clean aquaculture technology for salmon rearing due to its proximity to the Company's existing operating farm, hatchery and processing facility.

Red the full story on the Fish Site.  

Read background stories on Agrimarine.

Cam Fortems
October 6, 2011
Vancouver Sun 

Sockeye salmon en route to Adams River are expected to return in stronger numbers for the second year in a row, following a decade of trouble in B.C.'s Fraser River system.

This year is known as a sub-dominant year in the cycle, one year after the dominant run in 2010 that surprised experts with its 10-million strong return, the largest in recorded history.

While sockeye are just starting to enter the system and show up at Adams Rivers in small numbers, biologists expect as many as 400,000 to 500,000 spawning salmon this year.

That's up from an early forecast of only 58,000 — nearly a 10-fold increase.

While it pales to last year, it marks a sign of optimism considering that four years ago, when these salmon began life, there were only 50,000 spawners in the Adams River, one of the world's greatest runs.

"We've got two years in a better cycle after eight to 10 years of decreasing productivity," said Barry Rosenberger, area director for Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

Read the full story in the Vancouver Sun. 

Read related stories:

• Salmon Arm Observer; October 12, 2011; "Salmon Defy Predictions" 

Sarah Schmidt
October 5, 2011
Times Colonist

Support for genetically modified fish and animals is on the decline in Canada as more consumers grow skeptical of the federal government's ability to regulate these high-tech food options, a government-commissioned poll has found.

Thirteen per cent of Canadians said they approve of GM fish as long as the usual level of government oversight and control is in place - an 11-point drop from five years ago. On the flip side, more Canadians this year do not approve of GM fish, except under very special circumstances - 37 per cent compared to 24 per cent in 2006.

Meanwhile, only nine per cent approve of GM animals as long as the usual government oversight in place, down from 14 per cent in 2006. Twenty-nine per cent do not approve of GM animals under any circumstance, a jump of eight points in five years.

The survey, carried out in February, cites "some erosion" in confidence in the government's safety and regulatory systems for biotechnology and a widening "regulatory gap" in dealing with new technologies for the growing skepticism.

The results could prove a public-relations challenge for the government, currently considering how to handle requests to commercialize genetically engineered fish and pigs.

Read the full story in the Times Colonist. 

Judith Lavoie
October 6, 2011
Times Colonist

Environmental activists from five countries are asking the U.S to ban imports of salmon from farms where marine mammals are killed.

A letter to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration commerce department, signed by representatives of 19 organizations, says marine mammal shootings violate the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act and the government has a unique opportunity to demand seal-sea lion friendly salmon.

"Recent evidence in Canada and Scotland in particular provide damning evidence of the deliberate and systematic shooting of seals and sea lions," says the letter, which also points out that Steller sea lions, listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, were killed in the Clayoquot Sound UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.

"We ask that the U.S send a strong signal that the killing of marine mammals will no longer be tolerated," says the letter, which names Chile, Canada, Norway and Scotland as the four largest exporters to the U.S.

Read the full story in the Times Colonist.

Read realted stories:

• The Scotsman; March 7, 2012; "Seal killing a vital part of preserving Scottish salmon" [Scotland]
• Globe and Mail; February 22, 2012; "Fish farm operator charged over dozens of seal, sea lion deaths"
• Westerley News; September 22, 2011; "Critics shocked by sea lion deaths at fish farms"
• Campbell River Mirror; September 20, 2011; "DFO authorizes fish farm cull of sea lions, seals"
• CBC "On the Island"; September 19, 2011; "Fish farms killing sea lions and harbour seals"
• Times Colonist; September 16, 2011; "Scores of sea lions shot at fish farms" 
• Vancouver Sun; September 16, 2011; "Seal, sea lion kills by salmon farms rise with population" 
• Vancouver Sun; September 15, 2011; "Too many seals and sea lions killed at B.C. fish farms, say critics "

Randy Shore
October 5, 2011
Vancouver Sun

A new eco-certification program that ensures B.C. ranchers, farmers and winemakers adopt practices that protect salmon and salmon habitat will officially launch today.

A non-profit foundation based in Portland, Salmon Safe has already certified 22 ranches and farms in British Columbia during a one-year pilot and training program, according to Michelle Tung, manager of Salmon Safe BC.

Foods that carry the Salmon Safe certification logo are produced without the use of chemicals and organic pest control agents that harm marine environments, according to Mike Meneer of the Pacific Salmon Foundation.

Certified farms must also maintain strict buffer zones between crops and farm animals and salmonbearing streams and wetlands, standards that are over and above federal standards.

The program is being delivered in B.C. in partnership with the Fraser Basin Council and the Pacific Salmon Foundation to encourage agri-businesses to adopt environmental stewardship over habitats vital to the province's iconic food fish.

Read the full story in the Vancouver Sun.