Intrafish
March 28, 2014

Jeremy Dunn isn't one to sit back and let opportunities pass him by. So when the position of executive director opened up at the British Columbia Salmon Farmers Association, Dunn made sure he was the one to take the helm and shape the group's direction for the next decade. 

Where he wants to lead it may be uncharted waters for the group however. 

"In the next five years you’re going to see a transparent industry, with world-leading fish health practices and more volume, a lot more tonnage coming out of BC," Dunn told IntraFish. "We want to get better, share our technology and information with the rest of the world. We're already working with regulators, government officials to find sustainable sites to put more fish in the water and produce more fish." 

The goal is grow the group's metric tonnage production to 100,000 metric tons annually by 2020, a 43 percent increase from the approximately 70,000 metric tons the group collectively harvests now. Then by 2025, Dunn said the group should be able to produce 150,000 metric tons annually and be able to sell it all at quite a profit. 

Mondaq
March 28, 2014

The federal government has had some troubles with the Supreme Court of Canada since taking office in 2006 (here is one recent example), but that's not the only court in Canada that has caused the federal government grief.

Several decisions of the Federal Court in relation to endangered species issues or other regulatory matters, like pest management, have highlighted serious deficiencies in decision making or actions from the federal government's ministers.

The most recent decision to suggest all is not well on the conservation front is related to the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans decision to allow the opening of a herring roe fishery on the west coast of Vancouver Island.

On February 20, 2014, Justice Mandamin of the Federal Court of Canada granted a request from five First Nations for an interlocutory injunction to stop the opening of the fishery. On February 28, 2014, the court issued its reasons.

This is an interim decision pending the hearing of the case on its merits, so it is possible that the Minister's decision will be upheld in the end, though not in time for this fishing season. For 2014, the fishery will remain closed, as it has been since 2006 for conservation reasons.

It is almost unheard of for a court to allow an interim injunction of this nature, but there were a number of reasons the court agreed with the Applicants to at least temporarily thwart the Minister's will, some unique to First Nation's constitutional rights and law.

To successfully obtain an injunction, the court considers three factors, as laid down by the Supreme Court of Canada: (1) is there is a serious issue to be tried; (2) if what is sought to be stopped goes ahead, will there be irreparable harm; and (3) who the balance of convenience favours, i.e. the Applicants or the Respondent Minister.

Read the full article in Mondaq.

Read related article here.

Takepart
March 27, 2014

It may not look like anything important, but see that adorable little fish in the photo above? It’s a lumpsucker from Norway, and it may hold the answer to one of salmon farming’s most vexing problems: destructive sea lice and the chemicals commonly used to stop them.

Near the tiny island of Indre Kvaroy, just off the central coast of Norway, I recently visited the family-owned salmon farm Kvarøy Fiskeoppdrett, which has been using those sweet little lumpsuckers instead of chemicals or pesticides to keep their salmon pens free of sea lice—and so far, the results look promising.

If the term "lice," sea or not, has you crinkling your nose, you’d be justified. Sea lice are marine parasites that attach themselves to other host fish—in this case, salmon—typically feeding off the mucus and skin of the fish, and possibly lowering the salmon’s immune system, leaving it susceptible to other diseases. Environmentalists say it’s the transfer of sea lice from farmed salmon to wild salmon that can threaten the health of wild stocks.

The pesticide most commonly added to salmon feed to prevent sea lice is emamectin benzoate, more widely known by its brand name, SLICE. Once in the feed, the drug is absorbed into the salmon's tissue and transmitted to the sea lice, killing them off. But much in the way that superweeds have evolved over years of continuous pesticide use, or in the way antibiotic resistance is showing up in our food and health systems, sea lice are adapting as well.

“Everywhere it’s the same situation with sea lice,” says Thierry Chopin, professor of marine biology at the University of New Brunswick and scientific director of the Canadian Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture Network. “In Norway, Canada, Chile, and Scotland—everyone was using SLICE for 10 years. The sea lice are not stupid. They found a way to resistance, and now we are cornered.”

Read the full article in Takepart.

The Fish Site
March 27, 2014

Marine Harvest is to sell its integrated salmon farming operations, Meridian Salmon Farms Limited, in the Shetland and Orkney Islands, Scotland, to the Canadian fish farming company Cooke Aquaculture Inc.

The operations have a combined harvest volume of 17.4 thousand GWT estimated for 2014. The agreed Enterprise Value (EV) is £122.5 million, which corresponds to an EV/kg of approximately NOK 70. Closing of the transaction is expected in the second quarter.

The divestment is a consequence of the remedies set forth by the EU Commission for the approval of the Morpol transaction in September 2013. The EU Commission required Marine Harvest to divest farming capacity on the Shetland and Orkney Islands. The agreement is conditional on the EU Commission approving that the purchaser and the transaction as well as the sales terms satisfy these remedies.

“We are always looking for strategic development and investment opportunities in the seafood sector,” said Glenn Cooke, CEO of Cooke Aquaculture.

Read the full article on The Fish Site.

Read related articles:

• Fish Update; March 27, 2014; Marine Harvest sell farms in Orkney and Shetland
• Chronicle Herald; March 27, 2014; Cooke nets Scottish fish farm company
• Shetland News; March 27, 2014; Canada moves into Shetland salmon
• Reuters; March 27, 2014; Marine Harvest sells UK assets for $203 mln
• MSN News; March 27, 2014; Cooke Aquaculture announces $225M Scottish purchase
• Perishable News; March 27, 2014; Cooke Aquaculture Expands Into Northern Scotland
• Bangor Daily News; March 27, 2014; Canadian aquaculture firm with Maine ties acquires salmon business in Scotland
• FishNewsEU; March 27, 2014; Latest News
• FIS; March 28, 2014; Cooke Aquaculture purchases Scottish salmon firm
• Shetland Times; March 31, 2014; Canadian firm takes over Meridian Salmon
• The Fish Site; April 1, 2014; Weekly Overview: Cooke Aquaculture to Buy Marine Harvest's Shetland, Orkney Operations

Maclean's Magazine
March 25, 2014

Mike Pearson pulls up the DIY fish trap he’s left overnight in a slough near Agassiz, B.C. He’s hoping to catch Salish suckers, an endangered freshwater fish that looks like it’s puckered up for a kiss. While the work is routine for Pearson, an ecological consultant in the Fraser Valley, one thing is different on this day: Canada’s revised Fisheries Act is now in effect. “Last year, these fish would have been protected under the act, and now they’re not,” Pearson says. “This has fallen between the cracks.”

The new act, which was introduced in June 2012’s omnibus budget bill and came into force last November, replaces the old version that prohibited the “harmful alteration, disruption or destruction of fish habitat” (HADD). The revised act bars “serious harm” to fish, which is defined as either killing a fish or causing “permanent alteration to, or destruction of, fish habitat.” But it covers only fish that are part of a commercial, recreational or Aboriginal fishery. In the past all fish were protected, full stop. The idea behind the old clause, which dates back to 1976, was not just to protect stock from overfishing, but to protect the habitat of all fish species as well. “The great thing about the Fisheries Act with the HADD provisions was that it could be used to prevent fish from getting threatened or endangered in the first place,” says Rick Taylor, a biologist at the University of British Columbia. “It was getting toward the adage: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

While the act applies to both freshwater and marine environments, as much as 80 per cent of Canada’s 71 at-risk freshwater-fish species are now unprotected, the Salish sucker included, according to fisheries biologists John Post and Jeff Hutchings, at the University of Calgary and Dalhousie University, respectively. Most are fish we don’t eat. “I would wager that every species in some way has a benefit or an importance, and we play with that at our peril,” says Pearson.

Tom Siddon, a fisheries minister in Brian Mulroney’s government, says the revisions fly in the face of a tradition of government balancing economic objectives against scientific knowledge. “To have all of this unravelled, and turn Canada back 25 years or more in the way we approach fisheries science and policy, I found extremely troubling,” he says.

Read the full article in Maclean's Magazine.

Undercurrent News
March 24, 2014

Canadian native peoples, of the Namgis First Nation, are about to harvest their first fish at its land-based Atlantic fish farm — a rare entity in the world of salmon farming.

Marketed under the name Kuterra, Albion Fisheries Ltd. is taking the 600,000 pounds of fish that will be harvested regularly through this year, reports the Times Colonist. 

Albion plans to sell about 75% in retail and the remaining to high end restaurants, with hopes to be able to sell close to one million pounds by 2015, Guy Dean, vice president of the company, told the newspaper.

Albion plans to sell the salmon, which will be roughly 3.5 kilos at harvest, through an agreement with a major supermarket chain in British Columbia, but Dean would not yet reveal the retailer’s identity.

Dean — who describes the fish as having a more mild, buttery flavor than most salmon — expects harvesting to begin late this month or in early April. After that, the fish will be taken to Albion’s new $10-million Richmond processing plant.

In March 2013, the first 23,000 smolts, weighing 100 grams each and supplied by Marine Harvest Canada, went into a tank at the farm. After a month, they graduated to larger tanks where they have been raised to market size, without pesticides or antibiotics, in water from an on-site well. It is fresh water but somewhat salty because of proximity to the ocean.

Read the full article in Undercurrent News.

Read related article:

• Times Colonist; March 20, 2014; Containment fish farm near Port McNeill ready for harvest

Undercurrent News
March 24, 2014

Bord Iascaigh Mhara, the Irish Seafood Board, told Undercurrent News it hopes to establish several farms off the country’s coast if its first application is approved, as it says demand for organic Irish salmon outstrips supply.

Though offshore salmon farming has become a talking point after Salmar announced plans to develop its own in Norway, and other major Norwegian players spoke of testing the technology at the recent North Atlantic Seafood Forum, this method has long been used successfully in Ireland by a farm now run by Marine Harvest.

Currently – despite the economic climate in Ireland and in Europe – the biggest challenge facing Ireland’s salmon sector is meeting requests for volumes, BIM CEO Jason Whooley, who presented plans for a farm off Galway Bay to NASF, told Undercurrent.

“Strangely enough the biggest challenge our salmon companies have had is telling customers they haven’t got fish for them,” he said.

Read the full article in the Undercurrent News.

The Coaster
March 24, 2014

The Honourable Gail Shea, the federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, lead a large delegation of fisheries and aquaculture industry representatives to the 2014 Seafood Expo North America, which took place in Boston from March 16 to 18.

The delegation included 23 Atlantic Canadian seafood companies that participated in the event which featured more than 8700 exhibitors offering a vast array of seafood, seafood products, services and equipment from around the world.

Seafood Expo North America, formerly known as the International Boston Seafood Show, is North America’s largest annual seafood trade event which draws an estimated 19,000 buyers and sellers from more than 100 countries.

In an interview with several media outlets on March 17, Shea said, “The 2014 Seafood Expo is an excellent opportunity to showcase our Canadian products and to network with buyers from the global community.

Read the full article in The Coaster.

Read related stories:

• FIS; March 17, 2014; Seafood exports reach biggest yearly increase in three years
• Thomson Reuteurs; March 17, 2014; Minister Shea Supports New Brunswick Exhibitors at Seafood Expo North America
• Market Wired; March 16, 2014; Minister Shea Announces That Canadian Seafood Exports Continued to Grow in 2013
• FIS; March 17, 2014; Minister Shea Supports British Columbia Exhibitors at Seafood Expo North America

Stornoway Gazette
March 23, 2014

Analysis of fish farm escape numbers in Scotland has revealed the Western Isles are one of the worst areas for escaped farmed salmon.

Following from a large escape (154,569 farmed salmon) in Shetland recently, campaign group Global Alliance Against Industrial Aquaculture has ‘number-crunched’ official Scottish Government statistics.

And the group have discovered that, on average, there have been 11 escape incidents and 201,000 escapee farmed salmon per year since records began in 1998.

2011, 2005 and 2000 are the worst years on record.

A total of 428,000 farmed salmon escaping during 22 incidents in 2000; 877,883 farmed salmon escaping in 19 incidents in 2005, and 404,451 farmed salmon escaping during 10 incidents in 2011.

Read the full article in the Stornoway Gazette.

Courier-Islander
March 21, 2014

It's a part of their operations that never seems to make the radar.

But Marine Harvest Canada's experience raising Atlantic salmon to market size in tanks on land is now in its second decade.

For 20 years they have been working on the land based system and while they have met with a lot of successes, three main stumbling blocks remain.

The first is cost and power, the second is the environmental footprint because of the groundwater use and the third is animal welfare, because of the higher stocking densities.

This investment in land-based aquaculture systems by the company is also helping niche companies test the viability of commercial sized projects.

Marine Harvest has been growing smolts (prior to seawater entry) in recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) since 1988 and today the technology is responsible for growing 800 tonnes of smolts each year.

Read the full article in the Courier-Islander.

CBC
March 21, 2014

Fishermen and conservationists are urging the University of New Brunswick to use a $100,000 court-ordered payment to study the environmental impacts of fish farming.

Kelly Cove Salmon Ltd., a division of Cooke Aquaculture, was ordered to pay $500,000 in fines by a court last year after it pleaded guilty to dumping a pesticide not approved for marine use into the Bay of Fundy.

The pesticide, Cypermethrin, killed hundreds of lobster about four years ago. A judge ordered $250,000 be paid to U.N.B. for scholarships, and another $100,000 to help fund academic research.

But so far the university has not said what that $100,000 will be spent on. 

Environmentalist Matt Abbott used the Right to Information and Protection of Privacy Act to ask U.N.B. what it plans to do. But he only got a vague response from documents sent to him.

Read the full article on CBC.

The Fish Site
March 21, 2014

Visiting senators could provide a great boost to the salmon farming business on Vancouver Island, agree the Campbell River Chamber of Commerce and BC Salmon Farmers Association.

Members of the Senate Standing Committee for Fisheries and Oceans are visiting Tofino, Campbell River, Comox Valley and Nanaimo next week on a fact-finding tour. The committee is currently researching a study on the regulation of aquaculture, current challenges and future prospects for the industry in Canada.

“We are looking forward to the Senators touring our members operations, and having the opportunity to share our positive outlook on the sector in Canada,” said Jeremy Dunn, Executive Director of the BC Salmon Farmers Association.

“We know that strong rules about salmon farming are important to the public, and we welcome the stringent standards that a stand-alone Aquaculture Act would bring, as our members have shown their determination to meet and exceed high expectations”.

In December 2010, the federal government took over regulatory authority for the sector from the provincial government. Currently, finfish and shellfish farming in BC is regulated under the Fisheries Act – which has led to some awkward and at times, repetitive and overlapping, rules. The Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance – a national body the BCSFA is a member of – is advocating for an Aquaculture Act that could better focus regulation.

Read the full article on The Fish Site.

Read related article on Fish News EU.

Undercurrent News
March 21, 2014

Genetic salmon producer Aquabounty Technologies said it is seeking to list on the US stock exchange Nasdaq, as it unveiled another year of multi-million dollar losses.

The company, which is based in the US and has its operations in Panama, is currently listed on the London stock exchange, but said it started preparations to list on Nasdaq in March.

As it still awaits approval to sell its Aquadvantage salmon (AAS) commercially in the US, Aquabounty has been racking up the losses.

The company said it lost $4.7 million in 2013, adding to losses of $4.4m the previous year.

Read the full article in Undercurrent News.

Read related articles at this link.

South Coast Today
March 19, 2014

Some community and conservation groups say they are alarmed at the significant public dollars that have been spent on subsidizing poor fish farming practices in Atlantic Canada.

In the last two decades, according to public records, almost $140 million taxpayer dollars have been spent on “compensating” open-net pen fish farms in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland for fish infected with ISA or infectious salmon anemia.

One of the major incidences occured in Shelburne Harbour in 2012 at a Cooke Aquaculture site near McNutt's Island. The government-mandated slaughter of up to one million salmon resulted in a pay-out to multi-national aquaculture giant Cooke. That firm has annual revenues exceeding $500 million.

“Our government has been handing over millions of dollars of our taxpayer’s money to “compensate” these companies for entirely predictable disease outbreaks which are endemic to their industry model. We can’t help but imagine what coastal communities could have achieved had this money been invested instead in sustainable industries that do not threaten our wild fisheries or environment,” says Raymond Plourde of the Ecology Action Centre in a release Wednesday.

The compensation is now provided to the aquaculture industry by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. In early 2013, for the first time in Canada’s history, the CFIA no longer required destruction of the infected fish and allowed fish to be grown out and sold without any labeling indicating that the fish were diseased. The sale of diseased fish at Sobeys, Loblaws and other Canadian and US food stores has raised the concerns of activist groups across Canada. drawn the ire of

Read the full article in South Coast Today. 

Read related articles:

• CBC News; March 19, 2014; Here and Now Late Night
• The Western Star; March 24, 2014; Diamond agrees on call for end to public bailouts for salmon feedlots
• CBC News (video); March 19th; Fish Spending
• Halifax Media Co-op; March 19, 2014; Groups call for end to public bailouts for open-pen salmon feedlots
• Herald News; March 18, 2014; Fish farm culls cost public $138m 
• CBC; January 8, 2014; $13M for Cooke Aquaculture after infected salmon 
• The Telegram; January 11, 2014; "N.L.’s destroyed salmon tab: $33M"
• The Fish Site; January 10, 2014; "Cooke Aquaculture Receives Payout for Sick Salmon"
• Nova News Now; January 9, 2014; "Company defends $13-million pay out for fish farm losses" 

March 19, 2014
The Fish Site

On Tuesday 18 March, at the Seafood Expo North America in Boston, the Global Salmon Initiative (GSI), along with World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN) and Rabobank, joined together for the first time in the US to demonstrate how the global farmed salmon industry is leading the way in changing current aquaculture business practices to ensure a sustainable future for the industry.

The US is the largest consumer by country of farmed salmon worldwide, consuming more than 282,000 tons in 2013. In fact, consumer demand for farmed salmon has increased by over 14 per cent in the last five years in the US alone, and is showing no signs of slowing down. Global demand for salmon has increased even quicker, doubling in the last decade, and is set to double again by 2020.

The Pathways to Sustainability Seminar intends to set an example of how cooperation among seafood industry members can lead to sustainable development and can be replicated across other industries. Many business leaders believe a significant change in current business practices is the only way for the industry to meet its market potential and future global consumer demand for salmon. GSI executives meeting in Boston with global sustainability leaders are today announcing their commitment to put sustainability before competition, in order to pursue a unique model of environmental cooperation as a driver for their industry’s success.

“It is extremely rare to see CEOs - who are usually competing fiercely for market share - joining together to address challenges around sustainability,” said Jason Clay, senior vice president of market transformation for WWF. “This type of bold, collective action in the farmed salmon sector is what’s needed across all food commodities if we ever hope to feed nine billion people while preserving biodiversity.”

During the seminar on the 18 March, leaders from GSI and the expert panel will review the initial results of the GSI cooperation model, and discuss how industry collaboration can translate into industry improvements. In turn, providing a sustainable solution, both economically and environmentally, to the world’s growing demand for high protein foods.

Read the full story on The Fish Site

Read related stories:

• Undercurrent News; March 18, 2014; Farmed salmon industry joins sustainability activists to prove good practices
• USA Today; March 18, 2014; Farmed salmon industry eyes eco-friendly reform
• Digital Journal; March 18, 2014; Farmed Salmon Industry Puts Sustainability Before Competition to Meet Record Consumer
• World Fishing & Aquaculture; March 18, 2014; Salmon industry joins forces
• Fishnewseu; March 18, 2014; Salmon vision brought to Boston
• Yahoo Finance; March 18, 2014; Farmed Salmon Industry Puts Sustainability Before Competition to Meet Record Consumer Demand
• Fish Update; March 18, 2014; Sustainability first for fish farming industry
• Fish Farmer; March 18, 2014; Sustainability first for fish farming industry
• CNW; March 18, 2014; Farmed Salmon Industry Puts Sustainability Before Competition to Meet Record Consumer Demand
• 4-Traders; March 18, 2014; Cermaq ASA : Farmed salmon industry puts sustainability before competition to meet record consumer demand
• Azcentral; March 18, 2014; Farmed salmon industry eyes eco-friendly reform

March 19, 2014
The Fish Site

December 31, 2013 was the conclusion of New Brunswick’s first full year using an integrated approach to sea lice management.

After struggling through a few challenging years of high sea lice populations, NB farmers have begun to turn the corner in the management of these naturally occurring parasites. The progress is thanks to the full implementation of a collaborative and integrated pest management plan.

For the past several years, NB farmers have worked collaboratively with provincial and federal regulators, veterinarians, scientists, conservationists and traditional fishers to develop an Integrated Pest Management Plan (IPMP) that combines preventative farming practises like fish husbandry, single year class stocking, fallowing and low stocking densities with having a variety of approved treatment products for use when necessary. This approach allows farmers to focus on the prevention of sea lice and when necessary, to strategically use the right treatment at the right time, thus reducing the overall amount of approved product used.

After an evaluation, the results showed sea lice populations to be lower than they were in the last four years. The only exception was during the last few weeks of October when water temperatures were unseasonably warm.  

Read the full story on The Fish Site

Read realted stories:

• The Chronicle Herald; March 21, 2014; Fish farmers hail reported success of sea lice control

March 18, 2014
Cape Breton Post

A fish farm in Hants County is recovering from what CEO Kirk Havercroft describes as a “perfect storm.”

About 12,000 salmon died after an electrical system failure at Sustainable Fish Farming Canada Ltd. in Hants County on the weekend.

Havercroft, the head of Sustainable Fish Farming Canada Ltd. in Centre Burlington, is referring to the unforeseen events that led to the loss of 12,000 salmon expected to be market ready between the end of April and end of May.

The salmon were being raised in a temperature-controlled tank that suddenly lost power around 2 a.m. on March 15.

The company recently put in a new power supply to support buildings added on site during a planned expansion to their Red Bank Road facility.

“What appears to have happened over the weekend is, I think, a result of upgrading our power systems and installing the new power supply,” said Havercroft in a phone interview.

Havercroft says every backup system in place was compromised, meaning emergency alarms failed to alert employees of the power loss.

“Really what happened is we just had the perfect storm of events that were totally unforeseen,” he said.

Read the complete news item in the Cape Breton Post.

Read related stories:

• Fish Farmer; March 20, 2014; The Canadian salmon disaster
• FIS; March 20, 2014; Thousands salmon in land-based farm die due to power failure
• Daily Business Buzz; March 18, 2014; NS: Sustainable Fish Farming Canada loses 12,000 salmon in electrical system failure 
• The Chronicle Herald; March 18, 2014; 12,000 salmon die after power failure at fish farm
• The Hants Journal; March 18, 2014; Burlington fish farm loses 12,000 salmon in electrical system failure 
• New Glasgow Newspaper; March 18, 2014; 12,000 salmon die in electrical system failure

FIS
March 12, 2014

A new warning expressed recently by scientists about the safety of Scottish farmed salmon has caused controversial reactions.

This study - based at the University of Albany in New York state - looked at pollutant levels in farmed and wild salmon bought in Britain, Europe and North America, The Daily Mail informed.

These scientists consider the fish is so contaminated with toxic chemicals linked to cancer and birth defects coming from the feed used in fish farms that it should be eaten no more than three times a year.

It has been pointed out that these findings could have a shattering impact on the GBP 700 million-a-year Scottish salmon farming industry, which supports some 6,500 jobs.

Researchers in this study measured the levels of industrial pollutants - PCBs and dioxins - and agricultural pesticides such as toxaphene and dieldrin.

They examined 700 fish, some bought in London supermarkets and some direct from Scottish farms. The highest concentrations were found in fish from Scotland and the Faroe Islands.

Read the full article in FIS.

Shetland News
March 12, 2014

Hopes are high that a £293,000 grant from the Coastal Communities Fund will help develop seaweed cultivation in Shetland.

The two year project is a collaboration between the NAFC Marine Centre, in Scalloway, and salmon farming company Scottish Sea Farms.

The funding will be used to establish a communal seaweed rope-seeding centre, perform seaweed on-growing trials and provide training.

Project manager Lesley McEvoy said the aim was to encourage diversification within Shetland’s sea farming companies and to support existing local seaweed-based businesses.

“The project will create three new direct jobs in addition to other indirect jobs in Shetland.

“Potentially, existing farm sites can be used for seaweed cultivation during their fallow periods, giving farmers an additional income stream while allowing the seaweed to naturally remediate the site,” she said.

Read the full article in the Shetland News.

March 11, 2014
CBC News

AquaBounty, a company that produces genetically modified salmon eggs at a P.E.I. hatchery, has applied to sell its fish in Canada.

The company's latest financial outlook reveals it's asking for approval from the federal government to sell its fast-growing salmon as food in this country.

The salmon from AquaBounty's genetically modified eggs grow at twice the rate of regular salmon, making them potentially lucrative as farmed fish.

The company has said eggs hatched in P.E.I. would be exported to Panama to be grown into market-size fish

The company now says it would like to sell those fish in the U.S., Canada, Argentina, Chile and China.

In November, Environment Canada approved the commercial production of AquaBounty's genetically modified salmon eggs in Canada, as long as the proper precautions are taken.

But environmental groups are taking the federal government to court over the approval, saying Environment Canada failed to obtain and assess all the information legally required to make a decision under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act.

Read the full story on CBC News. 

Read related stories:

• Undercurrent News; March 19, 2014;Costco under pressure from activists against genetically-modified fish 
• Ottawa Citizen; March 11, 2014; U.S. company applies to sell genetically modified salmon in Canada 
• Edmonton Journal; March 11, 2014; U.S. company applies to sell genetically modified salmon in Canada
• Fox News; March 11, 2014; GMO salmon may soon hit food stores, but will anyone buy it?
• MSN News; March 11, 2014; GMO salmon firm, AquaBounty, applies to sell in Canada
• Calgary Herald; March 11, 2014; U.S. company applies to sell genetically modified salmon in Canada 
• The Vancouver Sun; March 10, 2014; U.S. company applies to sell genetically modified salmon in Canada
• Global News; March 10, 2014; Genetically modified salmon 

Fish Farmer Magazine
March 11, 2014

Loblaw, Canada’s largest seller of seafood, will be the first food retailer in North America to offer shoppers ASC certified salmon.

ASC certified products bearing the consumer label help retailers address the growing demand for responsibly produced seafood. Loblaw’s customers can now be assured that their ASC certified seafood comes from fish farms that are responsibly managed and limit their adverse impact on the environment.

‘Loblaw is proud to be introducing the first ASC certified Atlantic salmon in stores, one of many ASC certified products we are looking to introduce,’ said Melanie Agopian, senior director, Sustainability, Loblaw Companies Limited.

‘We remain committed to improving our seafood sourcing practices and will continue to work diligently with our industry partners to drive towards responsible harvesting practices of both wild and farmed seafood.’

Loblaw has played a key role in bringing responsibly farmed certified seafood products to the wider marketplace in North America.

Read the full article in Fish Farmer Magazine.

Read related article:

• Huffington Post; Mar 10, 2014; Loblaws Vows Responsibly Farmed Salmon

The Fish Site
March 11, 2014

In this week's news, the worlds largest prawn farm is to be constructed in Zhongshan, China, writes Lucy Towers, TheFishSite, Editor.

The 533 hectare prawn and agriculture centre is to be built using Sino Agro Food's A-Power Technology, a self-contained water treatment and recirculating aquaculture system for aquatic animals on a commercial scale. 

The $2.6 billion project will build an indoor farm, twice as big as the largest prawn farm known today, with the capacity to produce 300,000 metric tonnes a year. 

Read the full article in The Fish Site.

FIS
March 10, 2014

A Norwegian company has plans to start rearing salmon using a new giant construction that was based on the design used for oil platforms.

The owner of the giant floating robotic fish farm, the firm SalMar, considers that by farming further out to sea, they can reduce problems with salmon lice, and protect wild salmon from infections.

Gustav Witzoe, the company's founder and main shareholder, pointed out: 'We've been working on this for almost two years. What we are now going to present is ground-breaking. It is a revolution.'

Company sources explained that the 67m high structure is designed for salmon farming. It has 5,600 tonne, 670-metre-high steel rigs that can house eight times as many salmon as conventional cages.

It was also described that these rigs have a 245 square metre pen for the salmon, space in the offices above for 600 tonnes of feed, and accommodation for up to four people, although they can be operated remotely.

Read the full article in FIS.

Read related article: 

• Daily Mail; March 6, 2014; The giant floating robotic fish farm set to revolutionise salmon production

Irish Times
March 10, 2014

The Minister for Marine, Simon Coveney, is expected to provide figures of the escapees from the recent storm damage to a salmon farm in Bantry Bay. According to Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE) in west Cork, the farm has effectively been “wiped out”.

In a statement released last week, the group said they “understand there are only between 3,000 and 5,000 fish left at a site that held between 160,000 and 180,000 salmon.”

The storm on February 1st, 2014, saw a cage break loose from its mooring and upend itself into another cage, according to local group Save Bantry Bay (SBB).

Secretary Alex O’Donovan said the physical damage to cages was more extensive than appeared at first and the continuing storms prevented any immediate repair. “While SBB has great sympathy for the owners and employees of the fish farm, this incident entirely justifies our position against the further expansion of salmon farming in the bay.”

According to FIE “published peer reviewed research shows that between 1996 and 2004, a total of 415,000 salmon escaped from Irish salmon farms. These fish can interbreed with native stocks, lessening their chances of survival and out-competing native salmon for habitat and breeding locations.

“Escaped farmed salmon may inflate catch-based spawning stock estimates to such an extent that the stock appears either to be healthy or recovering, the consequences of which are that conservation measures are either relaxed or not strengthened, or new measures not being introduced,” FIE says.

Read the full article in the Irish Times.

Globe and Mail
March 9, 2014

An unprecedented court injunction has barred the Department of Fisheries and Oceans from opening a commercial fishery off Vancouver Island after a judge concluded DFO was “fudging the numbers” and that the federal minister declared it open against her own bureaucrats’ advice.

The Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations, whose herring-roe fishery has been closed since 2006, went to court last month seeking the injunction.

The ruling has prompted the Haida First Nation to threaten similar court action. And the central coast First Nations say they’ll do whatever it takes to protect their fisheries. The First Nations say the fisheries should not be opened because they have not recovered enough to allow harvesting safely.

In the Nuu-chah-nulth case, court documents showed that DFO experts agreed that all three areas should remain closed, but federal Fisheries Minister Gail Shea chose to open the fisheries anyway.

“I’ve never seen a case like this succeed,” said Matthew Kirchner, one of the lawyers representing the Nuu-chah-nulth. “I’m not aware of any case where there’s been an injunction to stop the DFO from opening a fishery. This may be the first.”

In the Nuu-chah-nulth ruling released Feb. 28, Judge Leonard Mandamin prohibited the DFO from opening commercial herring-roe fisheries on the west coast of Vancouver Island.

“It is not science-based,” Judge Mandamin wrote.

Read the full article in the Globe and Mail.

Read related articles:

• Vancouver Observer; March 11, 2014; First Nations fisheries on Vancouver Island win game-changing injunction against DFO

The Independent
March 9, 2014

Farmed salmon escaping into rivers and the sea are posing such a threat to declining wild populations that sterilisation should be compulsory, researchers have concluded.

Millions of farmed salmon are able to escape globally each year and there is increasing evidence they are destroying genetic traits evolved by the wild populations.

More than 95 per cent of the world’s Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar, are farmed, and a new study assessing their breeding capacity has found that the farmed stocks are just as fertile as the wild populations. They are also more aggressive, helping them out-compete their wild rivals.

Scientists now fear that wild populations will be damaged irreversibly, losing traits that have evolved to keep them adapted to their environment, unless sterilisation is introduced as mandatory.

Publication of the study comes just days after it was confirmed that more than 150,000 fish escaped the Ness of Copister farm in Shetland when the net cages containing them were damaged in the January storms.

Rainbow trout are already routinely sterilised by the aquaculture industry. However, in salmon farming, which is worth £600 million annually in Scotland, the treatment increases the chances of the fish developing cataracts or deformities.

Read the full article in the Independent.

Read related news items:

• The Farming Life; March 18, 2014; Common sense at last on salmon farming; http://www.farminglife.com/news/common-sense-at-last-on-salmon-farming-1-5942710
• New Scientist; March 12, 2014; Time to sterilise farmed salmon to save wild cousins; http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn25210-time-to-sterilise-farmed-salmon-to-save-wild-cousins.html?cmpid=RSS|NSNS|2012-GLOBAL|online-news#.UyCp6FFdUbY
• FIS; March 11, 2014; University study reveals threat to wild salmon; http://fis.com/fis/worldnews/worldnews.asp?monthyear=&day=11&id=67049&l=e&special=0&ndb=0 
• The Scotsman; March 11, 2014; Sterilise farm salmon, say experts; http://www.scotsman.com/news/environment/sterilise-farm-salmon-say-experts-1-3334304 
• The Independent; March 11, 2014; Sterilise farmed salmon to save wild species, critics say; http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/sterilise-farmed-salmon-to-save-wild-species-critics-say-9180018.html 
• Laboratory Equipment; March 11, 2014; Farm Salmon Pose Threat to Wild Gene Pools; http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2014/03/farm-salmon-pose-threat-wild-gene-pools 
• Summit County Citizen House; March 11, 2014; Do farmed salmon threaten wild populations?; http://summitcountyvoice.com/2014/03/11/do-farmed-salmon-threaten-wild-populations/ 
• Voice of Russia UK; March 11, 2014; Sterilisation of farmed salmon could help protect wild stocks - experts; http://voiceofrussia.com/uk/news/2014_03_11/Sterilisation-of-farmed-salmon-could-help-protect-wild-stocks-experts-9838/ 
• The Ellon Times; March 10, 2014; Farm salmon 'should be sterilised'; http://www.ellontimes.co.uk/news/scottish-headlines/farm-salmon-should-be-sterilised-1-3334610 
• The Guardian; March 10, 2014; Sterilise farmed salmon to stop breeding with wild fish, researchers say; http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/mar/10/sterilise-farmed-salmon-breeding-wild-fish 
• Herald Scotland; March 10, 2014; Calls to sterilise farmed salmon; http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/environment/calls-to-sterilise-farmed-salmon.23632993 
• The Times; March 10, 2014; Farmed salmon escapees threat to fish in wild; http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/uk/scotland/article4028403.ece 
• Evening Express; March 10, 2014; Farm salmon 'should be sterilised'; http://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/news/scotland/farm-salmon-should-be-sterilised-1.261556 
• Nature World News; March 10, 2014; Farmed Salmon Threaten Wild Salmon Gene Pool; http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/6301/20140310/farmed-salmon-threaten-wild-gene-pool.htm
• Science Daily; March 10, 2014; Farm salmon pose clear reproductive threat to wild gene pools, researchers say; http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/03/140310090927.htm 
• MSN News; March 10, 2014; Farm salmon 'should be sterilised'; http://news.uk.msn.com/farm-salmon-should-be-sterilised 
• Evening Telegraph; March 10, 2014; Farm salmon 'should be sterilised'; http://www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk/news/scotland/farm-salmon-should-be-sterilised-1.261566 
• Periscope Post; March 10, 2014; According to researchers: Sterilize farmed salmon to stop the reproduction of wild fish; http://periscopepost.com/science-27/according-to-researchers-sterilize-farmed-salmon-to-stop-the-reproduction-of-wild-fish-6753.html 
• Selkirk Weekend Adviser; March 10, 2014; Farm salmon 'should be sterilised'; http://www.selkirkweekendadvertiser.co.uk/news/scottish-headlines/farm-salmon-should-be-sterilised-1-3334610 
• Science Blog; March 10, 2014; Farm salmon pose clear reproductive threat to wild gene pools; http://scienceblog.com/70932/farm-salmon-pose-clear-reproductive-threat-to-wild-gene-pools/ 
• Brechin Advertiser; March 10, 2014; Farm salmon 'should be sterilised'; http://www.brechinadvertiser.co.uk/news/scottish-headlines/farm-salmon-should-be-sterilised-1-3334610 
• French Tribune; March 10, 2014; Experts Urge Farmed Salmon Sterilization; http://frenchtribune.com/teneur/1421987-experts-urge-farmed-salmon-sterilization 
• Kirriemuir Herald; March 10, 2014; Farm salmon 'should be sterilised'; http://www.kirriemuirherald.co.uk/news/scottish-headlines/farm-salmon-should-be-sterilised-1-3334610 
• ITV; March 9, 2014; Farmed salmon 'should be sterilised'; http://www.itv.com/news/update/2014-03-09/farm-salmon-should-be-sterilised/ 
• Phys.org; March 9, 2014; Farm salmon pose clear reproductive threat to wild gene pools; http://phys.org/news/2014-03-farm-salmon-pose-reproductive-threat.html

FIS
March 6, 2014

Recent strong winds and heavy seas have been blamed for the fault which allowed about 155,000 salmon to escape from a fish farm in Shetland, according to its operators.

Meridian Salmon Group, one of the top five salmon farming companies in Scotland that is located on the island of Yell, had more than 364,000 salmon in cages before extreme weather conditions affected them, BBC reported.

A company spokesman pointed out: "Gale force winds and large swells caused a major failure of the mooring equipment which subsequently damaged a number of the eight cages on the site.”

It was stressed that although during the rough sea period diving teams worked to carry out repair and salvage operations, it was not possible to prevent the fish from escaping.

Read the full article in FIS.

Read related article:

• The Shetland Times; March 6, 2014; Salmon farm loses 154,000 fish due to storms
• Shetland News; March 6, 2014; Winter storms cause salmon to escape

Globe and Mail
March 5, 2014

If the early signals are correct, the Fraser River could have the biggest salmon run in B.C. history this summer, with up to 72 million sockeye returning.

That would be more than double the record number that came back in 2010, when about 30 million sockeye flooded into the Fraser, overwhelming fish plants with such bounty they ran out of ice and storage boxes.

“I mean, it’s hard to fathom,” Rollie Rose, president of Sooke Salmon Charters Ltd., said in an interview of the magnitude of the projections from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

He told colleagues in a recent e-mail: “The news could not be any better … you will see fishing this year better than you have seen in your lifetime.”

Good ocean conditions for salmon in the past two years have resulted in forecasts of big runs all along the West Coast, extending into the United States, where officials recently predicted three million Chinook and coho for the Columbia River.

Read the full article in the Globe and Mail.

Read related article:

• Surrey Leader; March 6, 2014; Massive sockeye salmon run forecast for Fraser River

Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows Times
March 5, 2014

With reference to recent letters from Federal Fisheries Minister Gail Shea claiming science-based decision-making, transparency, and “actions consistent with Cohen recommendations” [Feds prepare to exploit aquaculture benefits, Feb. 24 Letters, www.mrtimes.com], it is necessary for the protection and conservation of BC’s aquatic environment to point out that these statements simply are not supported by the facts.

An alarming and very recent example of the absence of science-based decision-making, and where in fact the courts had to intervene, is that Minister Shea overrode the recommendations of her own scientists and opened a herring fishery on the West Coast of Vancouver Island.

Legal action by First Nations overturned the decision, revealing DFO scientists had recommended maintaining the herring fisheries closure for conservation reasons, and that Minister Shea had nonetheless recommended opening the fishery in three disputed areas.

Transparency? Despite DFO committing to making the data available to the public, Canadians have not seen fish health and disease data from open net salmon farm monitoring since the last quarter of 2010.

With regard to the management of salmon aquaculture, for almost two years the Watershed Watch Salmon Society, the SOS Marine Conservation Foundation, the David Suzuki Foundation, and the Pacific Salmon Foundation have engaged with DFO to express concerns about the proposed terms of reference for the Marine Finfish Aquaculture Management Advisory Committee.

The key concerns are: over-representation on the committee by the aquaculture industry and under-representation by other stakeholders; no agreement for a mechanism for selection of an independent chairperson; and the overall lack of a plan to include independent science in the decision-making process.

DFO’s response to those concerns has been to proceed with the committee without resolving the issues.

Read the full article in the Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows Times.

Fish & Fly
March 3, 2014

The Salmon & Trout Association (Scotland) has called on Ministers to show leadership with decisive action in Wester Ross where lice numbers have been consistently over thresholds for a full year.

The latest aggregated sea lice data, published by the Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation (SSPO), shows that in the fourth quarter of 2013 sea lice numbers on farmed salmon were massively out of control in a number of areas.

The latest SSPO quarterly sea lice report (for October to December) reveals that average lice numbers were over thresholds in 13 out of 30 areas for which data is reported by the industry.

Particular hotspots yet again included ‘Kennart to Gruinard’ in Wester Ross where there are seven farms operated by two companies, Wester Ross Fisheries Limited and Scottish Sea Farms Limited. The monthly lice count on farms in this area was between five and ten times the threshold between October and December last year. Lice have been over the threshold in this area for an entire year now, despite three area-wide treatments and a staggering 25 other treatments for lice.

Other areas with severe lice problems included Badachro to Applecross (Wester Ross), Awe and Nell (Argyll) and Add and Ormsary (also Argyll). The isles of Mull, Islay and Jura, the east of Lewis, North Uist and South Uist also had sea lice levels well over the thresholds for treatment.

Read the full article in Fish & Fly.

Read related article:

• For Argyll; March 1, 2014; Yet again, data shows sea lice infestation out of control in salmon farms

New Westminster News Leader
February 27, 2014

Fraser River Salmon is a B.C. icon.

As important to B.C. residents, in fact, as the French language is to people in Quebec.

At least that’s what 70% of people said in a poll commissioned by the Watershed Watch Salmon Society and Skeena Wild Conservation Trust.

Indeed, salmon is ever present in our lives.

It is central to many aboriginal cultural traditions. Crucial to generations of commercial fishers. It’s delicious and nutritious, and a source of enjoyment for sports fishers. As well, it’s a symbol for the abundant and pristine environment we enjoy in this province.

But are we aware of the essential role salmon play in giving balance to our ecosystem?

Scientists have evidence that suggests salmon are an important link in the nutrient cycle of Fraser River Basin ecosystem. Rivers carry nutrients and sediments from one area to another, creating an essential link between land and sea.

Read the full article in the New Westminster News Leader.

Vancouver Sun
February 26, 2014

Ten million scallops that have died in the waters near Qualicum Beach due to rising ocean acidity are the latest victims in a series of marine die-offs that have plagued the West Coast for a decade.

Human-caused carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere are being absorbed by the ocean and may have pushed local waters through a “tipping point” of acidity beyond which shellfish cannot survive, according to Chris Harley, a marine ecologist at the University of B.C.

Rising ocean acidity is a global phenomenon, made worse by higher natural acidity in local waters, Harley said.

“I’ve seen pH measured down to about 7.2, so this is very much within the realm of possibility, though unfortunate and extreme,” he said. “We are in a hot spot in the Pacific Northwest.”

Read the full article in the Vancouver Sun.

Read related article:

• CTV; March 5, 2014; Concern over Ocean acidification is raised by environmentalists after a scallop die off
• Parksville Qualicum Beach News; February 25, 2014; 10 million scallops are dead; Qualicum company lays off staff

The Fish Site
February 25, 2014

In this week's news, the Norwegian Veterinary Institute has discovered a new disease in hatchery rainbow trout, writes Lucy Towers, TheFishSite Editor.

Symptoms of this new disease are circulatory failure, anaemia and heart inflammation. Although authorities do not yet know how the disease is transmitted, it is thought to be caused by a virus.

Read the full article on The Fish Site.

CBC
February 25, 2014

With increasing demand and flatlining production, technological solutions are needed to meet the growing market for seafood.

More and more fish sold for human consumption is farmed, and the UN has said 2014 will be the first year the consumption of farmed fish overtakes that of wild fish. 

That reality is shaping the salmon industry in unique ways. But with demand rising five to 10 per cent annually over the past few years, traditional salmon production is hitting its limit. 

A main issue is the growing demand and limited availability of fish oil and fish meal, ingredients needed to manufacture the food pellets fed to farmed salmon.

Stewart Hawthorn is a a board member of the B.C. Salmon Farmer's Association, he said the industry is responding by changing what they feed their farmed fish. With rising fish oil prices and smaller hauls of anchovy and sardines, Hawthorn said they are also looking at algae, yeasts and other organisms to produce the Omega-3 fatty acids in the diet of the farmed fish.  

Read the full article in CBC.

Read related article:

• Bloomberg; February 24, 2014; "Your Best Sushi Years Are Behind You"

Fish Update
February 24, 2014

The Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance has given a big welcome to the federal government’s renewed commitment to its Sustainable Aquaculture Programme.

The programme will continue to foster a responsible and competitive Canadian industry. Ruth Salmon, the Alliance's Executive Director said:

‘Farmed seafood is playing an increasingly important role in providing Canadians with an affordable and healthy diet.

‘Today’s renewed commitment to sustainable aquaculture growth is an important recognition of that fact. We believe a sustainable and responsible industry is in the best interest of seafood farmers, the Canadian economy, and Canadian consumers.’

The $54 million commitment, announced a few days ago, will help address the industry’s challenges to future growth by streamlining regulations, improving regulatory management, increasing scientific knowledge and science-based decision-making, and ensuring transparency through enhanced public reporting.

Read the full article in Fish Update.

Read related article:

• Fish Farmer; February 24, 2014; Boost to sustainable farming in Canada

The Star Press
February 24, 2014

Bell Aquaculture, the nation’s largest yellow perch farm, is planning a $30-million expansion that would create 75 jobs as it diversifies into also cultivating trout and salmon, president Norman McCowan told The Star Press during a tour Monday afternoon.

But the farm, which will produce about 2.5 million pounds of yellow perch, rainbow trout and steelhead trout this year, is facing a potential roadblock.

Bell currently employs more than 50 people at its farm and at its processing facility in Redkey.

Its neighbors on the outskirts of Albany, Tony and Amy Evans, are hosting a meeting tonight to organize opposition to Bell’s application for a zoning variance to allow it to construct a feed mill, which the company says is needed for the farm to grow.

Odor from Bell’s manure lagoon last summer made it impossible for the Evanses to enjoy their garden, patio, summer breezes coming in through their windows and numerous family get-togethers, the couple say.

Bell just built a $1 million wastewater treatment plant and installed a quarter-acre lagoon last year. Prior to that, its wastewater was treated in a three-acre, man-made wetland. Tony Evans says the odor problem began last year after the lagoon and treatment plant were added. “We did not used to have this problem,” he said.

McCowan says the Indiana Deaprtment of Environmental Management required the company to add the treatment equipment and lagoon to reduce total suspended solids being discharged into a receiving stream.

Bell has been in business since 2005-06.

Read the full article in the Star Press.

February 24, 2014
Vancouver Sun

Two British Columbia conservation groups are asking the federal auditor general to examine Ottawa's response to a $26-million public inquiry into the collapse of West Coast salmon stocks.

The Watershed Watch Salmon Society and SOS Marine Conservation Foundation have filed an environmental petition with the federal auditor.

The groups say in the 16 months since the report came out the government has failed to act on the recommendations.

Already, 18 recommended deadlines have come and go without any clear action, they say, and another looms next month.

The groups want the auditor general to compel the federal fisheries minister to reply to questions about salmon preservation in writing. 

Stan Proboszcz of Watershed Watch says the disregard for the inquiry recommendations is reminiscent of the collapse of cod stocks on the East Coast.

Read the article in the Vancouver Sun.

Read the WWSS/SOS environmental petitions: 
Environmental Petition#1; 
Environmental Petition #2

Read related articles:

• News 1130; March 3, 2014; First Nations concerned wild salmon could be wiped out
• Pique News; February 27, 2014; Local salmon advocate files federal petition
• CBC News; February 25, 2014; Fish farms seek new feed to fend off 'peak salmon' - Demand for salmon drives technological, feeding changes
• CBC News; February 25, 2014;B.C. groups seek federal auditor's help on salmon inquiry - Green groups say Ottawa failed to respond to Cohen Commission recommendations in salmon inquiry 
• Whistler Question; February 25, 2014; Salmon advocates file petition in response to 'shelving' of sockeye report- Local environmental group says it wants answers into lack of action on Cohen Inquiry 
• Vancouver Sun; February 24, 2014; B.C. groups target Harper’s response to Cohen Inquiry
  Globe and Mail; February 24, 2014; Don’t let salmon fishery go the way of East Coast cod, B.C. groups urge
• The Province; February 24, 2014; B.C. conservation groups ask federal watchdog to help end silence on West Coast salmon collapse 
• Western Star; February 24, 2014; Green groups seek federal auditor's help on $26-million B.C. salmon inquiry 
• Huffington Post; February 24, 2014; Green groups seek federal auditor's help on $26-million B.C. salmon inquiry 

Vancouver Sun
February 23, 2014

B.C. First Nations won a major victory Friday when a Federal Court judge granted an injunction blocking the opening this year of a herring fishery on the west coast of Vancouver Island.

The decision came after an internal memo revealed Fisheries Minister Gail Shea overruled recommendations of scientists in her own department.

The DFO memo revealed that department experts had recommended maintaining the herring fisheries closure for the 2014 season, and that Shea had nonetheless recommended opening the fishery in three disputed areas.

The memorandum to the minister, written by the federal herring co-ordinator in Vancouver, and signed by David Bevan, the DFO’s associate deputy minister, was based on recommendations of scientists and B.C. herring managers, but ultimately rejected by Shea. In a hand-printed note alongside her signature, Shea wrote, “The minister agrees to an opening at a conservative 10-per-cent harvest rate for the 2014 fishing season.”

The decision to open the commercial herring fisheries was a surprise. Shea announced her approval of the reopening on Dec. 23. Legal action was brought by five Nuu-chah-nulth Nations on Feb. 9, and heard Feb. 21 by Judge Leonard S. Mandamin.

The commercial roe herring fisheries on the west coast of Vancouver Island have been closed over conservation concerns since 2006. The fishery was also closed between 1968 and 1971 after a complete collapse of the herring population.

The memorandum for the minister, included as an attachment to affidavits filed by the DFO in defence of reopening the herring fisheries “was a total surprise,” said Don Hall, Uu-a-thluk program manager for the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council Fisheries, and was a key factor in the judge’s decision not to grant the commercial opening.

Read the full article in the Vancouver Sun.

FIS
February 21, 2014

The National Fisheries and Aquaculture Service (Sernapesca) reports that 16 salmon farms are now having a weekly average load equal to or greater than nine Caligus parasites per fish, one more than last week. Of these, only three centres rear rainbow trout, while the remaining farm Atlantic salmon.

Among all the reported centres with high proliferation of Caligus until 18 February, only three are in harvest status, while the remaining 13 centres are in fattening phase, as seen in the list released by Sernapesca.

Marine Harvest salmon farming company has already expressed some concern in its latest financial report, in which it noted, "Caligus levels in Chile are still worrying."

At the end of the Q4 of 2013, the burden of sea lice for Marine Harvest in Chile was higher than in the same period of 2012, so that the cost of salmon harvested was also higher due to higher feed costs and Caligus mitigation. The total cost per kilo of gutted salmon, head on packed was just above USD 5, according to reports by the company. 

Read the full article in FIS.

South Delta Leader
February 20, 2014

Federal Fisheries Minister Gail Shea visited the West Coast this week to sit down with fisheries groups and First Nations and listen to their concerns about the industry. The minister is following up on the 2012 Cohen Commission Report which made 75 recommendations, most of which apply to her portfolio. The commission was formed in 2009 following a sockeye run of only 1.5 million fish, although those numbers rebounded to 26 million last year.

She also met with about a dozen local fishermen and representatives from the fishing industry in Ladner on Monday, facilitated by fellow cabinet member and local MP Kerry-Lynne Findlay.

Shea said the federal government took steps to help the salmon industry in the new budget by dedicating all revenues collected from the Salmon Conservation Stamp to the Pacific Salmon Foundation. This is expected to increase the contribution by roughly $1 million per year and allow the foundation to fund additional projects to improve Pacific salmon habitat in partnership with communities.

Read the full article in the South Delta Leader.

Globe and Mail
February 18, 2014

A former government scientist whose marine toxicology program was shut down in 2012 has found a new home for his work at the Vancouver Aquarium.

Peter Ross, a leading expert on the effects of ocean pollution on killer whales and other marine mammals, found himself out of a job when the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) cut funding to his Sidney, B.C.-based lab. On Tuesday, the Vancouver Aquarium announced the creation of a new ocean pollution science program, headed by Dr. Ross, where he will continue some of the work he was doing with the DFO.

“[We’re going to be] looking at everything from the health of top-of-the-food-chain marine mammals and seabirds to the commercial and recreational targets of our fisheries,” Dr. Ross said. “That kind of research will better allow us to prioritize which pollutants we’re most worried about ... [and] allow [policy-makers] to make decisions that would mitigate and protect the ocean from those concerns.”

Building on Dr. Ross’s previous work, the new program will investigate the sources and effects of various pollutants and toxins on marine life, and the potential effects on industry and human health. Marine mammals are a good tool for this, Dr. Ross says, because they essentially collect samples of the ocean and its food web for him through their diet. Work will begin immediately, and the aquarium expects the new lab to be completed within six months.

Read the full article in the Globe and Mail.

The Tyee
February 14, 2014

Five member nations under the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council have filed an injunction against the Department of Fisheries and Oceans' (DFO) proposed reopening of commercial herring fisheries around the west coast of Vancouver Island.

"The nations are not convinced that the herring have rebuilt to a level where they should be opened up for commercial fisheries again," says Don Hall, fisheries program manager with the Nuu-chah-nulth Fisheries Department.

"Secondly, the five nation's aboriginal rights to an economic fishery were not addressed when Canada proposed the commercial herring fisheries," says Hall.

While only five of the 14 Nuu-chah-nulth members hold aboriginal rights to catch fish and sell them, all nations support the injunction and are concerned about conservation of the herring in their territories, says Hall.

The west coast of Vancouver Island have been closed for commercial herring fisheries since 2006 when stocks were deemed too low to sustain fisheries.

On Dec. 23, 2013, federal fisheries minister Gail Shea announced that the three areas again are ready for commercial herring fisheries. The Nuu-chah-nulth disagree.

"The assessment that the DFO has provided indicates that there is barely enough fish to start fishing in the first place," says Hall. "There needs to be more rebuilding of the herring stocks before a commercial fishery can open again."

Hall says there are few fish, they're small, and the spawning area is very spread out; all attributes that make it very challenging for commercial fishery to take place.

Read the full article in The Tyee.

Vancouver Sun
February 13, 2014

Canada's highest court won't hear salmon farming opponent Don Staniford's appeal of a ruling that he defamed one of B.C.'s largest salmon farming companies.

The Supreme Court of Canada released its decision Thursday and, as usual, offered no reasons.

Staniford hoped to fight a B.C. Court of Appeal decision that slapped him with $75,000 in damages for defaming Mainstream Canada in a campaign that alleged eating farmed salmon is as deadly as smoking.

Staniford's defence of fair comment was supported by a B.C. Supreme Court judge, but she also referred to Staniford as a "zealot'' and challenged his credibility.

In overturning the lower court ruling, B.C. Court of Appeal Justice David Tysoe granted a permanent injunction, requested by Norwegian-owned Mainstream, restraining Staniford from "publishing similar words and images in the future.''

Staniford has since moved to Scotland to lead the group Protect Wild Scotland, co-ordinating actions against salmon-farming companies in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and even back in B.C.

Read the full article in the Vancouver Sun.

Read related articles:  

• Times Colonist; December 24, 2013; Gagged fish-farm foe takes fight against industry to Scotland 
• Macleans; December 24, 2013; Fish-farm foe takes fight against industry to Scotland
• CBC News; December 24, 2013; B.C. fish-farm foe takes fight against industry to Scotland 
• Vancouver Sun; December 24, 2013; Gagged by B.C. court, fish-farm foe takes fight against industry to Scotland
• Montreal Gazette; December 24, 2013; Gagged by B.C. court, fish-farm foe takes fight against industry to Scotland; The Province; December 24, 2013; Gagged by B.C. court, fish-farm foe takes his fight to Scotland
• CTV News; December 24, 2013; Gagged by B.C. court, fish-farm fighter takes battle against industry to Scotland
• Yahoo News; December 24, 2013; Gagged by B.C. court, fish-farm foe takes fight against industry to Scotland
• Castanet.net; December 24, 2013; Fish-farm foe takes fight to Scotland 
• Sootoday; December 24, 2013; Fish-farm foe takes fight to Scotland
• Metro News; December 24, 2103; Fish-farm foe takes fight to Scotland aslo posted on MACLEANS under same title. 
• Mondaq; August 16, 2013; Canada: Controversial "Salmon Farming Kills" Campaign Declared Defamatory 
• Vancouver Observer; August 12, 2013; Wild salmon advocate learns $75,000 lesson in court so you won’t have to 
• Mondaq; August 12, 2013; Canada: The Second Opinion: B.C. Court Of Appeal Clarifies Defence Of Fair Comment 
• DeSmog Canada; August 12, 2103; The Chill Effect: Wild Salmon Advocate Learns $75,000 Lesson in Court So You Won’t Have To
• Mondaq; August 9, 2013; Canada: Fish Farm Company Silences Activist Opponent With Defamation Order; 
• The Fish Site; July 31, 2013; Mainstream Canada wins defamation appeal against anti-fish farm campaigner 
• Canada.com; July 25, 2013; "Anti-fish- farming activist must pay $75,000"
• The Vancouver Sun; July 23, 2013; "Appeal court awards fish farming giant $75K"
• Huffington Post; July 23, 2013; "Don Staniford, Salmon Activist, Ordered To Pay Fish Farm $75,000"
• FIS; July 23, 2013; "Mainstream wins appeal against defamation"
• Vancouver Sun; July 22, 2013; "B.C. fish farm company wins cash award in appeal against salmon farming 'zealot'"
• CBC; July 22, 2013; "Salmon farming company wins defamation lawsuit"
• Times Colonist; July 22, 2013; "B.C. fish-farm company wins cash award in appeal against salmon-farming 'zealot'"
• The Province; July 22, 2013; "Salmon-farming foe must pay $75,000 in defamation case"
• Campbell River Mirror; July 22, 2013; "Court orders activist to pay $75,000 to salmon farming company"
• The Common Sense Canadian; July 22, 2013; ‘Salmon Farming Kills' campaign ruled defamation on appeal" 

Fish News EU
February 10, 2014

THE biggest producer of farmed salmon in the Faroe Islands, Bakkafrost, has revealed that three routine samples of its fish have tested positive for the infectious salmon anaemia (ISA) virus, although it has not yet been confirmed whether the strain is pathogenic. 

The company hastens to add that the detection of a possible pathogenic ISA-virus is not connected to any increase in mortality, and there is no impact on fish health or fish welfare.

Three of the routine surveillance samples for RT-PCR analyses taken at farm A80, Selatrað by the Veterinary authority, have been tested ISAV-positive.

Further sequencing of these three ISA-virus positive samples showed a deletion in the HPR-region in one sample. However, post-mortem examination of fish in the farm did not show any pathological signs of ISA.

Bakkafrost has decided to activate the ISA-contingency plan immediately and so has enforced slaughtering of the last cage on the farming site A-80 Selatrað. The farm will be empty within some days. The average weight per fish is estimated to be approximately 5kg.

Read the full article in Fish News EU.

Read related article: 

• Undercurrent News; February 12, 2014; "ISA suspicions hit Bakkafrost shares"

Undercurrent News
February 11, 2014

High salmon prices saw Cermaq’s Chile salmon operations finally move out of the red in the fourth quarter of 2013, following six consecutive quarters of losses.

However, the group’s ex-cage costs for Atlantic salmon in Chile are still $1 above its target of $3.8 per kilo.

For the last three months of the year, Cermaq made earnings before interests and taxes (ebit) of NOK 214 million, compared to a loss of NOK 173m in Q4 2012.

The improvement was largely down to higher salmon prices, which have lifted earnings in all farming regions, the company noted. In Chile, it delivered a Q4 ebit of NOK 86m, after a loss of NOK 132m in 2012.

Fish health in Chile remains a concern, but the underlying development is positive and unit cost improved slightly compared to the previous quarter, Cermaq said.

Read the full article in Undercurrent News.

The Fish Site
February 11, 2014

Save Bantry Bay has called for a local salmon farming company to 'come clean' on the number of fish that escaped in a storm over a week ago.

The group, which was formed two years ago to oppose further salmon farming in the area, released a statement saying that they 'had been monitoring the situation since a storm on Saturday, 1 February.' They say they are 'surprised that the company has made no announcement.'

'According to reports we have received, one of the four cages at Gerahies, Bantry Bay dragged its anchor, upending into another cage. This led to an immediate escape of between 60,000 and 80,000 one year old fish as well as an undetermined number of smaller fish.'

'We are particularly concerned because of the very real likelihood of further escapees. The protective nets have been stripped by the gales and the seas are overtopping the cages, allowing salmon to escape and predators like seals to enter.'

'Their licence requires that they report all escapes to the Department of Agriculture without delay and this information should be available to us all through the local media.'

Read the full article on The Fish Site.

Seattle PI
February 9, 2014

Wisconsin could soon be a source of Atlantic Salmon, thanks to an entrepreneur who found a niche — and a bubbling spring just a mile east of the Mississippi River.

Kent Nelson, who owns a Prairie du Chien sawmill with his two brothers, is using the spring water to raise an estimated 30,000 Atlantic salmon. His first crop of 2- to 2½-pound, 2-year-old fish will be harvested this summer, and a new batch of 35,000 eggs will be hatched this spring, the Wisconsin State Journal reported Sunday (http://bit.ly/1d9u0Bb ).

The fish is native to the north Atlantic Ocean, but more than 90 percent of Atlantic salmon consumed in the U.S. is imported from farms in Chile, Norway, Scotland and Canada.

Nelson's Fish Farm is believed to be the only Midwestern business raising Atlantic salmon.

Read the full article in Seattle PI.

Read related articles:

• Journal Sentinel; February 9, 2014; "Lynxville man first to farm Atlantic salmon in Midwest"
• Journal Times; February 9, 2014; "Atlantic salmon: not from the ocean but from Wisconsin"
• News 8000; February 9, 2014; "Crawford Co. couple raises Atlantic Salmon"
• Wisconsin State Journal; February 9, 2014; "Raising Atlantic salmon in rural Wisconsin"
• The Washington Times; February 9, 2014; "Wis. man finds niche raising Atlantic salmon"
• Green Bay Press Gazette; February 10, 2014; "Wisconsin fish farm raises Atlantic salmon"
• Door County Advocate; February 10, 2014; "Wisconsin fish farm raises Atlantic salmon"
• Sheboygan Press; February 10, 2014; "Wis. man finds niche raising Atlantic salmon"
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Irish News
February 7, 2014

Ireland’s largest salmon farming company has attributed bad weather, warmer sea temperatures and jellyfish to its decision to halt harvesting of fish temporarily.

Marine Harvest, in its latest quarterly report, says it halted harvesting of salmon in January and February “in an effort to grow the fish”.

The report described Irish conditions as “very challenging”, and said severe storms had affected feeding and the ability to treat for sea lice and disease.

It said two sites were affected by pancreas disease and amoebic gill disease, and high occurrences of jellyfish were reported.

Accumulated losses amounted to over €4 million last year, according to the company.

National Mirror
February 7, 2014

A joint report by World Bank, FAO, and the International Food Policy Research Institute, IFPRI, has said that fish farming will provide close to two thirds of global food fish consumption by 2030.

According to the report released yesterday this would be made possible as catches from wild capture fisheries level off and demand from an emerging global middle class, especially in China, substantially increases.

The report highlighted the extent of global trade in seafood, which tends to flow heavily from developing to developed countries. According to FAO, at present 38 per cent of all fish produced in the world is exported and in value terms, over two thirds of fishery exports by developing countries are directed to developed countries.

“The “Fish to 2030” report finds that a major and growing market for fish is coming from China which is projected to account for 38 per cent of global consumption of food fish by 2030. China and many other nations are increasing their investments in aquaculture to help meet this growing demand.

Read the full article in the National Mirror.

Read related articles:

• Perishable News; February 11, 2014; "Fish Farms To Produce Nearly Two Thirds Of Global Food Fish Supply By 2030, Report Shows"
• Vibe Ghana; February 8, 2014; "Fish farms to produce nearly two thirds of global food"
• Black Sea Grain; February 7, 2014; "Nearly two-thirds of the seafood we eat will be farm-raised in 2030- World Bank"
• EcoLiving; February 7, 2014; "Fish Farms to Produce Two-Thirds of Global Supply by 2030"
• Balkans.com; February 7, 2014; "Nearly two-thirds of the seafood we eat will be farm-raised in 2030- World Bank"
• World Bank; February 5, 2014; "Raising More Fish to Meet Rising Demand"

Tech Times
February 6, 2014

A new discovery shows Pacific salmon inherit a magnetic map from their parents. Even when born in captivity, with no knowledge of the world around them, the fish align themselves in the direction of waterways followed by their ancestors.

In the wild, the young animals would start traveling toward feeding grounds. In captivity, they begin heading in the direction of feeding grounds used by previous generations. This ability to sense magnetic fields is used throughout the life of the animals.

"In essence, the fish act as though they have a map based on the magnetic field. When the fish experience a magnetic field that is north or south of their typical ocean range, they change their swimming direction to go back," Nathan Putman of Oregon State University said.

Salmon are believed to use both the angle and intensity of the Earth's magnetic field in order to determine their location. They then use that information to guide their travel. By being able to tell if they are slightly north or south of their intended locations, for example, the fish can change direction.

Read the full article in Tech Times.

North Island Gazette
February 6, 2014

Chief Bill Cranmer of the 'Namgis First Nation will be a featured presenter at an international conference on closed-containment aquaculture in New Brunswick in April.

The Atlantic Salmon Federation (ASF) and the Conservation Fund Freshwater Institute (TCFFI) will jointly host an Atlantic Salmon Closed-Containment Workshop April 29 adn 30 at ASF's headquarters near St. Andrews, NB. It the second such conference held at ASF that brings participants together to hear presentations and discuss the technology and operation of this increasingly popular method of farming fish.

Read the full article in the North Island Gazette.

February 4, 2014
Vancouver Sun

The federal government is giving $21,000 to B.C. salmon farmers to research best practices around the world, more than a year after a $26-million public inquiry made a litany of recommendations.

Conservative MP John Duncan says the funds will allow the B.C. Salmon Farmers Association to review international standards and practices in fish farming in order to identify potential improvements in the province.

The association will then develop a plan for the B.C.’s farmed salmon industry to maintain world-leading standards.

But critics says the federal government has done little to implement the measures already identified by the federal public inquiry into the collapse of the Fraser River sockeye run in 2009.

The Cohen commission made 75 recommendations in its October 2012 report, which raised questions about the effects on wild salmon from salmon farming in nets in the open ocean.

Duncan says the funds will help the B.C. fish farming industry improve confidence in its products, attract investment and increase exports.

Read in the Vancouver Sun

Read related news: 

• Digital Journal; February 4, 2014; Working with salmon farmers to implement leading international standards
• Western Economic Diversification media release; February 4, 2014; Working with BC Salmon Farmers to Implement Leading International Standards 
• Common Sense Canadian; February 4, 2014; Salmon farms net more tax dollars from Harper Govt to grow exports

The Scotsman
February 4, 2014

The magazine said the expansion of Scottish fish farms to meet the demand in China and elsewhere “threatens the future of the majestic wild fish”.

The Scottish Government plans to increase salmon farming production by 50 per cent by 2020, despite concerns that sea lice from fish farms are threatening the health of wild fish, including wild salmon.

The publication writes in its latest edition: “As the pesticides used by aquaculture to battle the sea lice grow ever stronger, wild salmon are exposed to infestations as their migratory routes take them through sea lochs bursting with farmed fish.

“Setting up more of these highly intensive farms is looking increasingly unsustainable as both wild and farmed fish will suffer in the attempt to meet China’s massive demand.

“If such blinkered thinking on this issue continues, we may see the wild salmon become as rare as the pandas in Edinburgh Zoo.”

At the end of last year, almost two-thirds of Scotland’s salmon farming companies publicly backed the new Aquaculture Steward Council’s “responsible farming” labelling scheme, and pledged to operate more sustainably and reduce their impacts on the environment.

Lang Banks, director of wildlife charity WWF Scotland, said the salmon farming industry in Scotland needed to focus on quality rather than quantity.

Read the full article in The Scotsman.

Chronicle Herald
February 4, 2014

Cooke Aquaculture’s True North Salmon Company salmon from Atlantic Canada and Maine has received Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) three-star certification.

“The BAP certification is a natural continuation of our company’s long-term commitment to quality seafood and responsible production,” said Cooke CEO Glenn Cooke in a news release Tuesday.

“A healthy marine environment is vital to our operations and certification through third parties ensures that we remain sustainable in our practices and helps us set goals for improvement.”

BAP certification is a division of the U.S.-based Global Aquaculture Alliance, an industry association.

According to the alliance website, certification is based on independent audits that evaluate compliance with achievable, science-based performance standards for the aquaculture supply chain, including farms, hatcheries, processing plants and feed mills.

Read the full article in the Chronicle Herald.

Read related article:

• The Fish Site; February 5, 2014; "True North Salmon Now Offering BAP, Three-Star Certified Salmon"

The Fish Site
February 4, 2014

The Atlantic Salmon Federation (ASF) and the Conservation Fund’s Freshwater Institute (TCFFI) will jointly host an Atlantic Salmon Closed-Containment Workshop on April 29 and 30 at ASF’s headquarters near St. Andrews, New Brunswick.

It’s the second such conference held at ASF that brings participants together to hear presentations and discuss the technology and operation of this increasingly-popular method of farming fish.

“We will have expertise in all aspects of land-based, closed containment systems from start-up costs and construction, fish health and welfare, organic and sustainability rankings, to marketing and promotion of the final product,” says Jonathan Carr, ASF’s Executive Director of Research and Environment.

“We’ll also be talking with suppliers and marketing experts including representatives from Sobeys and Loblaws.”

Government representatives with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans have also been invited to attend the two-day conference, along with industry representatives who have a strong interest in closed-containment aquaculture.

Halifax Media Co-op
February 3, 2014

The Ecology Action Centre, a Halifax-based NGO, has only been to court twice in its forty-three year history. When Environment Canada approved the manufacturing of genetically modified salmon late last year, however, they decided it was time to take the federal government to court again, says Susanna Fuller, Marine Conservation Coordinator for the organization.

“Going to court is never something that we want to do,” says Fuller. “But it's the only recourse [we have] in this case.”

In November, 2013, Canada became the first government in the world to give genetically modified (GM) salmon any kind of regulatory approval, making it the world’s first GM food animal to go into production.

AquaBounty, an American biotechnology company, which describes itself as “dedicated to the improvement of productivity in aquaculture,” is now growing the GM salmon eggs in P.E.I., and will transport them to Panama, where they will grow to full size.

The approval also allows the manufacture and grow-out of the GM salmon elsewhere in Canada, under certain conditions.

The Ecology Action Centre (EAC) asserts the federal government violated the Environmental Protection Act because it failed to assess whether GM salmon could become invasive, potentially putting ecosystems and wild salmon at risk. The EAC also takes issue with the lack of transparency and public consultation in the decision-making process.

Read the full article in Halifax Media Co-op.

FIS
Febraury 3, 2014

The recent outbreak of infectious salmon anaemia virus (ISA) in a farming centre in Chiloe rises up again the controversy over the health measures implemented in the salmon industry.

"All intensive production system entails greater potential of disease outbreaks. This is the case of salmon farming worldwide. In Chile, it has been controlled and we hope it continues like this," the president of the Association of Coho Salmon and Trout of Chile (Acotruch), told Aqua.

Last week, the harvest of salmon in cages in Traiguen 1 centre belonging to Invertec Pesquera Mar de Chiloe (Invermar) was completed, where an outbreak of infectious salmon anaemia (ISA) virus was detected in late January.

Meanwhile, the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Service (Sernapesca) established in the province of Chiloe (Region of Los Lagos), where the affected centre is, a five-mile (10 km) protection and high surveillance zone.

With reference to the surveillance measures in Salmon Concession Groups (ACS) and the creation of neighbourhoods, Traub said Acotruch considers ISA regulations "have been fruitful."

"It has been differentiated susceptible species regarding frequency and size of samples. Measures have been taken by area and this has prevented the spread of the disease to neighbouring centres," he added.

The ACS were established in January 2009 by publishing a resolution setting the sanitary zoning based on the presence of the ISA virus in regions of Los Lagos, Aysen and Magallanes.

To Acotruch president, "In general terms, the neighbourhoods have not worked well."

Read the full article in FIS.

Common Sense Canadian
February 1, 2014

I now have reliable figures on slaughtered fish payments of your taxpayer dollars to billion dollar Norwegian derivative fish farms in BC, and others across Canada. Cermaq Mainstream, Marine Harvest and Grieg Seafood may be happy to hear I will eat some crow, as the BC figures are much lower than my earlier estimate.

The reason for having to make estimates is that fish farms typically do their best to prevent the public knowing how much taxpayer money they receive from us for diseased fish that foul our pristine oceans. Behind the scenes, they often have lawyers trying to keep such numbers, and in the BC case, the disease records for testing of their farms, from the public, as happened during the Cohen Commission. He didn’t buy it.

Industry injunction kept taxpayer subsidies from public

In this case, a fish farm legal injunction made my request wait 10 months before our taxpayer dollars were put in a table and sent to me. My estimate of $35 million in BC is incorrect. The payments to Cermaq Mainstream’s IHN diseased Clayoquot Sound farmed salmon are: $2.64 Million for 959,498 diseased salmon (report date: Nov 2012); and, $201,000 for infected equipment and supplies (report date: Jan 2013). The total is $2.8 Million, or $3 per fish, not $30 per fish.

What has not made much news is that the Grieg Seafood open net operation in Sechelt also received payment for slaughtered IHN diseased fish: $1.61 Million for 312,032 diseased salmon (report date: Nov 2012); and, $152,000 for infected equipment and supplies (2013), or $5.60 per diseased salmon.

Aquaculture industry in Canada nets $50 million public dollars

Here’s the bottom line: in little more than a year, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency paid fish farms almost $50 Million taxpayer dollars for diseased slaughtered fish across Canada.

You see, in addition to the figures I received, I noticed the St. John’s Telegram newspaper reported $33 Million of taxpayer money given to fish farms in Atlantic Canada for slaughtered diseased fish. Their table shows a bunch of handouts pretty close to the often-quoted CFIA $30 per fish.

Read the full article in the Common Sense Canadian.

FIS
January 31, 2014

The harvest of the two cages in which the ISA virus was confirmed on Monday, located in Traiguen Centre 1, central Chiloe, belonging to Invertec Pesquera Mar de Chiloe (Invermar) ended yesterday.

It was reported by the National Director (S) of the National Service of Aquiculture and Fisheries (Sernapesca), Cecilia Solis, who added that the entire operation was conducted under the supervision of the institution’s inspectors.

The process began on Tuesday night in the presence of Sernapesca’s officials of Los Lagos region, who confirmed that the harvest was conducted in accordance with the conditions set out in the biosafety regulations at all times.

"As a Service, we have been present during the entire operation, supervising the fish harvest in the farming centre, its download at the point of landing, and its entrance to the processing plant," the director of the institution informed.

The authority reported that Sernapesca keeps active from the same Monday 27, a preventive health campaign in areas surrounding the positive centre. In this context, it has increased the monitoring frequency on Traiguen centre 1 and all Concession Group Centres No 10 and 9, in accordance with the protocols established for these events.

Read the full article on FIS.

The Province
January 30, 2014

The federal government has lost its bid to overturn a British Columbia court decision that recognized First Nations' rights to a commercial fishery.

The Supreme Court of Canada announced Wednesday it has dismissed Ottawa's application for leave to appeal the lower court decisions, bringing an end a long legal fight with five of the Nuu-chah-nulth nations of Vancouver Island.

"The decision is an overwhelming victory for the Nuu-chah-nulth Nation, who have spent more than a decade fighting the case," said Deb Foxcroft, President of the tribal council.

"The Nuu-cha-nulth people have always been involved in commercial fishery but they've been pushed out of this fishery because of the government's policies and regulations."

The five bands — the Ahousaht, Ehattesaht/Chinekint, Hesquiaht, Mowachaht/ Muchalaht, and Tla-o-qui-aht — said fisheries formed the backbone of their trading economy long before the arrival of Europeans.

They argued, successfully, that translates into a right to conduct a modern commercial fishery for fish and shellfish, and not just a subsistence food fishery.

Read the full article in The Province.

Wall Street Journal
January 28, 2014

OriginOil Inc. (OTCBB: OOIL), developer of Electro Water Separation(TM) (EWS), the high-speed, chemical-free process to clean up large quantities of water, announced today that it will collaborate with Israel's AquaGreen Fish Farms, Ltd to further streamline zero-discharge aquaculture systems for the production of chemical free seafood. The agreement followed a high-profile launch of OriginOil's Permanent Showcase in December (video at www.vimeo.com/85059925).

"We are proud to be the first industry player to integrate OriginOil's water treatment breakthrough," said Michael Rachin, AquaGreen's CTO. "We have been watching its development with great interest and were only waiting for a field demonstration.

"After the launch at Aqua Farming Tech in Southern California, we decided to begin integration of OriginOil's water treatment system into our zero-discharge intensive fish farming operations to remove fish waste, such as ammonia, and control fish disease," Rachin continued.

Read the full article in the Wall Street Journal.

Wall Street Journal
January 28, 2014

Marine Harvest rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange today, marking the beginning of a new era for the salmon farming industry.

This is a big day for Marine Harvest and the salmon farming industry, says Alf-Helge Aarskog, CEO of Marine Harvest. Together with Chairman Ole Eirik Lerøy he had the honor of ringing the opening bell at the NYSE today.

Marine Harvest, the world's leading seafood company, is the first aquaculture company to be listed at the NYSE. The company controls about 22 % of the global production of farmed Atlantic salmon, the most industrialized and commercially developed aquaculture specie.

According to the UN, the world must increase its food production by 70 percent by 2050. As much as 70 percent of the globe is covered by water. Yet, only six percent of the world's protein supply is sourced from the oceans today. The potential is enormous, says Aarskog.

Read the full article in the Wall Street Journal.

Read related article:

• Yahoo Finance; January 28, 2014; "Marine Harvest listed at New York Stock Exchange"

The Fish Site
January 27, 2014

EWOS has developed sophisticated health feeds that support farmed salmon through recovery from inflammatory diseases like pancreas disease (PD), heart skeletal muscle inflammation (HSMI) and cardio-myopathy syndrome (CMS). The results are improved growth and survival.

Over the past 10 years there has been a considerable increase in the incidence of viral diseases affecting salmon farming operations, leading to huge financial costs for the industry.

“Often occurring simultaneously, the diseases have demonstrated that a grouped approach is required. EWOS Innovation identified the necessity of this five years ago, and the approach will be the theme for the Tri-Nation meeting on the 4th of February,” said Simon Wadsworth, principal scientist at EWOS Innovation.

Since 2006, EWOS has undertaken an intensive research programme to assess the effects of dietary modulation upon farmed salmon that have been challenged by these viruses.

“This has led to the successful development of the combined clinical diet, EWOS alpha. It supports tissue recovery in fish challenged with one or more virus, thus improving growth and survival,” said Mr Wadsworth.

Documented effects include a reduction in the pathology to heart, liver and pancreatic tissue and reduced viral levels. There have also been strong, positive effects upon immune and physiological responses.

Read the full article on the Fish Site.

FIS
January 21, 2014

Marine Harvest Canada has received Ministry of Environment approval for a new sea lice management option for farm-raised salmon. 

Hydrogen peroxide (Brand name Interox™ Paramove 50™) will enable the company to continue to effectively manage sea lice and reduce its use of the drug emamectin benzoate (Brand name SLICE™) - the only effective treatment previously available to BC salmon farmers.

"Our current use of SLICE™ is minimal and has been very successful," says Clare Backman, Marine Harvest Canada's Director of Sustainable Programs. "However, strict 3rd party salmon certification standards that Marine Harvest has achieved presses for continued reduction of SLICE over time, so we are pleased to have another option for sea lice management."

Marine Harvest states that Paramove 50™ has been used successfully in other salmon farming jurisdictions. This product is applied topically as a bath to remove small external fish parasites attached to the salmon. After treatment, the solution rapidly breaks down into natural compounds: water and oxygen.

Read the full article on FIS.

The Conversation
January 21, 2014

It is an enduring mystery how juvenile salmon, at 12cm long and weighing perhaps only 20g, can leave a Scottish river in springtime, undertake a sojourn of thousands of kilometres around the North Atlantic, and return between one and four years later to their rivers to spawn.

This is for good reason. A returning salmon, known as a grilse, will have grown 100-fold in size from the rich feeding to be found at sea. But the journey is not without risk. Between 80-90% of grilse, and fewer still multi-winter fish, will not survive their journey.

But the serious problems wild salmon now face at sea go beyond the hardships of their itinerant lifecycle. These have been intensively researched throughout Europe and North America, and it’s clear that in recent decades salmon mortality rates at sea have increased enormously. While possible causes include natural predation, disease and parasites, or being caught up in fishery by-catch, the truth is we just don’t know.

My research, in collaboration with Marine Scotland Science, has focused not on mortality rates and population decline, but on the changes in size and quality of salmon returning to Scottish rivers over the past 50 years. This variation seems to stem from the effects of climate change on the ocean, and the anomalously high temperatures salmon find in the North Atlantic.

Read the full article in The Conversation.

CTV News
January 20, 2014

A trio of environmental groups has filed a suit in Federal Court challenging Environment Canada's decision to approve the production of genetically modified Atlantic salmon eggs.

The suit contends the federal department did not follow its own legislated rules and do a full risk assessment before clearing a U.S. company to produce the eggs in Prince Edward Island.

The court challenge demands the release of documents that could show how the Harper government makes regulatory decisions.

Boston-based Aquabounty Technologies says it has found a way to make Atlantic salmon grow twice as fast as normal by modifying eggs with genes from chinook salmon and an eel-like fish called the ocean pout.

The genetically modified fish are being grown in Panama, but environmentalists are worried they could become an invasive species that would wipe out native Atlantic salmon.

Health Canada and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have yet to approve the sale of the eggs, or of the fish itself for human consumption.

Lawyer Will Amos of the group Ecojustice says the legal challenge was actually filed Dec. 23.

The suit was not publicly announced until Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq, Health Minister Rona Ambrose and manufacturer Aquabounty Technologies had been formally served notice.

Read the full article in CTV News.

Read related articles:

• Kingston Community News; January 27, 2014; "New GMO-labeling bill fails to appease fish farms"
• FishNewsEU; January 21, 2014; "GM Salmon in the dock"
• The Province; January 20, 2014; "Environment groups sue to stop production of genetically modified salmon eggs"
• Chronicle Herald; January 20, 2014 "Feds face salmon egg lawsuit"
• FIS; January 20, 2014; "GMO labelling battle restarts"
• ABC News; January 18, 2014; "GMO Labeling Debate Shifts to Olympia"
• Washington Times; January 17, 2014; "GMO labeling debate shifts to Olympia"
• The Motley Fool; January 5, 2014; "This Engineered Salmon Could Double World Production: Should You Fear Frankenfish?"
• World Fishing & Aquaculture; December 4, 2013; "Call for GM salmon labelling"
• Queensland Country News; December 16, 2013; 'Frankenfish': food's future
• CBC News; December 16, 2013; Lack of GMO salmon egg export limit puzzles scientists - AquaBounty approved for commercial exports by Environment Canada 
• The Fish Site; December 4, 2013; "Marine Harvest Calls for Labeling of GM Salmon"
• Daily Mail; December 2, 2013; How long before YOU are eating frankenfish: It grows at terrifying speed and could wipe out other species. The GM super salmon muscling its way onto your plate; 
• Fishnewseu; November 29, 2013; Canadian Clearance for ‘Frankenfish"
• CBC News; November 27, 2013; GMO salmon firm clears one hurdle but still waits for key OKs
• The Huffington Post; November 27, 2013; GMO salmon firm clears one hurdle but still waits for key OKs
• MSN News; November 27, 2013; GMO salmon firm clears one hurdle but still waits for key OKs
• Daily Mail; November 26, 2013; Would you eat a ‘Frankenfish;? GM salmon that grows twice as fast as its natural counterpart gets production go-ahead
• The Star; November 25, 2013; Environment Canada approves commercial production of genetically modified salmon
• London South East; November 25, 2013; "AquaBounty Surges As It Moves Step Closer To Commercial Production"
• CBC News; November 27, 2013; GMO salmon criticisms 'don't merit comment'
• CBC News; November 27, 2013; GMO salmon firm clears one hurdle but still waits for key Oks – AquaBounty began seeking American approval in 1995
• World Fishing & Aquaculture; November 26, 2013; AquaBounty production deemed safe for Canada 
• Grist; November 26, 2013; Canada approves export of genetically modified salmon 
• CBC News; November 25, 2013; Genetically-modified salmon eggs approved commercially
• The Globe and Mail; November 25, 2013; U.S. firm takes step to bring genetically modified fish into commercial production
• The Guardian; November 25, 2013; Canada approves production of GM salmon eggs on commercial scale
• The Montreal Gazette; November 25, 2013; GM fish takes step to commercial production, sparking 'frankenfish' worries
• Edmonton Journal; November 25, 2013; GM fish takes step to commercial production, sparking 'frankenfish' worries
• The Province; November 25, 2013; GM fish given green light for commercial production, sparking 'frankenfish' worries
• The Wall Street Journal; November 25, 2013; AquaBounty Cleared To Produce Salmon Eggs In Canada For Commercial Purposes
• The Fish Site; November 25, 2013; AquaBounty GM Salmon Eggs Cleared for Production in Canada 
• Stock Market Wire; November 25, 2013; AquaBounty cleared for commercial production in Canada
• Agra-Net; November 25, 2013; Canadian officials allow commercial production of GM salmon eggs
• Food Navigator-net; November 25, 2013; GE salmon a step closer to commercialization as Environment Canada says AquaBounty's AquAdvantage Salmon are not harmful to the environment or human health

Seafood Source
January 20, 2014

A Danish company has harvested Atlantic salmon for the first time from its new commercial land-based aquaculture farm, according to Atlantic Sapphire, a Norwegian firm that has invested in the farm.

The farm, located at Langsand Laks, is named Oceanus, and can produce up to 1,000 metric tons (MT) a year according to Atlantic Sapphire. The farm uses a recirculating aquaculture system, where the water is constantly being recycled, filtered and purified using ultraviolet light treatment.

A number of Danish seafood companies are in charge of the farm, with Atlantic Sapphire supporting it as well. In an announcement, the company claimed the farm was one of the first truly bio-secure salmon farms in the world.

"This is the first positive step forward for cleaning up our waterways as it proves that commercial fish can be produced successfully and sustainably on land using this new technology," said Lars Brinch Thygesen, an environmental consultant with Danish Angler's Association.

Read the full article in Seafood Source.

Read related article:

• Undercurrent News; January 20, 2014; "Danish on-land salmon farm aims for 1,000t harvest"

CBC
January 14, 2014

A salmon processing plant in Harbour Breton will not be re-opening anytime soon, although the building itself may yet have a future in the fishery.

Salmon processed at Cooke Aquaculture plant

Cooke Aquaculture said it has been told by its landlord, the Barry Group, that its lease will not be renewed. The handover date will be Jan. 31.

"The landlord has stated publicly that they intended to operate the facility after our lease expires," Chuck Brown, communications manager for New Brunswick-based Cooke Aquaculture, said in a statement to CBC News.

"We informed our employees on Friday and we want to express our appreciation to them for their support since we started production in 2008."

Read the full article in CBC.

Read related article:

• CBC; January 15, 2014; "Harbour Breton fish plant workers face uncertainty"
• The Fish Site; January 16, 2014; "Cooke Aquaculture to Move from Harbour Breton"
• FIS; January 16, 2014; "Cook stops operating at Harbour Breton facility"
• The Telegram; January 14, 2014; "Cooke Aquaculture’s lease not renewed in Harbour Breton"

Peter O'Neil
January 15, 2014; Vancouver Sun

The Harper government has quietly opened the door to a major expansion of B.C.’s controversial fish farm sector despite warnings by the 2012 Cohen Commission about the effects of net-based farms on wild salmon.

The decision, revealed to fish farmers by Fisheries Minister Gail Shea in October, was laid out in letters to several B.C. First Nations last week.

An official in Shea’s department said Wednesday that Ottawa has already received 13 applications for expansions or new farms.

Shea’s letter said applications will be accepted for everywhere except the Discovery Islands archipelago between Campbell River and the B.C. mainland.

Justice Bruce Cohen’s 2012 report on the 2009 collapse of the Fraser River sockeye run urged Ottawa to maintain a ban on new farms in that archipelago.

Critics say the lifting of the 2011 moratorium violates the spirit of the Cohen report and could cause disaster for wild salmon stocks. And they condemned the lack of transparency by the government.

DFO spokeswoman Melanie Carkner said Wednesday the government is reviewing nine applications to expand production at existing sites and two new sites, for a total increase of 16,640 tonnes of capacity. Tonnage refers to the peak weight of fish a farm is allowed to have in the water.

“All applications … will continue to be evaluated through the lens of environmental sustainability and engagement with First Nations and other stakeholders,” said Carkner, who added that Canada has “some of the strictest regulations” in the world.

The letter to First Nations last week refers to the first of the new applications.

Norwegian company Cermaq Canada Ltd. wants to dramatically expand capacity, to 460 tonnes from 10 tonnes, at its Cypress Harbour broodstock facility in the Broughton Archipelago, a fish farm-heavy area near the northeast end of Vancouver Island. Cypress Harbour provides eggs and sperm for fish farms and Cermaq says they want to move production to this site from other operations.

Shea’s letter said the government is not putting wild stocks at risk. “Our government is committed to protecting and conserving fish habitat in support of coastal and inland fisheries resources.”

But critics said Wednesday Shea’s decision overlooks Cohen’s warning about the risks of fish farms, a warning that applies to all B.C. salmon stocks even though the judge was limited to making recommendations relating to the Fraser sockeye.

“The decision to expand destructive aquaculture practices anywhere along B.C.’s coast is a huge betrayal of the concerns raised in the Cohen inquiry,” said Watershed Watch Salmon Society executive director Craig Orr.

“They’re not applying the principles in Cohen that led to that moratorium (for the Discovery Islands) to our territories,” said Chief Councillor Bob Chamberlain of the Kwikwasutinuxw Haxwa’mis First Nation, based on Gilford Island in the Broughton Archipelago.

Orr noted that coho and especially young pinks and chums are far less mature than the Fraser River sockeye when they pass by the area’s fish farms. He said the pinks and chums weigh on average “barely a gram” when they exit rivers to pass by fish farms and are a tenth the size of young Fraser sockeye facing the same challenges in the Discovery Islands area.

Read the full story in the Vancouver Sun

Read related stories:

• The Peak; February 4, 2014; "BC expansion causes fish farming fury"
• Common Sense Canadian; January 27, 2014; "Chief sees major salmon farm expansion on horizon – issues urgent plea to “lock arms”"
• Courier Islander; January 17, 2014; "Ottawa opens doors for fish farm expansion"
• BC Almanac (CBC Radio) ; January 16, 2014; Feds lift ban on salmon farm expansion applicaitons
• Vancouver Sun; January 16, 2014; Fish farmers see opportunities as DFO lifts freeze on licences 

Phys.org
January 13, 2014

Increasingly, plant-based ingredients are being substituted for marine ingredients in fish feed. Is there a limit to how much of a vegetarian diet salmon can tolerate? Marta Bou Mira is seeking answers.

Read the full article in Phys. org.

Peter O'Neil
December 19, 2013
Vancouver Sun

The federal government has transferred its authority to assess whether a pipeline would damage fish and fish habitat from the Fisheries Department to the National Energy Board.

The agreement between Fisheries and the NEB was announced Monday, the day Kinder Morgan announced it has submitted its $5.4-billion plan to expand and modernize its pipeline from Alberta to Burnaby.

The federal transfer, called "disturbing" by one fisheries watchdog group, was done as part of a broader Harper government program to "streamline application processes by eliminating the requirement for duplicate reviews," according to an NEB news release.

It is also intended to "promote clarity and consistency of the regulatory decision-making process."

As a result, the NEB "will now be responsible for assessing potential impacts to fisheries from proposed NEB-regulated pipeline and power line applications."

The Fisheries Department's agreement with the NEB, a quasi-judicial independent bodybased in Calgary, includes a commitment to bring in "training and other knowledge transfer mechanisms" to the NEB to deal with fisheries protection and species at-risk matters.

Craig Orr, of the Watershed Watch Salmon Society, said the federal government is making a "disturbing" move.

"What expertise does the NEB bring relative to the Fisheries Act?" said Orr, noting that even Fisheries Department officials are struggling to explain to the public the nuances of the new legislation introduced in 2012 on fisheries habitat protection.

"So how much confidence should the public have in the NEB's ability to assure Canadians fisheries values would be protected with pipeline development?"

"DFO's continual willingness to further downgrade protection of critical habitat for Pacific salmon is shocking," said Green party leader Elizabeth May. She said it's now clear the federal definitions of recreational, commercial, and aboriginal fisheries under the new protection scheme came straight from industry lobbying.

"We need to restore the Fisheries Act to its previous effectiveness, and we need to push back against changing B.C.'s classifications of what constitutes a recreational fishery."

Source: The Vancouver Sun

Read related article:

• Common Sense Canadian; January 11, 2014; "Harper guts more fish protections: NEB takes over habitat along pipelines"

Undercurrent News
January 10, 2014

Ten outbreaks of infectious salmon anemia (ISA) were confirmed in Norwegian salmon farms last year, up from just two cases in 2012, reported Kyst.no, citing data from the Norwegian veterinary institute.

That is the highest number of outbreaks seen in Norway since 2009, when ten cases were also detected.

The Nordland department was home to eight of last year’s outbreaks, with the two others occurring in Troms and Sogn og Fjordane.

In 2012, More og Romsdal was home to both the year’s outbreaks, while in 2009, seven of the outbreaks were in Troms, and three in Nord Trondelag.

Nevertheless, 2008 remains the worst ISA year of the past decade for Norwegian farmers. A total of 16 ISA cases were reported that case, of which nine were in Troms.

Read the full article in Undercurrent News.

CBC
January 10, 2014

Scientists across the country are expressing growing alarm that federal cutbacks to research programs monitoring areas that range from climate change and ocean habitats to public health will deprive Canadians of crucial information.

“What’s important is the scale of the assault on knowledge, and on our ability to know about ourselves and to advance our understanding of our world,” said James Turk, executive director of the Canadian Association of University Teachers.

In the past five years the federal government has dismissed more than 2,000 scientists, and hundreds of programs and world-renowned research facilities have lost their funding. Programs that monitored things such as smoke stack emissions, food inspections, oil spills, water quality and climate change have been drastically cut or shut down.  

This week, scientists went public with concerns that irreplaceable science could be lost when Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) libraries are closed. DFO plans to shut down seven of its 11 libraries by 2015. Already, stories have emerged about books and reports thrown into dumpsters and the general public being allowed to rummage through bookshelves.

Read the full article in CBC.

The Coaster
January 9, 2014

The Coast of Bays had its share of aquaculture related news stories in 2013 that highlighted some of the major events in the industry.

The following is a capsule of some of these items that the Coaster carried last year.

Read the full article in The Coaster.

Sou'Wester
January 9, 2014

The provincial aquaculture industry in Newfoundland and Labrador is expected to achieve record-breaking production value two years in a row, as it is projected to generate more than $180 million in 2013. In 2012, the total production value of provincial finfish and shellfish aquaculture exceeded $120 million.

“The Provincial Government is very proud of our partnership with the industry, and our efforts to promote the sustainable growth of aquaculture through investments, programming, and regulation," says Keith Hutchings, Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture. "Since 2006, we have provided more than $25 million to foster the success of the industry, which has helped double the number of finfish sites in the province, helped mussel production reach unprecedented volumes, and created employment for approximately 1,000 people in rural communities.”

Read the full article in the Sou'Wester.

CBC
January 7, 2014

Consumer demand for sustainable farmed seafood is growing, but the food supply for the salmon in the pens is running thin – there are simply not enough fish in the sea.

“Historically, fishmeal [ground-up wild fish] has been a relatively inexpensive and highly nutritious [fish food] source,” says Ian Forster, an aquatic animal nutrition scientist for Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

However, according to The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture, a 2012 report by the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization, fish farming has been growing by almost nine per cent each year for the past 30 years – to the point where demand for fish food is exceeding supply.

Soon, Atlantic salmon could be grown in the prairies

The price of fishmeal has been rising steadily as a result, and changes in ocean currents during El Niño years cause the already maxed-out fish stocks to dwindle even further, sending prices skyrocketing periodically.

Feed manufacturers are trying to find ways to maximize the amount of fishmeal and oils they can get from the heads and tails and trimmings that would normally be discarded by the seafood industry.

But in order to shift our dependence away from wild-caught fish stocks and protect fish farmers against the year-to-year variability in feed prices, scientists are racing to develop alternative sources of food.

The trick is finding a way to get these finicky farmed fish to expand their edible horizons.

Read the full article on CBC.

Globe and Mail
January 7, 2014

Scientists knew last spring that the Department of Fisheries and Oceans was closing seven of its 11 regional libraries housing decades of aquatic research.

But it was not until they saw the shelves being cleared, the books and journals being scooped up for free by private companies, and the scientific reports being hauled off to the dumpster that the magnitude of the purge hit home.

The department says it will save $430,000 annually by consolidating material that “remains pertinent to the department’s mandate” in two primary locations – the Institute of Ocean Sciences in Sidney, B.C., and the Bedford Institute of Oceanography in Dartmouth, N.S. – and two specialized collections.

“The decision to consolidate our network of libraries was based on value for taxpayers,” Fisheries Minister Gail Shea said in a statement on Tuesday.

“An average of only five to 12 people who work outside of DFO visit our 11 libraries each year,” the statement said. “It is not fair to taxpayers to make them pay for libraries that so few people actually use.”

The primary users of the libraries were DFO scientists, who prefer to obtain their information digitally, said Sophie Doucet, a spokeswoman for Ms. Shea.

Peter Wells, an adjunct professor and senior research fellow at the International Ocean Institute at Dalhousie University in Halifax, said it is not surprising few members of the public used the libraries. But “the public benefits by the researchers and the different research labs being able to access the information,” he said.

Scientists say it is true that most modern research is done online.

But much of the material in the DFO libraries was not available digitally, Dr. Wells said, adding that some of it had great historical value. And some was data from decades ago that researchers use to determine how lakes and rivers have changed.

Read the full article in the Globe and Mail.

Huffpost Alberta
January 6, 2014

The unmitigated use of antibiotics in agriculture is pushing humanity into a global public health crisis, a new paper by a University of Calgary professor states.

U of C economics professor Aidan Hollis says the overabundance of antibiotics being used by the agriculture and aquaculture industries is increasingly putting the health of humans at risk and he suggests implementing a user fee on the non-human use of antibiotics in order to curb the practice.

In a newly released paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Hollis says the widespread use of antibiotics is helping bacteria become resistant to the most effective defence humans have against the microbes - antibiotics.

"Modern medicine relies on antibiotics to kill off bacterial infections," says Hollis.

"This is incredibly important. Without effective antibiotics, any surgery - even minor ones - will become extremely risky.

"Cancer therapies, similarly, are dependent on the availability of effective antimicrobials. Ordinary infections will kill otherwise healthy people."

Hollis, along with study co-author Ziana Ahmed, states that in the U.S., 80 per cent of antibiotics are used by the agriculture and aquaculture industries, not by people.

Read the full article in Huffpost Alberta.

Read related articles:

• Phys.org; January 10, 2014; "Researchers aim to get upstream on antibiotic resistance"
• Huffpost Alberta; January 2, 2014; "Academic Advocates Fee for Antibiotics Used in Vet Medicine"

The Fish Site
January 6, 2014

A PhD research project at the Norwegian School of Veterinary Science has provided essential knowledge about the mechanisms leading to feed-induced enteritis in salmon and also insight into the salmon's intestinal immune defence system.

This research provides a good foundation for developing new types of salmon feed, which must be based on new ingredients.

Norwegian salmon farming has experienced an extremely high growth rate since its small beginnings in 1970 and the industry seems to be still growing. Fundamental and targeted research has always been an important prerequisite for this growth. Nevertheless, we still do not know enough about a number of fundamental, biological factors that are essential for achieving continued growth in the industry and for safeguarding fish welfare.

One example is a lack of basic understanding about the physiology of the salmon's digestive system in the early stages of life. Furthermore, we know little about the long-term consequences for the development and health of salmon when feed based on marine ingredients is replaced by alternative feed sources – an issue that profoundly affects future growth in the industry.

Read the full article on The Fish Site.

Evelyn Boychuk
January 6, 2014
CBC News

As its name implies, the Atlantic salmon has always been seen as an ocean dweller. But the Canadian fishing industry is on the verge of being able to grow this saltwater fish anywhere – including, hypothetically, in the prairie provinces.

The Namgis closed containment facility on Vancouver Island is the first salmon farm in North America to grow Atlantic salmon on a commercial scale in a completely land-based aquaculture system.

“It’s no longer possible to say that recirculation aquaculture systems … are not possible for Atlantic salmon, because we’re living proof that is [not] the case,” says Jackie Hildering, community liaison for the Namgis closed-containment project.

The Canadian aquaculture industry has been around for a little over 30 years. It generates more than $2 billion annually and employs nearly 15,000 people from coastal and rural communities, says Ruth Salmon, executive director of the Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance.

Hildering says the Atlantic salmon is to fish-farming what the Holstein cow is to the dairy industry. "It’s been bred for so many years to be the one that does well within a farmed situation — it’s a larger fish, it has good fat content.”

Traditionally, farmed Atlantic salmon are grown from an egg to a certain size in hatcheries on land. Then they're transferred to a floating net-pen just offshore on the east or west coast of Canada.

Most Canadian net-pen fish farms are “certified by a third party to global [aquaculture] standards, or are well on their way to becoming certified,” says Salmon.

Even with certified farming practices, disease and parasite outbreaks are fairly common in net-pen aquaculture. One of the issues for the ocean-based industry is that other than the walls of the cage that are made with netting, there is no barrier between farmed and wild fish. When an infection sets in, it is often treated with antibiotics or pesticides and not reported to the consumer.

​With concern growing about potential disease outbreak in fish and negative environmental impacts of net-pen methods, the Namgis First Nation sought to bring salmon farming inland where everything flowing in and out of the facility can be controlled, says Hildering.

Read the complete news item on CBC News.

Also on FIS.

Science Daily
January 2, 2014

Many popular measures to combat overfishing help conserve mostly small juvenile fish. The results from a set of international studies may now revolutionize fishing regulations.

Before it lands on our plate, any wild fish should spawn at least once. This is a basic principle in fishery management. Accordingly, professional fishers and recreational anglers have to release any fish they catch that is smaller than the minimum size stipulated in many fisheries regulations; only the big ones they are allowed to retain. However, this policy does not take into account the extraordinary ecological importance of large spawners, as was pointed out in several recent studies led by Dr Robert Arlinghaus, Professor for Integrative Fisheries Management, of the Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) and the Humboldt-University of Berlin. The unintended consequences are lower harvest in terms of number of fish and smaller fish within the stock. Scientists from the Australia, Germany and the United States now propose that it might be better to implement harvest slots as an alternative to the popular minimum size regulation in recreational fisheries. These 'harvest windows' would protect both the young offspring and the experienced heavyweights, and at the same time conserve the big fish that are rather popular with hobby anglers.

Read the complete story on Science Daily.