A person in your position really should not be telling members of the public that Norway is protecting their wild fish while sustainably farming salmon. In fact, their sea lice problem is disastrous as the farm lice become to resistant to the same drug, and more, as we use here. They will have to use a drug so toxic to humans the value of the product will be highly questionable, or they will have to cull a substantial portion of the industry in hopes they can turn back the evolution of drug resistance in sea lice. Drug resistant lice are a threat to farm salmon as well as the wild salmon.
As for the Norwegian fish farm industry’s unregulated consumption of wild BC fish in closed areas and seasons, the DFO policy for Access to Wild Aquatic Resources which you offer below, has never been implemented.
A summons has been issued to Marine Harvest to appear in court in January in response to charges laid under the Fisheries Act for illegal possession of wild fish. It is my hope that the courts will address this issue where DFO has failed for decades. People have phoned and emailed DFO about by-catch for years and I would be very interested to hear from you what action has been taken as I have not been able to find an indication of “action.”
And finally, since ISA has destroyed 70% of the Norwegian and Chilean fish farm industry in Chile and is now found everywhere these companies operate worldwide, I feel it is the federal government’s responsibility to simply test every BC fish farm and freshwater Atlantic salmon hatchery right now to make certain it is not here already. So many people now come to me instead of government with rumors and observations about salmon farms, that I fear I am better informed than you are and I am telling you, you must test now!
If ISA does turn up in BC waters, there is a long list of people such as yourself and the Minister who have explicitly failed to act on this simple request. This is a very small request given impact this virus could have on the North Pacific.
Mr. Kamp, the Norwegian fish farm industry’s rapacious need to continuously grow to feed its stock market share prices has caused them enormous problems everywhere they go and it appears to me that nature, itself is evicting the industry from the waters they have fouled. In Chile they cannot rid the waters of a Norwegian strain of ISA virus. To remain viable the industry has had to downsize enormously and there is no clear indication the virus will ever allow them to return at previous levels. ISA virus is also now lodged in Scotland and the Faroe Islands. Norway has learned to deal with the virus, but now has drug resistant lice threatening the industry and the last wild salmon. The ONLY coast biologically still favourable to these Norwegian salmon farmers is BC! And yet the industry is following its same modus operandi....expand expand expand, risky drug use to suppress the lice, continue to move eggs from the North Atlantic into ISA virus –free regions.
I cannot understand why you and the Minister are so enamored with this failing industry when you are “governing” one of the largest wild salmon producing coasts in the world. Please take a good hard look at what you are saying and promoting and what is actually going on. None of it makes sense.
If you want fish farms, look to the Canadians who are trying to reinvent the industry on land. The Province will not even meet with them. There is something deeply disturbing about Norwegian fish farming in Canada at every level and I hope 2010 is the year we bring reason to this through the courts.
Best wishes to all in the New Year,
Alexandra Morton
Begin forwarded message:
From: "XNCR, Min" <Min@DFO-MPO.GC.CA>
Date: December 11, 2009 8:54:20 AM PST (CA)
To: <shpr@vcn.bc.ca>
Subject: Reply from Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Ms. Sheila Pratt
Dear Ms. Pratt:
This is in response to your correspondence of November 16 and 17, 2009, addressed to the Honourable Gail Shea, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, in which you follow up on your earlier correspondence regarding Pacific salmon. I have been asked to respond on Minister Shea’s behalf. I will also respond to your correspondence of October 7, November 12 and 23, 2009, directly addressed to me regarding the issue of salmon farms and licensing.
You ask what Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) is doing to protect wild fish. Ms. Susan Farlinger’s response of November 12, 2009, provided some detail of DFO’s actions, and I have outlined below additional measures taken by the Department on the specific topics you mention.
I am aware that other jurisdictions with salmon aquaculture have also experienced issues with sea lice. Countries such as Norway, Ireland and Scotland have also developed their own management strategies to address the risks posed by sea lice, while maintaining economically sustainable industries.
Regarding your concerns about wild salmon entering farm pens, DFO’s policy for Access to Wild Aquatic Resources outlines the process for the aquaculture sector to request a licence that permits retention of wild fish that enter net pens. The aquaculture industry has been made aware of this policy in our advisory process meetings, and companies have not approached the Department for this type of authorization.
The industry is encouraged to take reasonable measures to prevent by-catch. In the event that the DFO becomes aware of illegally retained by-catch, fishery officers will follow up to determine the appropriate action, based on the facts of the occurrence.
Anyone with knowledge of by-catch being retained by any aquaculture facilities is encouraged to call the toll-free 24-hour Observe, Record and Report line at 1-800-465-4336 or 604-607-4186 in Greater Vancouver, which will allow departmental staff to undertake appropriate actions.
Regarding your question about licensing aquaculture operations, salmon farms are currently licenced under a number of federal and provincial statutes. Federally, fish farms are licensed under the Fisheries General Regulations for the introduction of fish into the cages, while the provincial government is currently responsible for the operational licensing of the sites.
In reference to your concern over the spread of the infectious salmon anemia virus (ISAV), I assure you that measures are in place to deal with not only ISAV, but all fish pathogens of concern.
Highlights of existing measures to prevent the spread of fish diseases from other countries and other parts of Canada to British Columbia’s fish farms are attached as Appendix A.
If you would like to discuss aquaculture matters in further detail, you may wish to contact Mr. Andrew Thomson, Director, Aquaculture Management Division, Pacific Region, by telephone at 604-666-3152, or by email at < andrew.thomson@dfo-mpo.gc.ca <mailto:andrew.thomson@dfo-mpo.gc.ca> >.
I appreciate your interest in this important issue.
Sincerely,
Original Signed By
Randy Kamp, M.P.
APPENDIX A
For aquaculture purposes, British Columbia (B.C.) has a strict importation policy of fertilized eggs only for any salmonid species.
Under the B.C. Atlantic Salmon Importation Policy, only surfacedisinfected, fertilized Atlantic salmon eggs from sources certified by a Local Fish Health Officer (LFHO) are permitted for import into B.C. No live Atlantic salmon or unfertilized eggs are allowed to be imported.
Any facility serving as a source of eggs for import into B.C. must undergo rigorous health testing under the Fish Health Protection Regulations before eggs can be provided to B.C. culture operations.
This applies to facilities within Canada or abroad. To export into B.C., a facility must be compliant with Canadian laws and regulations.
Since 2001, the only eggs that have been imported into B.C. have come from a pathogenfree source in Iceland. This source is a dryland, closedcontainment facility.
Imports of fertilized eggs from qualifying facilities are held in strict quarantine and isolation for up to one year, and the resulting progeny undergo rigorous health testing before introduction to ocean farms. A condition of the import agreement is that results of the fish health testing must be reported to the LFHO on a monthly basis, while fish are in quarantine. Fish are only released from quarantine if all reports from screening come back as satisfactory. Any signs of a disease problem must be reported within 24 hours to meet import requirements.
Upon completion of the quarantine and isolation period, the Minister issues licences for all introduction and transfers of fish pursuant to Section 56 of the Fishery (General) Regulations (FGR), and only issues licences to transfer fish in the absence of disease agents of concern that may be harmful to the protection and conservation of fish. Fish may only be transferred to sea cage pens with written approval through the LFHO and corresponding Section 56 FGR licence.
Site, vessel, and visitorrelated fish-health protocols (including the use of foot baths and disinfection of any equipment used with fish or sediment monitoring) are in place in accordance with the industrywide Fish Health Management Plans in British Columbia.
With respect to ISAV carried in embryo, recent international evidence suggests there is a small possibility that ISAV could be transmitted within reproductive fluids, e.g., ovarian fluid, which could mean that the virus could be on the surface of the eggs at spawning. However, surface disinfection of eggs, which is routinely carried out in all commercial and enhancement hatcheries, along with the quarantine period noted above, provides additional assurance that ISAV will not be transmitted from parent to progeny via the egg. There is no scientific evidence for ISAV occurring inside eggs, where disinfectants cannot reach. As always, DFO will continue to assess new information on this disease and others.
In addition to surface disinfection mentioned previously, all shipping materials are disinfected before disposal. The disinfectant and disinfection protocol that is used is highly effective against ISAV and other salmonid pathogens.
___________________________________________
Ministerial Correspondence Control Unit
Unité de contrôle de la correspondance ministérielle
Fisheries and Oceans Canada | Pêches et Océans Canada
200 Kent St. Ottawa, ON K1A 0E6 | 200, rue Kent Ottawa, ON K1A 0E6
min@dfo-mpo.gc.ca
Telephone | Téléphone 613-992-3474
Facsimile | Télécopieur 613-990-7292
Government of Canada | Gouvernement du Canada
!DSPAM:3168,4b227940177551932917153!
Dear Randy Kamp: I was forwarded your letter (below) and I am writing to inform you that you should consider becoming better informed on the issue of impact of Norwegian fish farms on the BC coast.
