Captain Kirk to the Rescue

[victoriaboater]

Article in today Times Colonist. Apparently William Shatner is backing up Alexandra Morton by writing to Harper and company.

http://www.timescolonist.com/news/Shatner+latest+mission+remove+fish+farms/1848434/story.html

 

[sockeyefry]

Regarding an article in the July 30, 2009 Times-Colonist, Mary Ellen Walling, BCSFA Executive Director,responded with the following:

Dear Editor,

How can you tell it’s a slow news day? Well, on the BC coast a recent letter by actor William Shatner to the Prime Minister was picked up as news by a number of media outlets. Mr Shatner is well known for his career as Captain James T. Kirk of the starship USS Enterprise and most recently in the TV series Boston Legal. Mr Shatner’s acting credentials are solid –his understanding of fisheries research less stellar. Shatner claims that BC fisheries are at risk from salmon farms.

DFO researchers, including an Order of Canada scientist state that their research shows that salmon farms and wild fisheries can co-exist and that their recent sampling in 2008 and 2009, found no Lepeophtheirus salmonis (most common sea lice species) lice on juvenile pink salmon in the Broughton Archipelago during March, when the salmon are smallest and most susceptible.

Salmon farmers in British Columbia are proud to operate in the most stringently regulated environment of all producing countries, to produce the province’s largest agricultural export, and to generate jobs and opportunities for thousands of people in coastal communities.

Activist groups often bristle at calls for accountability but if they are to retain their position of public trust they should, at least, be able to meet the same standards of scrutiny applied to industry. And for journalists who often see themselves as the guardians of the public interest, it seems prudent to be wary of being manipulated, even by those who appear to walk on the side of the public good rather than the side of corporate self-interest.

Oh and Mr. Shatner –when you shot a wild salmon with a shotgun on an episode of Boston Legal –the salmon you refer to in your letter as “one of earths most precious assets”, I am pretty sure that’s a violation of the Fisheries Act –but of course –it’s only TV. Right. Beam me Up Scotty.

Mary Ellen Walling

Executive Director,

BC Salmon Farmers Association

#302 871 Island Highway Campbell River BC

 

[Gunsmith]

Sockeyefry if only the Government would invest as much in wild salmon as they do to the commercial salmon farmers who pocket taxpayer's dollars and spend it out of the country. We need a Government that does not suck up to rich corporations such as salmon farming.

 

[sockeyefry]

Gunsmith,

What money are you referring to?

Are you referring to the $900K that was just handed out?

You should check out the amount of money spent by the feds on the SEP and DFO Science & Enforcement branches before you make your comparisons about all the money going to salmon farmers.

However, I do agree with you that they could be putting much more enohasis on the SEP than they are right now. The other thing that has to happen is concerned citizens be they anglers, or other wild life interests such as lodge owner, tourism operators should start putting back into the resource they are taking from. I have witnessed a hatchery closure rumour fill a local hall with angry lodge owners. It seemed like the gathering was really going to do something, like raising money for salmon restoration, and increasing the hatchery production. But when DFO relented and didn't close the hatchery, the lodge owners went away, happy that the hatchery was safe. Nothing ever came out of it.

 

[Gunsmith]

Have a nice day Sockeyefry.I do not think the farms should get anything from the Government,if they are that good for the economy they should be self supporting.

 

[Clipper]

"I do not think the farms should get anything from the Government,if they are that good for the economy they should be self supporting."

Absolutely! It's ridiculous.

 

[sockeyefry]

Do any of you know which "farms" received any money?

 

[Tanglefoot]

Sockeyefry, you seem to have set yourself up as the spokesperson for the evil fish farm empire, or at least it's devil's advocate for this thread. You obviously have an inside track as to what, if any, 'subsidies' have been handed out. Rather that test the reader's memory or reading ability, why not just tell all which farms have received money and how much? Your post suggest that you know............[8D]
We need Mr. Shatner for our 'regulate the fish farm' cause because the prawners seem to have hired David Suzuki to champion their 'rape of the prawning grounds'cause Gotta land those big names to get anywhere!!

 

[Peahead]

quote:Originally posted by Tanglefoot

Sockeyefry, you seem to have set yourself up as the spokesperson for the evil fish farm empire, or at least it's devil's advocate for this thread. You obviously have an inside track as to what, if any, 'subsidies' have been handed out. Rather that test the reader's memory or reading ability, why not just tell all which farms have received money and how much? Your post suggest that you know............[8D]

Not sure of that myself about who gets direct funding - maybe Sockeyefry does know.
What I know is that DFO is government funded and DFO assists the Salmon Farming Industry. My understanding is that UBC has put money into research of Aquaculture which assists Salmon Farming. Also I understand from what I have been told is that Aquaculture research is done at the West Vancouver Lab. My understanding is that one example of such research at West Van Lab was to research the speed at which a farm Salmon can grow and try to increase that speed with various food types/additives. The reasoning is obvious... if you could grow a 5 lb farm Salmon in half the time, you could make more fish and more money . I don't know if the farming industry assists with the costs of this research . In any case taxpayers pay for much or all of it.

 

[sockeyefry]

Nope I do not know how much money is given to farming companies. In my experience little as it is I have seen little direct government funding of salmon farming in BC. All of the money I have seen invested in BC has been from private sources.

I just figured that so many were making claims of such extensive goverment largesse that they surely would have had the figures to back it up. Guess I was wrong

Government funds all sorts of research. DFO also does research into gear and fishing techniques for the commercial fishery. I don't see the point regarding research dollars for aquaculture being a bad thing when Gov. spends alot of money on research for all areas of business.

Tangle,

The prawners have hired Dr. Suzuki?