Lawsuit Filed against DFO & Marine Harvest!!!
- Thread starter Whole in the Water
- Start date
rockdog
Well-Known Member
Google the name. Seems like James (ck), spends most of his time trying to push salmon farms.
Dave, there are pages of evidence, all you have to do is read. Don't keep asking for more, because it's there, just read it.
I'm with sculpin, the more these guys post, the worse they look.
This has been a great thread. Having Dave, ck, and birdsnest on here has really brought a ton of information forward about the impacts of salmon farming. Thank you agent, Englishman and others. This is a much bigger problem than I knew. Very educational thread for everyone who reads it. More than enough info to draw a conclusion from.
Dave, there are pages of evidence, all you have to do is read. Don't keep asking for more, because it's there, just read it.
I'm with sculpin, the more these guys post, the worse they look.
This has been a great thread. Having Dave, ck, and birdsnest on here has really brought a ton of information forward about the impacts of salmon farming. Thank you agent, Englishman and others. This is a much bigger problem than I knew. Very educational thread for everyone who reads it. More than enough info to draw a conclusion from.
Some of CK's fans:
----------------------------------------------------------------
Sustainability is more than jobs for a generation
Fred Zeeman / Westerly News
May 8, 2013
Dear editor
Regarding James Costello's letter on behalf of Mainstream Canada, a subsidiary of Norwegian-owned Cermaq (Salmon film included errors, unproven allegations, April 25, Westerly News).
Mr. Costello's letter represents the true unwillingness of Mainstream to address its impact on the rapid decline of wild salmon. Mr. Costello quoted from the Cohen Report out of context, "data presented during the inquiry did not show that salmon farms were having a significant negative impact on Fraiser River sockeye." The next sentence states, "However, as noted above, the statistical power of the database (containing fish health data from 2004 to 2010) was too low to rule out significant negative impact." (Vol. 3, p. 24). The reason why the data didn't show fish farms having a significant impact is because there was not enough data! Completely different then what Mr. Costello would have you believe.
Mr. Costello also states, "the work done by many committed salmon farmers every day is sidelined by the continued rants of a few."
Remember opposition for Mainstream's newest farm at Plover Point?
The Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation was looking at legal options to stop the approval and both the Tofino-Long Beach Chamber of Commerce and Tofino council passed motions opposing the Plover Point farm. To call these the rants of a few is simply disrespectful.
When lead astray by corporate morals; only looking at convenient phrases and ignoring community concerns, a false representation of reality is created.
It is time we stop allowing corporations like Mainstream define sustainability as jobs for one generation. Cultures that have lived here for thousands of years have a more holistic view of sustainability; one that depends on the health of the environment with wild salmon as a fundamental component, and depends on people's active responsibility to look after it.
Fred Zeeman Tofino
© Copyright 2013
===========================
Interpretation misleading
The Westerly News
September 13, 2012
Dear Editor,
James Costello's interpretation (in last week's letters to the editor) of what the Cohen report actually said is misleading, so I quote from the report:
"I therefore conclude that the potential harm posed to Fraser River sockeye salmon from salmon farms is serious or irreversible. Disease transfer occurs between wild and farmed fish, and I am satisfied that salmon farms along the sockeye migration route have the potential to introduce exotic diseases and to exacerbate endemic diseases that could have a negative impact on Fraser River sockeye." Volume 3, Chapter 2, page 22.
The report goes on to make a number of recommendations regarding DFO's actions, an example: "Beginning immediately and continuing until at least September 30, 2020, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans should ensure that ...DFO does not issue new licences for net-pen salmon farms in the Discovery Islands." Volume 3, Chapter 2, Page 25.
Just weeks before the report was issued, DFO approved a new licence for a net-pen salmon farm at the Plover Point site, off the Tribal Park on Meares Island.
As Judith Lavoie reported in her article Clayoquot Sound fish farm approval sparks lawsuit threat, in the Times Colonist on October 18, DFO's approval came despite Tla-o-qui-aht exploring legal options to stop the farm, despite Tofino council and the Tofino-Long Beach Chamber of Commerce both passing motions opposing the Plover Point Farm, and despite chamber directors emphasizing to government that it would be inappropriate to make a decision on Plover Point before the Cohen Commission presented its report.
Inappropriate, but just in the nick of time for Mainstream, it seems.
The Cohen report discusses the Discovery Islands because its focus is the health of the Fraser River sockeye. What would a similar report find about this area?
D.C. Reid's fishing column may provide some insight. Titled: San Juan coho and chum levels not where they should be, in the Times Colonist on October 31, Reid looks at DFO's salmon run stats. The first number is this year's run, in brackets is the average over the last five years, followed by the average over the last 12 years:
"Because DFO authorized a new Plover Point fish farm in Clayoquot Sound - a UN Biosphere Reserve - I plumbed the Clayoquot Sound Chinook salmon and found their numbers are alarmingly low: Bedwell - 93 (60/110); Moyeha - none (120/130); Tranquil - 11 (220/760); Megin - 35 (20/50); Cypre - 362 (no 5/12 figures). No figure for the plummeting Kennedy Lake sockeye. No fish farms should be in these waters as the wild fish numbers are just too low. Diseased farms release 60 billion viral particles per hour, and a sound does not flush."
I think it's time to wake up.
Emre Bosut, Tofino
© Copyright 2013
----------------------------------------------------------------
Sustainability is more than jobs for a generation
Fred Zeeman / Westerly News
May 8, 2013
Dear editor
Regarding James Costello's letter on behalf of Mainstream Canada, a subsidiary of Norwegian-owned Cermaq (Salmon film included errors, unproven allegations, April 25, Westerly News).
Mr. Costello's letter represents the true unwillingness of Mainstream to address its impact on the rapid decline of wild salmon. Mr. Costello quoted from the Cohen Report out of context, "data presented during the inquiry did not show that salmon farms were having a significant negative impact on Fraiser River sockeye." The next sentence states, "However, as noted above, the statistical power of the database (containing fish health data from 2004 to 2010) was too low to rule out significant negative impact." (Vol. 3, p. 24). The reason why the data didn't show fish farms having a significant impact is because there was not enough data! Completely different then what Mr. Costello would have you believe.
Mr. Costello also states, "the work done by many committed salmon farmers every day is sidelined by the continued rants of a few."
Remember opposition for Mainstream's newest farm at Plover Point?
The Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation was looking at legal options to stop the approval and both the Tofino-Long Beach Chamber of Commerce and Tofino council passed motions opposing the Plover Point farm. To call these the rants of a few is simply disrespectful.
When lead astray by corporate morals; only looking at convenient phrases and ignoring community concerns, a false representation of reality is created.
It is time we stop allowing corporations like Mainstream define sustainability as jobs for one generation. Cultures that have lived here for thousands of years have a more holistic view of sustainability; one that depends on the health of the environment with wild salmon as a fundamental component, and depends on people's active responsibility to look after it.
Fred Zeeman Tofino
© Copyright 2013
===========================
Interpretation misleading
The Westerly News
September 13, 2012
Dear Editor,
James Costello's interpretation (in last week's letters to the editor) of what the Cohen report actually said is misleading, so I quote from the report:
"I therefore conclude that the potential harm posed to Fraser River sockeye salmon from salmon farms is serious or irreversible. Disease transfer occurs between wild and farmed fish, and I am satisfied that salmon farms along the sockeye migration route have the potential to introduce exotic diseases and to exacerbate endemic diseases that could have a negative impact on Fraser River sockeye." Volume 3, Chapter 2, page 22.
The report goes on to make a number of recommendations regarding DFO's actions, an example: "Beginning immediately and continuing until at least September 30, 2020, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans should ensure that ...DFO does not issue new licences for net-pen salmon farms in the Discovery Islands." Volume 3, Chapter 2, Page 25.
Just weeks before the report was issued, DFO approved a new licence for a net-pen salmon farm at the Plover Point site, off the Tribal Park on Meares Island.
As Judith Lavoie reported in her article Clayoquot Sound fish farm approval sparks lawsuit threat, in the Times Colonist on October 18, DFO's approval came despite Tla-o-qui-aht exploring legal options to stop the farm, despite Tofino council and the Tofino-Long Beach Chamber of Commerce both passing motions opposing the Plover Point Farm, and despite chamber directors emphasizing to government that it would be inappropriate to make a decision on Plover Point before the Cohen Commission presented its report.
Inappropriate, but just in the nick of time for Mainstream, it seems.
The Cohen report discusses the Discovery Islands because its focus is the health of the Fraser River sockeye. What would a similar report find about this area?
D.C. Reid's fishing column may provide some insight. Titled: San Juan coho and chum levels not where they should be, in the Times Colonist on October 31, Reid looks at DFO's salmon run stats. The first number is this year's run, in brackets is the average over the last five years, followed by the average over the last 12 years:
"Because DFO authorized a new Plover Point fish farm in Clayoquot Sound - a UN Biosphere Reserve - I plumbed the Clayoquot Sound Chinook salmon and found their numbers are alarmingly low: Bedwell - 93 (60/110); Moyeha - none (120/130); Tranquil - 11 (220/760); Megin - 35 (20/50); Cypre - 362 (no 5/12 figures). No figure for the plummeting Kennedy Lake sockeye. No fish farms should be in these waters as the wild fish numbers are just too low. Diseased farms release 60 billion viral particles per hour, and a sound does not flush."
I think it's time to wake up.
Emre Bosut, Tofino
© Copyright 2013
Whole in the Water
Well-Known Member
....and the data, facts and evidence just keep pilling up! Despite all the spin doctoring by the salmon feedlot industry hacks and shills they can't stop the growing amount of evidence that net pen feedlots are NOT sustainable, they pollute the marine environment, spread potential diseases, are not healthy to consume and threaten wild species. It is just a matter of time before net pen feedlots will have to be shutdown and/or moved onto land. The sooner the industry admints this and make the needed changes the less crow they and their supporters will have to eat.
But in the meantime for those that stand against the lice farms we must continue to fight to move these dangerous feedlots onto land. Fight we must and fight (legally of course) we will!!!
But in the meantime for those that stand against the lice farms we must continue to fight to move these dangerous feedlots onto land. Fight we must and fight (legally of course) we will!!!
Can Salmon Farming Be Sustainable? Maybe, If You Head Inland
NPR | May 02, 2013 3:43 p.m.
Contributed By:
Alastair Bland
Is salmon farming ever sustainable?
For years, the answer to that question has been clear for marine biologists, many of whom agree that the floating, open-ocean net pens that produce billions of pounds of artificially colored salmon per year also generate inevitable pollution, disease and parasites. In some places in western Canada, the open-ocean salmon farming industry has even been named as the culprit in the collapse of wild salmon populations.
But now, a few salmon farms have moved inland, producing fish in land-locked cement basins separated from river and sea. One inland fish farm in Virginia has been commended as a sustainable alternative to conventionally produced salmon. On Vancouver Island, there is at least one such facility. And just last month, Willowfield Enterprises, based in Langley, British Columbia, harvested its first inland-farmed sockeye salmon, to be marketed under the brand name West Creek. Sockeye is a Pacific species that has rarely been cultivated before.
"In terms of environmental sustainability, I think [these closed-system farms are] a huge step forward," says Martin Krkosek, an assistant professor at the University of Toronto who has been among the leading critics of ocean net pen salmon production. "Waste material, disease, pollution, parasites — all these things aren't a concern with most closed-system aquaculture."
Some forms of aquaculture may have the potential to help ecosystems by taking fishing pressure off of wild fish stocks. But this hasn't been the case with the salmon farming industry, according to notable experts like Daniel Pauly, a professor of fisheries at the University of British Columbia. One reason why, Pauly tells The Salt, is that the food that salmon farmers feed to their fish is usually fishmeal made from wild—sometimes overfished—species. He points out that humans could be eating these species instead of farmed salmon.
Open-ocean salmon farms also generate high densities of organic and inorganic waste material—essentially, untreated raw sewage that can cause toxic marine algae blooms and create low-oxygen "dead zones." Residues from antibiotics and other chemical treatments can also drift from the pens.
But salmon farming's most infamous flaw is its incidental production of sea lice. These pea-sized copepods cling to free-moving fish, and under natural circumstances, they aren't usually a threat to salmon. But when many thousands of adult salmon swarm together in crowded net pens, sea lice populations often boom. When juvenile salmon exiting the rivers of their birth pass near such infested pens, the smolts may be swarmed by the parasites and quickly killed. By this process, salmon farms have caused entire runs of wild fish to nearly disappear from streams in the Vancouver Island area, Krkosek's research has shown.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch program advises consumers to avoid farmed salmon in general, but it makes a specific exception for farmed salmon from contained systems, which the aquarium recommends, according to spokesperson Alison Barratt
Likewise, the Vancouver Aquarium's seafood rating program, called Ocean Wise, has not approved as "sustainable" a single open-ocean salmon farm, says Teddie Geach, an Ocean Wise representative in Vancouver. However, Ocean Wise has given West Creek's sockeye salmon a top sustainability grade, based on assessments of several criteria. These include the risk of diseases and parasites spreading from farmed fish to wild, and the risk that farmed fish will escape, which can negatively affect the gene pool of wild fish. And then there's something called the "feed conversion ratio," a measure of resource efficiency that considers how much food a given fish species requires to produce each pound of marketable product.
"The closer that ratio is to one to one, the better," Geach says. "You don't want a ten-to-one ratio."
Krkosek says the feed conversion ratio of farmed salmon "is improving" and several years ago was about five to one. Wild salmon, he says, are probably less efficient at converting food into flesh since they are not eating an engineered, optimized nutrition formula, and because they expend great amounts of energy that farmed salmon do not.
Inland aquaculture facilities may be a more environmentally sound way to farm salmon than their open ocean-counterparts. But Krkosek says it's not yet clear whether it would be feasible for the entire salmon farming industry — which produced 5 billion pounds of fish in 2012 – to make the move. He says "new environmental problems" would likely arise — "probably mostly associated with energy and water consumption."
Krkosek also notes that right now, the economics favor cheaper, conventionally farmed salmon.
"In the open-ocean pens, they get clean water and waste disposal for free," Krkosek says, adding, "Everyone's waiting to see if the economics work out. But currently, the common refrain in the salmon farming industry [about inland farms] is, 'It's too expensive.' "
Willowfield Enterprises President Don Read, who is farming the West Creek sockeye with partner Lawrence Albright, says his fish — which, like virtually all farmed salmon, is artificially colored — sells for about double the price of conventionally farmed salmon and for about 20 percent more than wild sockeye.
"We can't compete with open ocean aquaculture, but that's today, and maybe we'll get there," Read says. "For now, our fish will be a niche player in the salmon industry."
Copyright 2013 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.
NPR | May 02, 2013 3:43 p.m.
Contributed By:
Alastair Bland
Is salmon farming ever sustainable?
For years, the answer to that question has been clear for marine biologists, many of whom agree that the floating, open-ocean net pens that produce billions of pounds of artificially colored salmon per year also generate inevitable pollution, disease and parasites. In some places in western Canada, the open-ocean salmon farming industry has even been named as the culprit in the collapse of wild salmon populations.
But now, a few salmon farms have moved inland, producing fish in land-locked cement basins separated from river and sea. One inland fish farm in Virginia has been commended as a sustainable alternative to conventionally produced salmon. On Vancouver Island, there is at least one such facility. And just last month, Willowfield Enterprises, based in Langley, British Columbia, harvested its first inland-farmed sockeye salmon, to be marketed under the brand name West Creek. Sockeye is a Pacific species that has rarely been cultivated before.
"In terms of environmental sustainability, I think [these closed-system farms are] a huge step forward," says Martin Krkosek, an assistant professor at the University of Toronto who has been among the leading critics of ocean net pen salmon production. "Waste material, disease, pollution, parasites — all these things aren't a concern with most closed-system aquaculture."
Some forms of aquaculture may have the potential to help ecosystems by taking fishing pressure off of wild fish stocks. But this hasn't been the case with the salmon farming industry, according to notable experts like Daniel Pauly, a professor of fisheries at the University of British Columbia. One reason why, Pauly tells The Salt, is that the food that salmon farmers feed to their fish is usually fishmeal made from wild—sometimes overfished—species. He points out that humans could be eating these species instead of farmed salmon.
Open-ocean salmon farms also generate high densities of organic and inorganic waste material—essentially, untreated raw sewage that can cause toxic marine algae blooms and create low-oxygen "dead zones." Residues from antibiotics and other chemical treatments can also drift from the pens.
But salmon farming's most infamous flaw is its incidental production of sea lice. These pea-sized copepods cling to free-moving fish, and under natural circumstances, they aren't usually a threat to salmon. But when many thousands of adult salmon swarm together in crowded net pens, sea lice populations often boom. When juvenile salmon exiting the rivers of their birth pass near such infested pens, the smolts may be swarmed by the parasites and quickly killed. By this process, salmon farms have caused entire runs of wild fish to nearly disappear from streams in the Vancouver Island area, Krkosek's research has shown.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch program advises consumers to avoid farmed salmon in general, but it makes a specific exception for farmed salmon from contained systems, which the aquarium recommends, according to spokesperson Alison Barratt
Likewise, the Vancouver Aquarium's seafood rating program, called Ocean Wise, has not approved as "sustainable" a single open-ocean salmon farm, says Teddie Geach, an Ocean Wise representative in Vancouver. However, Ocean Wise has given West Creek's sockeye salmon a top sustainability grade, based on assessments of several criteria. These include the risk of diseases and parasites spreading from farmed fish to wild, and the risk that farmed fish will escape, which can negatively affect the gene pool of wild fish. And then there's something called the "feed conversion ratio," a measure of resource efficiency that considers how much food a given fish species requires to produce each pound of marketable product.
"The closer that ratio is to one to one, the better," Geach says. "You don't want a ten-to-one ratio."
Krkosek says the feed conversion ratio of farmed salmon "is improving" and several years ago was about five to one. Wild salmon, he says, are probably less efficient at converting food into flesh since they are not eating an engineered, optimized nutrition formula, and because they expend great amounts of energy that farmed salmon do not.
Inland aquaculture facilities may be a more environmentally sound way to farm salmon than their open ocean-counterparts. But Krkosek says it's not yet clear whether it would be feasible for the entire salmon farming industry — which produced 5 billion pounds of fish in 2012 – to make the move. He says "new environmental problems" would likely arise — "probably mostly associated with energy and water consumption."
Krkosek also notes that right now, the economics favor cheaper, conventionally farmed salmon.
"In the open-ocean pens, they get clean water and waste disposal for free," Krkosek says, adding, "Everyone's waiting to see if the economics work out. But currently, the common refrain in the salmon farming industry [about inland farms] is, 'It's too expensive.' "
Willowfield Enterprises President Don Read, who is farming the West Creek sockeye with partner Lawrence Albright, says his fish — which, like virtually all farmed salmon, is artificially colored — sells for about double the price of conventionally farmed salmon and for about 20 percent more than wild sockeye.
"We can't compete with open ocean aquaculture, but that's today, and maybe we'll get there," Read says. "For now, our fish will be a niche player in the salmon industry."
Copyright 2013 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.
soxy
Member
Neil Shubert was his boss. Dave didn't have a job description and was a high school dropout...
Wow Soxy! Must be a lazy day. That original post from me is from eons ago it seems now. Yes, I think we all know who "Vedder" Dave is. For the record - I have met a great many intelligent High School drop-outs, as academics is not the measure of intelligence; rather fortitude and stubbornness are 2 vehicles that can deliver knowledge to a thirsty mind - something 9(sp. the stubbornness - ask my wife) I seem to possess in high quantities. I will say - as a collary - that most Drop-outs I have known have also has trouble fitting into society at large, hence the trouble with the structure of High School. I think most kids have trouble with the High School structure, but the more academic minded ones find enough success and enjoyment in certain academic endeavors to keep them interested and focused irrespective of the distractions. The drop-outs seem to lack the focus and stubbornness to keep focused because they feel inadequate, overwhelmed or some other such similar reason. They simply give up.Neil Shubert was his boss. Dave didn't have a job description and was a high school dropout...
So, as I see it - the only relevance that stating someone is a drop-out is NOT to make any childish references to their assumed intelligence (as I mentioned that my experience is that you would be wrong) - but rather question their ability to put the hard slogging-in to find the truth, including checking it out firsthand whenever possible. Read the available science - ask hard questions - demand relevant answers - make Democracy work!!!
So I have no time left for pat, massaged non-answers from our regulators. With industry - I expect it. BUT I also demand to be part of that debate (like here on this forum) with industry and the regulators. I am prepared to be proven wrong in any of my assumptions (or limits imposed upon when those assumptions are invalidated).
BUT (and I have been at this a few years) - the debate in science is NOT on whether or not impacts from open net-pens happen. The debate is on how severe those impacts are, and (should also be on) what are we as a society prepared to accept/sacrifice. That 2nd debate is still tied-up in the denial machine of the PR firms. That's the biggest issue facing us. Meanwhile both small and potentially large impacts happen. The clock is still ticking...
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