The other thing to consider is if salmon farms are infecting Pacific salmon with PRV, and if PRV is found in wild salmon, those same fish are returning to hatcheries and will become broodstock. Wouldn’t it make sense to test Federal hatchery fish for viral presence before juveniles are released?
lol Dave if SEP had to test its fish before it released them or transferred them. Their already tiny budget from 1996 would be even smaller.
I agree though there is a logic trail to follow.
I also think it would be very wise to test smolts before they go into a net pen in like sooke,vancouver ect. These fish are not subject to the natural selection in river by bull trout, birds and seal that pedratate on weak immune compromised fish. KM and associates proved that bull trout in the chilko system have a higher rate of IHNV sockeye smolts in their bellies.
The net pens are placed near river mouths where passing smolts that already survived the gauntlet in river could be infected by PRV.
ENGO will soon be pushing for everything to be 100% natural and hatcheries/net pens are definitely not part of that picture.
There is no reason to believe any commercial operation raising pacific or Atlantic salmon under commercial conditions in high densities will not be subject to increased disease transmission regardless if the origin of that disease is local or from the North Atlantic. This is true of Atlantic salmon farms, AK salmon ranching operations, or commercial Govt hatcheries for Pacific species. I suppose one can make the argument that transmission among the captive population would increase as a function of how long the fish are kept in high densities, so if that is true Atlantic salmon farms could be expected to have the highest infection rates since they spend their entire lives in high density conditions ideal for transmission, followed by pacific hatchery coho, then chinook, and finally AK ranched fish that are mostly pinks or Chum and don't spend long in the facilities at high density. It is still rationale to be "freaking out" about disease from escaped mature Atlantic salmon as their infection rate is likely very high.
Pacific northwest humpback whale populations are increasing at a rate of 5-10% a year. Their diet consists of mainly krill and baitfish the same things salmon eat. If there was a limited supply of food it should be seen in the humpback whale population. Now I suppose there is a bit of evidence out their that humpback whales feed on salmon smolts. In which case these salmon ranching programs are now pivotal in providing an enhance humpback whale population.
"Researchers believe there are more than 21,000 humpbacks in the eastern North Pacific, up from about 1,600 when whale hunting was banned in 1966, and as many as 85,000 worldwide. In the spring of 2015, after a five-year review,
NOAA Fisheries proposed to delist most populations of humpbacks."
Anyone want to do a rough estimate on what an extra 19,000 humpback whales eat??? "An average-sized humpback whale will eat 4,400-5,500 pounds (2000-2500 kg) of plankton, krill and small, schooling fish each day during the feeding season in cold waters (about 120 days). They eat twice a day. "