Here's why we can't TRUST the Fish Farming Industry

[tincan]

I know there are countless examples of how the fish farming industry in BC has misled or outright lied about their industry impacts but here is a recent PR lie that is so blatant that it should give even the staunchest fish farm apologist a reason to pause.

It's a classic PR campaign designed to dupe the public into thinking open net fish farms are safe and have no impact on wild fish. Here's how this one was crafted, step by step:

1) The Strategic Salmon Health Initiative SSHI [https://www.psf.ca/what-we-do/strategic-salmon-health-initiative] set out to bring clarity to all known pathogens/diseases in BC waters in wild, farmed, and hatchery fish. This collaboration between PSF, DFO and Genome BC began in 2013.

2) To date, NEW pathogens and diseases have been found through this work, including some that the fish farming industry (and DFO) either did not report or claimed they didn't know exist, even though some of these pathogens/diseases were from samples many years old.

3) The SSHI recently came out with an update on their ongoing work. The fish farming industry selectively poached some of the wording in the report (to their favour) and used it to lobby the Monterrey Bay Seafood Watch Program in an effort to get them to move BC farmed salmon from the "AVOID" category to the "GOOD ALTERNATIVE" category. [https://globenewswire.com/news-rele...D-ATLANTIC-SALMON-AS-A-GOOD-ALTERNATIVE.html]

Surprisingly, it worked. Not surprisingly, the Salmon Farmers were in delight and spread the 'good news' like wildfire across the press. Just google "Seafood watch BC Salmon Farm" and see all of the press who ran stories.

4) Since PSF runs the SSHI that was cited in supporting the change in status, PSF, a notoriously non-confrontational organization, felt they had to come out with a public statement as follow: "Recently the Monterrey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch Program upgraded B.C. farmed Atlantic salmon to a 'good alternative.' The recommendation prematurely and inappropriately relies on research from our Strategic Salmon Health Initiative. Read a statement from our CEO Dr. Brian Riddell." The public statement was posted on PSF website but not picked up by much, if any, media.

FULL STATEMENT HERE: https://www.psf.ca/news-media/public-statement-re-new-rating-farmed-salmon

5) A week or so later, the press continues to cite the initial FALSE claims that were in the original press releases from the Salmon Farmers and from Seafood Watch. Just yesterday there was another article that included the line "The B.C. Salmon Farmers Association claims, citing the Pacific Salmon Foundation, there is no evidence linking declining wild salmon stocks to salmon farms." This claim inaccurate and PSF President Dr. Riddell has stated this repeatedly.

Full article below:
http://www.richmond-news.com/news/dfo-six-atlantic-salmon-found-in-the-fraser-river-1.23056225

This is a classic case of a big lobby group (BC Salmon Farmers) cherry picking info and then running it all over the press to try to make themselves look good (or at least not bad). And when the scientists doing the study speak out against the claims of the salmon farmers the press ignores them as they don't have the PR skills / money to compete.

CONCLUSION: I urge you all to reach out to:
MP - https://www.ourcommons.ca/Parliamentarians/en/members
MLA - https://www.leg.bc.ca/contact-us
BC Salmon Farmers - http://bcsalmonfarmers.ca/contact/
Seafood Watch - seafoodwatch@mbayaq.org
PSF - salmon@psf.ca

and voice your concerns about this misleading / fraudulent behaviour of the BC salmon farming industry. You can also post PSF's statement in the comments section of news articles or social media posts that falsely rely on the SSHI findings to justify this change in status.

thanks and I look forward to sharing more info from the SSHI shortly.... info that I hear from a few little birdies is NOT looking good for the salmon farming industry... and unfortunately not good for wild salmon either.

 

[Whole in the Water]

Pretty damn shameful and disgusting IMO how DFO and their political master collude with the fish farm industry to misinform and mislead the public about the health problems with eating farmed fish!

Typical action of multi-national corporations that care more about their market share and profits for their foreign shareholders then our marine environment, wild salmon and the health of the public.

Be interested in hearing how the fish farm supporters disprove, deflect and disavow this?

 

[Andrew P]

@tincan great to see PSF taking this stance.

IMNSHO, open pen fish farming is an unprofitable business model unless it receives subsidies. These subsidies come in the form of government subsidies, ecological/environmental subsidies. Government subsidizes the industry in a number of ways, including giving compensation when the fish farms have diseased fish that die, acting as a marketing vehicle for the product, directing DFO resources away from protecting native species towards farming a foreign one, and of course going against the will of the affected First Nations in most cases. The ecological subsidies could be the one that affects salmon the most as fish farms are essentially the perfect back eddie(especially when you add lights at night...) where forage fish and young salmon enter and often never come out of. Seeing how many Atlantic Salmon have been caught across the PNW in recent months it is without a doubt that they have the instinct to eat more than just pellets. The environmental subsidies are endless to list but a few are: sea lice (and their huge harm to juvenile salmon, herring, perch, etc), affect of sea lice treatment on nearby crustaceans (prawns, shrimp, crab, etc), farmed salmon commonly have diseases (and...they COULD spread?!), the fish pooh creates a little 'temporary' wasteland below the farms, fish feed has a net drain on the biosphere. And certainly not lastly, but I'm done for now, the food is proven to be highly toxic and likely still has all those meds in it when it hits the store shelf, or for any of those recent escaped atlantics, still has it's Yellow Mouth medicine that they received soon before the escape.

I am glad to see First Nations along the coast along with individuals and organizations such as yours taking a strong stance on the protection of the BC coast.

 

[agentaqua]

Bishop of B.C. takes side in fish-farming dispute
By Tali Folkins
October 5, 2017
http://www.anglicanjournal.com/articles/bishop-b-c-takes-side-fish-farming-dispute/