Sangstercraft
Well-Known Member
I wanted to share Alexandra Morton's comment on the Times Colonist article. I think she's put it well:
From Alexandra Morton:
"DFO is calling for large cuts in Chinook retention, meanwhile their own scientist is finding salmon leukemia in wild chinook. Salmon Leukemia was never seen before salmon feedlots. It killed of upto 100% of farmed Chinnok, prompting the industry to switch to Atlantics. DFO found it infecting the wild chinook outside the pens, but did nothing about it. According to DFO scientist, Miller, it is in all the sockeye dying before spawning, which is over 90% of all Fraser sockeye in some years! The PSC estimates $72 million was lost to commerical fishermen in 2002 alone due to this prespawn mortality. The best evidence DFO has points to salmon leukemia from salmon feedlots as the cause. The ONE Fraser sockeye run that do not pass the feedlots has been increasing over the past 18 years and is now BC's only designated salmon stronghold It is UNBELIEVABLE to me that no seems to know anything about this, even though is was painfully extracted during the Cohen Inquiry. Fishermen would rather beat up on each other and blame First Nations and water temperature than get up the courage to say "Salmon farms". But if people would read what we learned at Cohen, the DFOers on the river have been saying for some time to their bosses it is not high water temperature, it is a mysterious virus that behaves just like salmon leukemia. I am guessing people don't actually care enough about wild salmon to face the salmon feedlot industry, Everyone is cowering from it. Filll your boots folks the salmon will just keep dying even if no one ever caught another chinook salmon ever."
From Alexandra Morton:
"DFO is calling for large cuts in Chinook retention, meanwhile their own scientist is finding salmon leukemia in wild chinook. Salmon Leukemia was never seen before salmon feedlots. It killed of upto 100% of farmed Chinnok, prompting the industry to switch to Atlantics. DFO found it infecting the wild chinook outside the pens, but did nothing about it. According to DFO scientist, Miller, it is in all the sockeye dying before spawning, which is over 90% of all Fraser sockeye in some years! The PSC estimates $72 million was lost to commerical fishermen in 2002 alone due to this prespawn mortality. The best evidence DFO has points to salmon leukemia from salmon feedlots as the cause. The ONE Fraser sockeye run that do not pass the feedlots has been increasing over the past 18 years and is now BC's only designated salmon stronghold It is UNBELIEVABLE to me that no seems to know anything about this, even though is was painfully extracted during the Cohen Inquiry. Fishermen would rather beat up on each other and blame First Nations and water temperature than get up the courage to say "Salmon farms". But if people would read what we learned at Cohen, the DFOers on the river have been saying for some time to their bosses it is not high water temperature, it is a mysterious virus that behaves just like salmon leukemia. I am guessing people don't actually care enough about wild salmon to face the salmon feedlot industry, Everyone is cowering from it. Filll your boots folks the salmon will just keep dying even if no one ever caught another chinook salmon ever."
