fish farm siting criteria & politics

[agentaqua]

South Delta Leader, 10th December 2009

Fish farms, climate eyed in salmon collapse

By Jeff Nagel - BC Local News

Some fish farms should be shut down to try to open up safer routes for migrating sockeye salmon, a group of fishery scientists has recommended.
The SFU think tank is also pressing for intensified research and better counting to try to pinpoint exactly where salmon are dying off in their life cycle.

"There's basically a black hole of knowledge of what happens to these fish after they leave the Fraser and begin their ocean migration up the coast," SFU professor John Reynolds said.

Sockeye returns collapsed in 2009, with just 1.4 million returning to the Fraser – the lowest number in 50 years.

The group of scientists who convened this week said there's no clear explanation yet of why 90 per cent of the expected sockeye disappeared.

Plenty of fry that comprise the 2009 run hatched four years earlier and it's thought large numbers of juveniles made it to sea.

Reynolds is among the researchers who suspects they ran into trouble in B.C. waters, soon after reaching the Strait of Georgia, where sewage discharges, other pollution and fish farms all pose threats.

He said the possible infection of wild sockeye by sea lice, bacteria and viruses from farmed salmon remains "the question that will not go away."

Removing some farms would allow researchers to test whether that strategy works, Reynolds said.

Sockeye could also be succumbing to more distant threats further out in the Pacific.

They may be finding less food, catching more diseases or being gobbled up by more predators – and possibly a combination of the three.

Climate change was identified by the research group as a potential contributing factor.

There's nothing to directly tie global warming to the 2009 salmon collapse, Reynolds noted, adding it's likely a bigger danger going forward.

"Climate change probably repesents the single largest threat to the future of sockeye in the Fraser," he said.

Besides rising ocean temperatures – which can cut the food supply and expose salmon to more predators – returning sockeye may be forced to migrate up rivers that are too hot and have too little water in them.

Several of the past 15 years saw high temperatures recorded in the Fraser River, which can kill salmon or render them unable to effectively spawn.

And last summer saw both dangerously high river temperatures and extreme low streamflows in some tributaries after an extended drought.

The findings released by the scientific group show a steep decline over the past 15 years in the proportion of adult sockeye that return compared to the previous generation that spawned them.

The scientists recommend better work to assess juvenile sockeye populations at various locations in the Fraser and along the coast.

Salmon return forecasts have proven notoriously unreliable, the scientific group said, and there should be less expectation of accuracy in light of the recent trend.

The federal government this fall ordered a judicial inquiry to probe what happened to the missing salmon.


http://www.bclocalnews.com/richmond_southdelta/southdeltaleader/news/78998742.html

 

[agentaqua]

The Vancouver Sun/National Post, 9th December 2009

Problems in Strait of Georgia likely cause of salmon collapse

Scott Simpson, Canwest News Service

VANCOUVER -- An increasingly hostile marine environment in the Strait of Georgia appears to be the main reason Fraser River sockeye salmon populations are collapsing, according to a think tank organized by Simon Fraser University.

"The weight of evidence suggests that the problem of reduced productivity occurred after the juvenile fish began their migration toward the sea," SFU salmon biologist John Reynolds said Wednesday at a news conference.

Salmon scientists have been meeting this week in Vancouver to debate the reasons for a Fraser sockeye population collapse so severe that the once-abundant fish may never recover.

The think tank attracted an international group of scientists and salmon researchers - although fisheries biologists with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans were reportedly instructed by the Conservative government not to attend.

Various reasons have been suggested for the sockeye collapse, including climate change, disease transfer from salmon farms and overfishing, and adverse conditions in the Fraser River itself.

However, the think tank is making several recommendations aimed at bolstering understanding of the behaviour of juvenile sockeye after they migrate out of the Fraser River and into the Strait of Georgia rather than attaching an specific cause for the collapse.

"Over the last 15 years, survival rates of Fraser River sockeye have not been as high as in the past and it is simply not clear why," Mr. Reynolds said.

He said the think tank believes research should be focused in four areas which are "vital to address critical knowledge gaps regarding the declining productivity problem."

One, assemble and analyze all existing data on Fraser River sockeye health and condition and estimate survival throughout their life cycle.

Two, gain a better understanding of the potential for transmission of parasites and disease from farmed salmon to wild salmon.

Three, expand programs to assess the timing and migration of juvenile salmon at various locations in the Fraser and in the coastal marine environment.

Four, determine why some marine populations and species are faring better than others as ocean conditions shift as a consequence of climate change.

Mark Angelo, chair of the Pacific Fisheries Resource Conservation Council, said the urgency of the situation is too great to wait for the results from a federal commission of inquiry into the decline of Fraser sockeye, which is close to commencing its investigation but is not obliged to issue a final report before May 1, 2011.

"I think the inquiry will be a positive and productive exercise and will certainly shed some additional light on the Fraser sockeye collapse that we've all witnessed," Mr. Angelo said.

But Mr. Angelo said the think tank's recommendations "could be undertaken sooner rather than later, and I think that's extremely important because there is public concern that little may be done over the next 18 months while the inquiry is under way."

Vancouver Sun

http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=2322727

 

[agentaqua]

Vancouver Observer, 7th December 2009

Saving Our Wild Salmon

Olivia Fermi

Alexandra Morton’s study of our West Coast salmon in natural and disturbed habitats reminds me of Jane Goodall’s field research with the wild chimpanzee. Morton’s home and research station is about 250 miles north of Vancouver in the Broughton Archipelago.

We in the city can eat salmon by going to the store and buying it, so it’s easy to forget where salmon really comes from. Alexandra lives alongside of and observes the life cycles of nature and of wild salmon. In the Broughton, one catches one’s own food; there are no roads; and if one wants electricity, one finds a way to generate it. It is a lush and partially protected habitat with a stunning diversity of plants and animals. BC’s largest marine park is here.

Vancouver’s Shiro Japanese Restaurant, in the mini-mall at Cambie and 15th, only serves wild salmon. But, quite often, we, in the city, don’t really know whether we are consuming wild or farm salmon. By listening to Alexandra Morton’s message, I learn farm salmon are the leading cause of the collapse of the Broughton Archipelago’s ecosystem. Morton is a self-trained and recognized biologist.

To Marine Harvest, the world’s largest producer of farmed salmon, the Broughton is a multi-million dollar business. The company raises farm salmon in open containers and exports much of it to the US. Strange, because of the ethical and environmental disconnect: Alaska recognizes the dangers of fish farming and the practice is banned there. Morton published a research paper in Science magazine two years ago demonstrating sea lice are killing enough wild pink salmon in the Broughton Archipelago to wipe out the species within what is now only eight years.

In the New York Times video documentary about her work to save the wilds of BC, Morton says, “The [wild] salmon are the keystone species of the ecosystem…” She gesticulates with her hands in a continuous circle, “they bring in the nutrients from the open ocean and feed so many species here. They are what make it work.”

Alexandra describes the effects of Marine Harvest’s production facilities. “When the fish farms came to town, they seemed like a good idea, but diseases and toxic algae blooms started to appear. The whales vanished. Pretty soon, I realized the whole eco-system was crumbling under the weight of this industry.” In undisturbed habitats, sea lice, a parasitic crustacean, co-exist harmoniously with wild salmon. But when open-container salmon farms locate near wild populations, the sea lice quickly overpopulate on both wild and farmed salmon. Then they gradually destroy wild salmon runs, which in turn causes further destruction to the ecosystem as a whole.

Morton points out a mother black bear grazing and says, “she looks so skinny. She’s got two babies she’s nursing and she’s trying to gain weight on grass and berries. But she really needs the salmon to return...” Salmon naturally migrate. In the cold, open ocean they shed what would be harmful sea lice. Farm salmon are stuck in netted containers where it’s easy for the sea lice to multiply. Marine Harvest treats their salmon with antibiotics and pesticides, which impacts but does not totally eradicate the sea lice.

Young wild salmon can’t handle sea lice. The problem is the fish farms in the Broughton and other places along BC’s coast are in the way of wild salmon runs. When the juveniles swim by areas, such as Marine Harvest’s fish farms, where there didn’t used to be sea lice, they catch the parasite and die prematurely.

Alexandra has been one of the leaders in a public outcry demanding protection for wild salmon and their habitats. Against government and corporate resistance, advocates are making progress. Morton and her supporters recently had a win (of sorts) in a Port Hardy courtroom when the judge approved a charge against Marine Harvest; a summons will be issued to the company to appear in court and a trial could follow.

The federal government responded to public protest and lobbying efforts after the Fraser River sockeye salmon collapse, by announcing a Judicial Inquiry. Morton compares the urgency of action on BC’s salmon to what should have happened for the Atlantic cod fishery before it was wiped out.

To learn more about the serious problems with farmed salmon and proposed solutions, visit the Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform (CAAR) website.

You can help. Sign the petition to the Canadian Fisheries Minister. Find out more about Alexandra’s work and/or contribute money to support the ongoing court challenges to protect wild salmon and their habitats.


I know I will be thinking a lot more about what kind of salmon I eat in Vancouver and how much of it. Hope you will too!

http://www.vancouverobserver.com/blogs/earthmatters/2009/12/07/saving-our-wild-salmon

 

[agentaqua]

The Globe & Mail, 10th December 2009

Scientists call for more cautious salmon harvest

Government needs to conduct more research to uncover cause of declining Fraser returns, think tank says

Mark Hume

A brainstorming session by some of the West Coast's leading salmon experts has pointed to ocean conditions in the Strait of Georgia and the possible impact of fish farms as the most likely causes of a collapse of Fraser River sockeye stocks.

But the two-day think tank, organized by Simon Fraser University and the Pacific Fisheries Resource Conservation Council, concluded Wednesday that the government needs to do more research to solve the puzzle.

In the meantime, conference spokesmen Mark Angelo and John Reynolds said, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans should manage the salmon harvest much more cautiously.

“It's a bit like trying to figure out what happened in a plane crash,” Mr. Reynolds said of the difficulty scientists face in trying to piece together why the Fraser run so suddenly and totally collapsed.

“There's a lot of [research] work to be done, but in the meantime we need to take an even more precautionary approach [to the harvest],” said Mr. Angelo, chair of the conservation council and head of the fish and wildlife program at the B.C. Institute of Technology. The conference was prompted by the shocking decline of the Fraser sockeye run over the summer, when the return, forecast at 11 million salmon, turned out to be about one million.

Mr. Reynolds, who holds the Tom Buell BC Leadership Chair in Salmon Conservation at SFU, said as devastating as the collapse was – the lowest return in more than 50 years – the long-range trend is even more troubling.

“The productivity of these fish … has been declining,” he said. “Fraser River sockeye are almost unable now to replace themselves.”

Historically, the Fraser River had salmon runs of nearly 40 million sockeye until rail-road construction caused a massive slide at Hell's Gate Canyon in 1913, cutting off fish from their spawning beds. By 1916, fewer than two million sockeye were returning to the Fraser.

Stocks rebuilt through the 1940s and 1950s, and by 1958, the run had climbed back to about 20 million fish. Then stocks fell again, most probably because of overfishing, and through the 1960s, runs of four million to eight million became typical. An improving trend followed, leading to runs of about 24 million sockeye as recently as the early 1990s, and it was thought the Fraser was returning to its natural levels of productivity. A downward trend began about 15 years ago, with occasional big runs, leading to this year's nadir.

Both Mr. Angelo and Mr. Reynolds said changes in climate are having an impact, but they noted sockeye are doing well both to the north of the Fraser, in Alaska, and to the south, in the Okanagan River.

Mr. Angelo said more ocean-based research is needed to find out exactly what is depressing the Fraser's returns.

He said participants in the conference “did not rule out [lice from] fish farms,” as a possible cause, even though DFO did just that earlier this year.

In a letter to The Globe and Mail, in August, Paul Sprout, DFO's Pacific Region director general, stated: “Sea lice from fish farms are not the explanation for this year's extremely poor marine survival of Fraser River sockeye.” Mr. Angelo said DFO declined to participate in the conference because a judicial inquiry into the management of Fraser sockeye salmon is to get under way shortly.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the inquiry last month and Supreme Court Justice Bruce Cohen was appointed to head it.

Mr. Angelo said the government should begin taking steps now to fill research gaps, rather than waiting for the inquiry to conclude.

“There is public concern that little may be done over the next 18 months while the inquiry is under way,” he said. “And that would be unfortunate for both British Columbians and B.C.'s salmon stocks if that were to transpire.”

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...-more-cautious-salmon-harvest/article1395120/

 

[agentaqua]

Grass!Struggle blog, 10th December 2009
Scientists blast DFO over sockeye collapse

Dr. Brian Riddell. Photo Pacific Salmon Foundation

Last night, Simon Fraser University hosted a panel presentation on the Fraser sockeye collapse of 2009.

A group of scientists and field experts had gathered for two days to discuss the causes, impacts, and possible solutions to the salmon crash, and they were now presenting some of their findings to the public.

I was expecting a polite and slightly sedate discussion among members of the scientific and bureaucratic elite, which I somewhat felt are part of the problem rather than the solution in the salmon tragedy.

I changed my mind. To my surprise, I found myself participating in a powerful and genuine moment of reckoning.

A chart of the sockeye collapse (see figure below) was projected on the wall which demonstrated that the salmon’s demise, although particularly devastating in 2009, really started 15 years ago in the early nineties.






One after the other, the panel's scientists and members of the public stood up in front of that chart of almost totemic significance and delivered the same message: how in the world did we let this happen?

Particularly powerful was an exchange between former MP and Minister of Fisheries John Fraser, and former DFO top scientist Brian Riddell who recently resigned from the Department over fundamental policy disagreements.

Fraser, who is retired, was not on the panel but talked instead as a member of the public. All this information about the sockeye, he said, was available to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans since day one. Why did this not set any alarm bells, why did this not trigger more research? It poses the essential question of who is in charge at DFO, Fraser commented. It is incredible that a vast department like this could not explain that something was going wrong. Someone at the Department didn't do anything, he concluded.

Riddell responded for the panel. He said that there was no question DFO knew early on about the collapse. As years went by, he added, I asked myself: can I do more inside or outside of DFO over my career’s remaining 10 years? And so I left. Ottawa was asking me: why should we give you more funding for your salmon research when there is no value in the salmon? (At this point, the room went: gasp.) Ottawa has lost understanding of the value of the salmon, Riddell concluded. The people of BC carry great weight in delivering the message back to Ottawa about the salmon’s value, but you are not there yet, he warned.

Mark Angelo, the chair of the panel, pointed out that DFO was invited to participate in the panel’s work sessions but had declined the invitation, invoking the ongoing judicial review over the sockeye collapse. Angelo commented that DFO’s decision was “unfortunate”. He did not use the word stonewall, but his eyes said precisely that.

A member of the public described DFO as a “moribund” administration.

Many questions of the public were directed at salmon research and why more of it wasn’t being done. Angelo’s response was yet another ballistic missile fired at DFO: it bothers me, he said, that we don't have specific parameters in place right now to monitor the Fraser sockeye populations. Riddell jumped in: if we had the proper funding, we could get started on the research right away. We could take concrete steps such as tagging the fish. We can work with a lot of bright people across various organizations. But we need the cooperation of DFO on this. For example, the data on the salmon is a public resource, yet DFO will not release that data for 2009.

Translation for those not fully versed in bureaucratic lingo: DFO, either help us or step out of the way!

Alexandra Morton, who was not on the panel but participated in the two-day work sessions, best captured the spirit of the evening when the panel invited her to answer a question about the impact of fish farms on the Fraser sockeye collapse. We simply don’t know, she said. Fish farms and sea lice could be part of the Fraser collapse or not, and there could also be many other factors involved such as viral infections. But what matters, she said, is that – finally – we are talking about this in the open and the law of silence has been broken.

I had come to this evening expecting a pasteurized lecture by the scientific and bureaucratic establishment on why it’s okay to continue salmon business as usual. Instead, I found myself in the middle of a scientists’ open revolt against the system. Life is like a box of chocolates, Forrest Gump used to say.

My particular admiration goes to Brian Riddell who could have decided to finish off his baby boomer career on a rather tranquil note, waiting for retirement in a DFO corner office and then taking off on an uninterrupted string of oblivious Alaska cruises or whatever else it is that baby boomers do. Instead, he chose to step down, which in his world is the most defiant form of civil disobedience.

What we need here is more Brian Riddells.

 

[cuttlefish]

Lice crisis spurs increased interest in closed cages
Joar Grindheim
Published - December 07. 2009
Rising pressure from the sea lice situation in Norway has led to increased interest for closed cage systems.

“We have noticed during the last two weeks that interest has picked up for this. A major company has been in touch to take a closer look at our system. Whether anything will come of it, is too early to say,” Rune Maabo of Preline Fishfarming System told IntraFish.

At Lingalaks in Hardanger he is now testing out a system with two 15-meter plastic pipelines, with a diameter of 2.5 meters. At each end there are propellers that rotate slowly and create a current. The water is fetched from a depth of 25 meters, which is below the level for salmon lice habitation. 400 smolt have now been here for eight months, and so far the tests have been very good, according to Maabo.

“There was a hole in the hose that takes in water, and 4-5 lice got in. These were removed, and we haven’t seen lice since. Others in the same area have had new lice attacks in the same period, so it appears to be working as it should,” he said.

Looking at changes

“The fish are growing faster than Skretting’s feed and temperature tables. How that matches up in relation to other fish in the same period is too early to say. In winter the fish in the closed system grow quicker than the other fish, as the water temperature is higher. We need to gauge this over a period of one whole year,” Maabo said.

Feed and slam residue are also collected in the system. Maabo is already planning improvements.

“The pipeline’s diameter needs to be widened to 6-8 meters, and there are also other things I can see need improvement. But plant number two will always be better than the first pilot plant,” he said.

Maabo is looking to gather a group of players in the industry that can see how the plant can be further developed.

“It works, but must be rebuilt and a new design implemented. I’d like to get a group together to look at this so that it won’t just become a one-man project. In the long term this could be built out to be as large as the current sea cages,” Maabo said.

Pilot project

The consultancy firm Akvator is also working on closed marine farms. So far their system is still on the drawing board. They have also registered greater interest for the closed system.

“We have our contacts out in the field to see if it is feasible to build a pilot project. Attempts have been made previously, but not full-scale. For our part it is vital to show it is possible operate with a production licenses in such a system. We’ve discussed whether we should start with one farm site to gain experience from the first,” said Jan Soldal, section manager for building and construction technique at Akvator.

Soldal said they now have feelers out to gather a constellation of fish producers and equipment suppliers to establish a pilot project where equipment can be developed for various operational phases.

In terms of the reality of getting a pilot project going, he wasn’t sure how long this could take.

“That’s hard to say. I don’t know if such a constellation can become a reality. So far most of the interest has been shown by equipment suppliers,” he said.

The system that Akvator has developed also collects water from the depths below where parasites gather, such as lice in summer. In addition the water is warmer in winter.

It is also possible to collect waste matter and feed reside in this type of plant, and can be built in a separate module.

The plant that Akvator is working on will allow a greater density of fish than is usual in traditional cages. Doldal is confident dispensation can be obtained for that.

“A plant of this type is more exposed to weather and wind. That you need to have a greater density of fish, is tied up with construction safety and economics,” he said.

Print

Copyright 2005 IntraFish Media AS - All rights reserved.

 

[agentaqua]

Star Journal, 14th December 2009

Farm fish industry a revelation


To the editor;

As I simply stand my ground between the Norwegian farm fish industry and the wild salmon of my home, the wave of revelation breaking over me never ends. They never are what they appear.

When they arrived they promised sustainability. This could have been truth, but it is not because their shareholders demand growth, not sustainability. Norwegian fish farm corporate share prices have been declining for two years because the Norwegian ISA virus spread to their Chilean farms killing 70 per cent of their fish.

Now breaking news from Norway reports their sea lice are out of control having become drug resistant. Their government is threatening to destroy farm fish in Norway to try and save their wild salmon. More losses.

As a result the eye of this failing global industry is staring hungrily at Canada. They are desperate to pour more Atlantic salmon into any ocean to feed their share value even if more fish is exactly what sparked the Chilean and Norwegian crises.

On cue “our” Provincial government is fighting to expand the industry, even as Justice Cohen prepares to investigate the role of these Norwegian “farms” in the demise of 10 million sockeye and Justice Hinkson takes fish farms away from the Province.

Among the fish “farm” PR trophies is the claim that it takes less and less food to grow a farm salmon, but are they accounting for all the food?

Recent revelations report wild juvenile salmon, herring, the incomparable sable fish and other wild seafood are inside the farm nets and boats, slaughtered at harvest time and they are Atlantic salmon fodder.

When I recently charged Marine Harvest with possession of wild juvenile salmon, a 1993 addition to the Fisheries Act turned up which appears to exempt all provincially licenced fish farms from all Canadian fishing regulations! This is incomprehensibly brazen given that their nets are in the fishiest waters of BC. There is tangled mess of conflicting regulations heaped around this that only a judge can and must put to order.

But in the meantime herring fishing has been closed for 20 years in the Broughton Archipelago, and the stocks continue to decline! In October Marine Harvest admitted to taking and composting herring.

The bright lights and the food they throw in the water is going to attract everything from plankton to seals. Are the fish “farmers” really welcome to all of this while Canadian fish boats remain tied up waiting…. to go extinct with their fish and the ecosystem is unable to function..

Over-fishing is global scourge. Fish “farm” regulation is being rewritten right now as a result of Justice Hinkson’s decision. Now is our time to speak up. Is it okay with you that they take our fish with no licence, quota or reporting! Write your MP, the Fisheries Minister, Stephen Harper, write me.

Alexandra Morton

www.adopt-a-fry.org

Echo Bay, B.C.

http://www.bclocalnews.com/bc_thompson_nicola/barrierestarjournal/opinion/letters/79105882.html

 

[agentaqua]

Pacific Free Press, 13th December 2009

A Strategic Plan for Wild Salmon?

Canadian Salmon Farmers

by Alexandra Morton

At the National Aquaculture Strategic Action Plan Initiative meeting in Campbell River, Grieg Seafood stated that they cannot release disease information because it could threaten the share value of their stocks.

This simple revelation brings the entire conflict into focus. Privatization of our oceans means we lose our right to protect our fisheries.

The Fraser River and U.S. Lake Washington sockeye collapsed while other southcoast sockeye, the Okanogan, Columbia, and Somass sockeye did much better than forecast. This means it was specifically the southcoast stocks that passed through Norwegian fish farm waters that failed.

It is completely unacceptable that we are left to guess about disease transfer from millions of Atlantic salmon simply to protect the interests of European shareholders.

At this meeting we heard repeatedly from the association of Canadian land-based salmon farmers http://www.aquaculturebc.com/ In operation for 60, years this industry does not impact our wild salmon, does not dump its manure into public waters, creates jobs and is successful and yet they cannot even get a meeting with the provincial government!

Is this Canadian industry being suppressed by our provincial government because it makes the massive Norwegian net pen industry irrelevant? I realized I am not trying to protect wild salmon from aquaculture, I am trying to protect our coast from three Norwegian companies called Marine Harvest, Grieg and Cermaq (Mainstream).

Minister Steve Thompson MAL, your first commitment is to Canadians. Contact the Canadian salmon farmers, meet with them and given them a chance to resolve this issue. Otherwise, when you look at the entire situation, “corruption” is the word that comes to mind.

http://pacificfreepress.com/news/1/5202-a-strategic-plan-for-wild-salmon.html

 

[agentaqua]

The Wild Salmon Circle, 11th December 2009

Highlights from the "Farmed Salmon Exposed" Screening
On Nov 12 the Wild Salmon Circle hosted a screening of filmmaker and Circle member Damien Gillis' new 23 min documentary, "Farmed Salmon Exposed: The Global Reach of the Norwegian Salmon Farming Industry." The film, which will be available online in its entirety next week, takes a hard look at the myriad environmental, socio-economic, and cultural impacts from open-net salmon farming in the various countries where it operates – including Norway, Scotland, Ireland, Chile, and Canada.


Following the film, the audience of 120 took part in a lively discussion with guest panelists Rafe Mair, Dr. Larry Dill of SFU, Hereditary Chief Robert Joseph, and Chilean-Canadian biologist PabloTrujillo from the UBC Fisheries Centre. The event, at SFU's Segal Centre in Vancouver, was one of a dozen premieres of the film around the world during the Pure Salmon Campaign's annual Global Week of Action on Farmed Salmon – featuring film screenings and actions in a diverse range of communities such as Dublin, Edinburgh, Oslo, Washington, D.C., and Santiago, Chile. The film was also featured on December 10 in Copenhagen at the GoodPlanet Foundation's film festival coinciding with the climate talks. Many more screenings in BC and around the world are being scheduled for the New Year in the wake of strong public and media reaction to the film, whose trailer has had some 30,000 hits on youtube so far.

The Wild Salmon Circle's successful screening yielded passionate pleas from audience members to work together to save wild salmon, as well as some important revelations from experts like Otto Langer, Chief Bob Chamberlin, and Dr. Larry Dill, about the upcoming Fraser Sockeye Judicial Inquiry, DFO's plans to DOUBLE SALMON AQUACULTURE in the coming years, and the historic opportunity and need for public action on salmon farming.

The evening concluded with many in the audience writing letters to their member of parliament, expressing their concerns with salmon farms and demanding immediate political action to save wild salmon.

Watch the 5 minute highlight video from the evening, and stay tuned to www.wildsalmoncircle.com for a link to the full film "Farmed Salmon Exposed" in the coming days.

Click on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlD5MWWkz4g

http://www.wildsalmoncircle.com/wp-content/newsletter/dec09/dec2009.html#story2

 

[agentaqua]

River Advocates, 11th December 2009

Missing Salmon Mystery - Global TV News clip

Dear River Advocates,

This brief (3-minute) story focuses on the findings of a recent think tank outlining what many of North America's leading scientists think may have caused this year's Fraser River sockeye crash and outlines possible courses of action.

Best wishes,

Kelly

Live link to Global TV News Clip: http ://www.youtube.com/user/RivInstitute#p/u/0/Y1fJj5jn3EM

 

[agentaqua]

The Maple Ridge Times, 11th December 2009

Scientists don't want to wait for fish inquiry

Scott Simpson, CanWest News Service

An increasingly hostile marine environment in the Strait of Georgia appears to be the main reason Fraser River sockeye salmon populations are collapsing, according to a think tank organized by Simon Fraser University.

"The weight of evidence suggests that the problem of reduced productivity occurred after the juvenile fish began their migration toward the sea," SFU salmon biologist John Reynolds said Wednesday at a press conference.

Salmon scientists have been meeting this week in Vancouver to debate the reasons for a Fraser sockeye population collapse so severe that the once-abundant fish may never recover from it. The think tank attracted an international group of scientists and salmon researchers - although fisheries biologists with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, the federal agency responsible for protection of salmon, were reportedly instructed by the Conservative government not to attend.

Various reasons have been suggested for the sockeye collapse, including climate change, disease transfer from salmon farms and overfishing, and adverse conditions in the Fraser River itself.

However, the think tank is making several recommendations aimed at bolstering understanding of the behavior of juvenile sockeye after they migrate out of the Fraser River and into the Strait of Georgia rather than attaching an specific cause for the collapse.

"Over the last 15 years, survival rates of Fraser River sockeye have not been as high as in the past and it is simply not clear why," Reynolds said.

He said the think tank believes research should be focused in four areas which are "vital to address critical knowledge gaps regarding the declining productivity problem."

One, assemble and analyze all existing data on Fraser River sockeye health and condition and estimate survival throughout their life cycle.

Two, gain a better understanding of the potential for transmission of parasites and disease from farmed salmon to wild salmon.

Three, expand programs to assess the timing and migration of juvenile salmon at various locations in the Fraser and in the coastal marine environment.

Four, determine why some marine populations and species are faring better than others as ocean conditions shift as a consequence of climate change.

Mark Angelo, chair of the Pacific Fisheries Resource Conservation Council, said the urgency of the situation is too great to wait for the results from a federal commission of inquiry into the decline of Fraser sockeye, which is close to commencing its investigation but is not obliged to issue a final report before May 1, 2011.

"I think the inquiry will be a positive and productive exercise and will certainly shed some additional light on the Fraser sockeye collapse that we've all witnessed," Angelo said.

But Angelo said the think tank's recommendations "could be undertaken sooner rather than later, and I think that's extremely importanat because there is public concern that little may be done over the next 18 months while the inquiry is under way."

http://www2.canada.com/mapleridgeti....html?id=04fabfc3-8e6b-4fab-943b-f9c1c93d65e3

 

[agentaqua]

Forty Years of Farmed Salmon ... and One Genetic Mystery
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091220174039.htm
ScienceDaily (Dec. 22, 2009) — It's known that escaped fish from Norwegian salmon farms can interbreed with wild salmon, and thus must have changed the genetic and physical makeup of the country's famed wild salmon stocks. But how much? Biologists at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) are trying to answer this question by breeding special fish families to determine the exact genetic differences between farmed and wild salmon stocks.


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Atlantic salmon
Trout
Coho salmon
Scientists at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology are trying to determine the genetic differences between farmed and wild salmon -- and the effects of those differences -- as a way to help protect the country's unique wild salmon stocks.

Beginning in 1971, aquaculture researchers combed 40 of Norway's best wild salmon rivers to find the soundest genetic stock they could. These fish, selected for their ability to grow rapidly and use food efficiently, formed the breeding lines for Norway's wildly successful salmon aquaculture industry. Nearly 40 years and 10 salmon generations later, the industry has grown by a factor of more than 600, and had a turnover of roughly $3 billion US in 2007.

But producing more than 170 million farmed salmon results in at least some escapees -- according to Statistics Norway, the official government statistics office, roughly 450,000 farmed salmon and trout escaped from Norwegian fish farms in 2007. In comparison, an estimated 470,000 wild Atlantic salmon approached the Norwegian coast in 2007 to spawn in one of Norway's salmon rivers. It's known that escaped farmed fish can interbreed with wild salmon, and thus must have changed the genetic and physical makeup of today's wild salmon stocks. But how much? Biologists at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) are trying to answer this question by breeding special fish families to determine the exact genetic differences between farmed and wild salmon stocks.

130 different salmon "families"

Led by Ole Kristian Berg and Sigurd Einum, professors at NTNU's Department of Biology, researchers including have established 130 different salmon "families," where the father's contribution comes from sperm taken from Norway's first generation of farmed salmon (stored in a sperm bank), and the mother comes from a selection of Norwegian salmon rivers as well as from farmed stock.

The result is a combination of specially bred fish that can be compared to today's stocks of wild fish. When the specially bred fish are five centimeters long, they will have grown enough so that their physical characteristics, as well as their genetic makeup, can be compared to wild salmon of today.

Wild salmon under siege

Norway is home to the world's most genetically varied wild salmon stocks on the planet, with genetically distinct groups found in the country's 452 different wild salmon rivers. But since 1970, wild salmon stocks have been reduced by roughly 80 per cent. Fully 10 percent of the country's salmon rivers have lost their populations, with another 32 rivers severely threatened because of the effects of hydropower development, acid rain, sea lice and the invasion of the parasite Gyrodactylus salaris.

In 2008, scientists from the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, a government research institute, determined that fully 35 per cent of all salmon in the Surna River, one of Norway's most important wild salmon rivers, were in fact farmed fish "That is very high for such a big salmon river," says Kjetil Hindar, a senior researcher at NINA.

"In rivers that have been affected by diseases or by parasites like Gyrodactylus, wild salmon stocks are weakened and are particularly vulnerable," says NTNU's Berg. "It is easy for these stocks to be affected by wild salmon whose genes have been diluted by farmed fish."

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Adapted from materials provided by The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), via AlphaGalileo.

 

[agentaqua]

Campbell River Mirror, 24th December 2009

Alexandra Morton responds to funding question
Re: Open Letter to Alexandra Morton: Where did Raincoast Research Society Get $613,009 Since 2000?

Krause is not accurate saying the letter is calling for closure of fish farms, it says removal from wild salmon migration routes and enforcement of the Fish Act.

I am guessing the industry may feel that if the Fish Act was enforced on them they can not survive? This will be resolved in the courts, because the courts seem eager to grapple with this.

The funds were from the Tides Foundation, when I was part of CAAR, and Vancouver Foundation and many private individuals in B.C. who are very concerned about wild salmon and like my approach, using science to measure impact of the industry.

The funds went to the field projects that produce 15 scientific papers, i.e. fuel, deckhands, equipment. If you look at what DFO spent for the same field seasons, I am very frugal. Yes there was, for a salary for me, approved by the directors of the society, but with the economic downturn that no longer exists and I fund myself by selling my books, t-shirts, my home. I used to correspond with Krause but stopped because she refuses to accept my answers and keeps looking for something else.

The letter and signatures are not a part of Raincoast Research, which solely does research.

Krause never acknowledges, the Pacific Coast Wild Salmon Society at www.adopt-a-fry.org which does not issue receipts and has been funded by over 1,000 small donations. This money has been used for the legal proceedings which will put fish farms on a level playing field with Canadian aquaculture and fisheries.

At the recent DFO meetings in Campbell River, the Canadians who are farming salmon on land in tanks report they are completely marginalized by the province, that they cannot even get a meeting with the province and yet feel they have a viable industry which answers all of the environmental issues.

Why is it the Province of B.C. will not even meet with them? I have never opposed Canadian aquaculture. The entire issue is the enormous scale of the Norwegian industry which is very aggressive worldwide and clearly does not allow competition, be it here, Chile, Norway etc.

In regards to Krause: do what you feel is right, but she is mixing the two organizations, and never reveals her employment record with the Norwegian industry.

The folk hero status I am experiencing is generated by this kind of thing. The fish farm industry simply needs to say the words: Yes, we know our industry causes problems and here is what we are going to do about it. They need to remove themselves from the most valuable wild salmon habitat.

Instead they are obstinate, behave like bullies and their only strategy is to try and damage the opposition. The more they do this, the more people support what I am doing.

Now a group of scientists which I was part of want to see a migratory corridor opened for the Fraser sockeye without fish farms.

Attacking me is counterproductive, but they are too big to see this.

Alexandra Morton

 

[agentaqua]

Campbell River Mirror, 24th December 2009

Alexandra Morton responds to funding question
Re: Open Letter to Alexandra Morton: Where did Raincoast Research Society Get $613,009 Since 2000?

Krause is not accurate saying the letter is calling for closure of fish farms, it says removal from wild salmon migration routes and enforcement of the Fish Act.

I am guessing the industry may feel that if the Fish Act was enforced on them they can not survive? This will be resolved in the courts, because the courts seem eager to grapple with this.

The funds were from the Tides Foundation, when I was part of CAAR, and Vancouver Foundation and many private individuals in B.C. who are very concerned about wild salmon and like my approach, using science to measure impact of the industry.

The funds went to the field projects that produce 15 scientific papers, i.e. fuel, deckhands, equipment. If you look at what DFO spent for the same field seasons, I am very frugal. Yes there was, for a salary for me, approved by the directors of the society, but with the economic downturn that no longer exists and I fund myself by selling my books, t-shirts, my home. I used to correspond with Krause but stopped because she refuses to accept my answers and keeps looking for something else.

The letter and signatures are not a part of Raincoast Research, which solely does research.

Krause never acknowledges, the Pacific Coast Wild Salmon Society at www.adopt-a-fry.org which does not issue receipts and has been funded by over 1,000 small donations. This money has been used for the legal proceedings which will put fish farms on a level playing field with Canadian aquaculture and fisheries.

At the recent DFO meetings in Campbell River, the Canadians who are farming salmon on land in tanks report they are completely marginalized by the province, that they cannot even get a meeting with the province and yet feel they have a viable industry which answers all of the environmental issues.

Why is it the Province of B.C. will not even meet with them? I have never opposed Canadian aquaculture. The entire issue is the enormous scale of the Norwegian industry which is very aggressive worldwide and clearly does not allow competition, be it here, Chile, Norway etc.

In regards to Krause: do what you feel is right, but she is mixing the two organizations, and never reveals her employment record with the Norwegian industry.

The folk hero status I am experiencing is generated by this kind of thing. The fish farm industry simply needs to say the words: Yes, we know our industry causes problems and here is what we are going to do about it. They need to remove themselves from the most valuable wild salmon habitat.

Instead they are obstinate, behave like bullies and their only strategy is to try and damage the opposition. The more they do this, the more people support what I am doing.

Now a group of scientists which I was part of want to see a migratory corridor opened for the Fraser sockeye without fish farms.

Attacking me is counterproductive, but they are too big to see this.

Alexandra Morton

 

[cuttlefish]

Closed system pilot ready to go according to Marine Harvest

Courier-Islander


Thursday, December 24, 2009


There's more detail about Marine Harvest's hopes for a closed containment pilot project.

Managing director Vincent Erenst, confirms the company hasn't formally applied for government funding for the project, but that's because they haven't found government programs "where we could formally apply and where we would have a chance of success."

In a presentation to Campbell River city council earlier this month, Erenst said the company was working towards a pilot study but "so far we've not been able to convince either the feds or the province to support us in this."

"So far, we have been trying to get some help in the order of 30 to 40 per cent of our investment, and we have not succeeded," he said. "We are definitely willing to do a trial. We have it basically designed. We are ready."

Both federal and provincial government officials countered that they'd received no formal applications from Marine Harvest.

The problem, according to Erenst, is one of scale. Marine Harvest is looking at a total project cost somewhere in the $8 million range and hoping for roughly $3 million in government funding.

The most likely source of federal funding, Ottawa's Aquaculture Innovation and Market Access Program (AIMAP), doesn't have that kind of money, he said.

Erenst said the total AIMAP annual funding for all of Canada is equal to what Marine Harvest is hoping for.

Making closed containment viable is also an issue of scale. Marine Harvest has an abundance of experience with the technology because its Atlantic salmon are raised from egg to smolt in freshwater closed containment. The more control the company has over conditions such as temperature, the more control it has over growth rates.

"It's all about avoiding any form of disease and controlling temperature," Erenst said. "It's very important that your smolts go to sea as big as possible and as strong as possible."

It costs far more per kilogram to produce smolts in closed containment than it does to grow the fish out to maturity in open net pens. Indeed, the higher smolt production cost is made acceptable by the economic return on the mature fish.

While there are different forms of closed containment, including the floating solid-wall pens being studied at Middle Bay, Erenst said the Marine Harvest pilot project would be on land.

As for when the project could be up and running, Erenst said that's not a decision in the company's hands.

(campbell River)

© Alberni Valley Times 2009

http://www2.canada.com/albernivalleytimes/news/story.html?id=d26abca4-f3ce-450f-b740-a23b0fba5c65

 

[agentaqua]

The Times Colonist, 31st December 2009

2009 decisive for B.C. salmon

By D.C. Reid, Special to Times Colonist

2009 may well go down in history as the tipping point for west coast salmon. Four scientists left the Department of Fisheries and Oceans -- one 'retired', two quit and one jumped to the Pacific Salmon Foundation. If the best and brightest can't take the political interference and lack of action, the DFO is policy bankrupt and moribund.

We do like hatcheries, volunteer restoration and school programs. But the largest part is bad. For starters, the DFO let the Fraser River sockeye collapse. Had Stephen Hume in the Vancouver Sun, and brother Mark Hume in the Globe not been documenting the problem, the DFO might have gotten away with doing nothing. But it didn't.

The DFO brought in a council, under judge Bruce Cohen to take off the heat. Don't hold your breath -- the final report is two years away. And don't think DFO will do anything. After all, the 2009 Auditor General's report lambasted their lack of action and 148 year failure on water pollution. DFO acknowledged its lack of action, but here's the clincher: the auditor general has been making the same recommendations in reports spanning a decade.

Then there is the damning evidence the DFO knew about the collapse two years before it happened. The 2007 Georgia St. Seine found a miniscule 159 fry from a massive 139 million Chilko/Quesnel output. Yet DFO came out with a 10 million estimate for 2009 only to see it come in more like one million. Were they surprised?

Then there was the minister in Norway, wooing more fish farmers to B.C. Minister Shea did this even though B.C. residents have been shouting about closed containment and effluent treatment for a decade. Oh, and an aquaculture lobby has sprung up in Ottawa. Hmm.

Then there was the fish farmers' "science." The gist is this: the Alberta sea lice research was funded by American salmon interests who want to put B.C. fish farmers out of business and sell their wild Alaska salmon into the vacated market. Here's the point: fish farmers like to claim any request for change is intended to put them out of business. But this is not so. All we have asked for is closed containment.

Then 40,000 Atlantics escaped in the Broughton Archipelago in October. Alexandra Morton, sea lice scientist, pointed out to Shea that 20,243 B.C. residents have signed her petition to eliminate the sea lice problem. And this includes pro bono lawyers for court cases, other costs paid by our dollars to prevent Atlantic eggs importing ISA virus into B.C. She continues to lay charges against the DFO under its own Fisheries Act for failure to act.

Then the most important casualty of this terrible malaise: the precautionary principle: lack of scientific evidence is not a reason to fail to take action to save wild salmon. The DFO lacks science because it doesn't fund it properly, but hides behind that lack, when it suits its purposes. And remember the Province's own figures show fish farming contributes only 2,100 jobs to our economy. And, at 0.2 per cent of GDP it can never be a major player in B.C. But we give up wild salmon, bears, etc.

Here's the good part: the December SFU think tank on salmon -- media reported the DFO instructed its scientists not to attend. Its own data show the Fraser sockeye collapse began 15 years ago. Former Fisheries Minister, John Fraser, said the DFO had the stats and it is incredible they did nothing. In part, the scientists left because the word in Ottawa was: why should we give you more funding for salmon research when there is no value in salmon?

No value in salmon? I think it will prove the moment people in B.C. began realizing it is up to us and our organizations to save the salmon.

http://www.timescolonist.com/entertainment/2009+decisive+salmon/2394596/story.html

 

[agentaqua]

December 30,

Fish farming court order confounds federal government
http://www.straight.com/article-278057/vancouver/court-order-confounds-feds
By Charlie Smith

A landmark court decision regarding the regulation of fish farms continues to cause legal ripples.

February 2009 Supreme Court decision

Last February, fish biologist Alexandra Morton and a few other petitioners won a declaration that provincial regulation of the ocean-finfish aquaculture industry was unconstitutional. In his written decision, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Christopher Hinkson ruled that under the Constitution Act, 1867, the federal government is responsible for management and protection of fisheries. He ordered an end to provincial regulation over ocean-finfish aquaculture by February 9, 2010.

Morton has often claimed that regulators are not addressing the threat of sea lice from fish farms to wild salmon. “Salmon farming is the emperor with no clothes, and I really just want people to see that,” she said in a phone interview with the Georgia Straight.

In late December, the federal government was back in B.C. Supreme Court, asking Hinkson to extend the deadline to December 2010. In a November 5 affidavit, Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s director general of the aquaculture management directorate, Trevor Swerdfager, swore that it was impossible to create a federal regulatory regime in time to meet the court-ordered deadline. He described the impact of the B.C. Supreme Court decision as “monumental” on aquaculture governance, claiming it would require the hiring up to 50 new staff.

According to Swerdfager’s affidavit, there are more than 300 aquaculture sites and more than 700 provincial licences in B.C. He declared that the B.C. industry’s wholesale revenue exceeded $500 million in 2007. As a result of the court decision, the federal government would be required to create new regulatory and administrative regimes in a variety of areas. This includes receiving licence applications, deciding where farms should be located, collecting fees, and developing and mandating standards for the design of net cages and for preventing escapes.

Swerdfager stated that the decision struck down provincial licensing issued under the B.C. Fisheries Act and the pollution-management provisions of the Finfish Aquaculture Waste Control Regulation. “Replacing these provisions is not a simple matter,” he claimed.

However, Fisheries and Oceans Canada suggested on its Web site that it could regulate fish farming: “If the extension is not granted by the Court, DFO [Fisheries and Oceans Canada] will establish and implement appropriate interim measures for the management of aquaculture in BC.”

Morton’s lawyer, Greg McDade, told the Straight by phone that the federal government won’t explain what those “interim measures” entail. “They filed an affidavit that was in conflict with what they had put up on their public Web site,” McDade claimed.

This is just one odd aspect of the case. Morton said that one respondent, Marine Harvest Canada Inc., has argued in court that it owns the fish under its control. However, she claimed that it’s unconstitutional to own fish in the ocean, and that Hinkson has already ruled that the ocean exists inside and outside of an open-net pen. “Our position is that if Marine Harvest wants to know who owns their fish, they need to go to court and do this on their own dime,” Morton said.

McDade described the debate over ownership of the fish as an interesting “academic question”, but claimed that it’s not relevant to the public-policy debate. “The question of whether this is private property or not is way less interesting than the question of whether people have the right to interfere with the public fishery or not,” he said.

Marine Harvest’s lawyer, Chris Harvey, and Fisheries and Oceans Canada staff did not respond to the Straight’s requests for a response by deadline. Hinkson reserved his decision.

Morton said that if Hinkson grants the federal government’s request for an extension, he should also prohibit the provincial government from allowing the expansion of ocean-finfish aquaculture in B.C. in the interim.

 

[agentaqua]

The Times Colonist, 8th January 2010

Minister defends salmon management
Re: "2009 decisive for B.C. salmon," Dec. 31.

The low returns of Fraser River sockeye salmon over the past several years are a source of deep concern for the federal government. This is reflected in its decision to call a commission of inquiry.

It will "investigate and make independent findings of fact regarding the causes for the decline of Fraser River sockeye salmon" and "consider the policies and practices of (the Department of Fisheries and Oceans) with respect to the sockeye salmon fishery in the Fraser River."

In addition, it will consider "the impact of environmental changes along the Fraser River, marine environmental conditions, aquaculture" and other factors.

In the meantime, the DFO's priority in managing Fraser River sockeye is conservation, followed by providing sustainable fisheries to First Nations, recreational anglers and commercial harvesters. We are working with all harvest sectors to enhance catch monitoring and reporting and to move to a share-based approach to fisheries management. We have increased the number of fishery officers on the Fraser River.

The methodologies the department uses to develop its annual salmon abundance forecasts are science-based and subject to peer review.

However, predicting the number of sockeye that will return to the Fraser in a given year is complex and challenging. DFO manages the Fraser River sockeye fishery based, not on the forecasts, but on actual in-season return estimates.

The decline of Fraser River sockeye salmon is a significant and important issue.

Gail Shea

Minister of Fisheries and Oceans

Ottawa

http://www2.canada.com/victoriatime....html?id=7737cf5c-1f29-4ad7-bbce-f2c7b2aedac0

 

[agentaqua]

Alexandra Morton blog, 6th January 2010

Latest Court Date on By-Catch Charge Against Marine Harvest

Jan. 5, 2010 was the latest court date in the charges I laid under the Fisheries Act against Marine Harvest Canada for unlawful possession of wild salmon by-catch. Generally, when a member of the public witnesses a potential violation of the Fisheries Act, they simply report it to the federal fisheries (DFO) who does the investigation and lays a charge if they have the evidence. DFO asks the public to help under their Observe, Record, Report campaign. Many people have stepped forward over the years to help DFO successfully enforce the Fisheries Act and conserve our wild fish. I did report the wild salmon that were in the Marine Harvest vessel, Orca Warrior to DFO, they indicated they were investigating, but they never said whether they would lay a charge. So I did to protect the juvenile wild salmon of the Broughton.

At our last court date, a month ago in Port Hardy, the Department of Justice (DOJ - who is next in line after DFO to run this trial indicated they needed more time to investigate the charge. My lawyer, Jeffery Jones and I hope the DOJ will assume conduct and run the prosecution as that is what DOJ's mandate is, and they have the better resources and expertise to do this.

But on Jan. 5, the Department of Justice (DOJ) sent an agent, as did Marine Harvest. But my lawyer and I were disappointed to hear that DOJ has refused to make a decision as to whether or not to prosecute. This means that we still don't know if we should conduct the trial ourselves and remain in limbo. It creates uncertainty in the trial process if at any time DOJ can suddenly step in and take over...or not.

However, Judge Saunderson clarified the matter and ordered the DOJ to make a decision within 30 days.

Jeffery Jones, who is working pro bono, also asked for disclosure from DFO and DOJ, because if we are to continue in the government's role as the prosecutor we need the government files on their investigation. Presumably, Marine Harvest would want disclosure from DFO and DOJ as well.

Judge Saunderson adjourned our application for disclosure until after he hears what the DOJ's intention is.

See film on issue:

click here : http://video.aol.co.uk/video-detail...fish-farms-alex-morton-investigates/855073246

http://alexandramorton.typepad.com/...n-bycatch-charge-against-marine-harvest-.html

 

[agentaqua]

Star Journal, 4th January 2010

Fisheries running amok?

To the editor;

I knew I shouldn't care anymore. I was a commercial fisherman for over forty years, but I'm retired now. It all should be a thing of the past.

However reading Alexandra Morton's 'fish farm industry a revelation' brought it all back (Star/Journal Dec. 14/09 issue). The fisheries policy that appears to come from the mind of Lewis Carroll, I mean the Mad Hatter and the March Hare couldn't think up anything more ridiculous than the policies coming from Fisheries and Oceans.

Last year I sold my salmon license for some retirement money. This year I turned my boat over to my son, we rented a native license for the salmon season. However, we made no money. I came home and my son took the boat back to Haida Gwaii (The Queen Charlottes).

One of the reasons that our sockeye season was such a 'bust' was that the Skeena River, the one place on the coast where there was a good run of sockeye, was never opened to the gillnet fishermen.

This was due to the influence of the various sports organizations including the steelhead gang rather than any lack of fish - what? Undue influence from groups that have their own agenda.

This happens in third world countries you say, not Canada.

It's not just the fish farm industry, the undue influence of various sports groups, (look at the gravel removal on the Fraser River a year or so ago that killed between 1.5 million to 2.25 million pink salmon) that makes the Alice in Wonderland Fisheries and Oceans policies so unbelievable.

Alexandra Morton with whom I have a passing acquaintance has done a marvelous, often lonely job, of exposing the follies of the fish farm industry.

However, it is more than that; like the RCMP, Fisheries and Oceans has run amok.Unlike the RCMP, which is being forced to clean up it's acts - pension reform (go after the 'taser happy' lot), the Fisheries continues it's wild and wooly policies virtually unabated.

What is needed here is a Royal commission into all aspects of Fisheries and Oceans (especially the last ten years).

Despite this urgent need I'm not practising holding my breath in anticipation!

Dennis Peacock

Clearwater, B.C.

http://www.bclocalnews.com/bc_thompson_nicola/barrierestarjournal/opinion/80448442.html