More on ISA: Alex

[cuttlefish]

Today from Norway where ISA has been killing farmed salmon for years. This of course does not refer to Pacific salmon.

Does ISA Transfer Between Wild & Farmed Salmon?
NORWAY - The aquaculture industry in Troms has been hit by annual outbreaks of Infectious salmon anaemia (ISA) since 2007. Fish farmers hit by the disease can lose large quantities of fish, and a mortality rate of nearly 90 per cent has been registered in controlled challenge experiments on salmon.

The regularity of the outbreaks may mean that the disease is established in the affected fjord systems, and a possible explanation is that wild fish are playing a role in pathogen transfer.

ISA – the salmon’s influenza

ISA is attributed to a virus (ISA virus), which is related to the influenza virus found in mammals and birds. The ISA virus is found in wild and farmed salmon, but does not cause disease in wild fish even though it is most likely infectious.

On the contrary, the ISA virus in farmed salmon produces the disease and high mortality, and this may be attributed to the virus having new traits owing to changes in the genes. Even though the virus is related to influenza, only fish develop the disease.

The natural host organism for the ISA virus remains unknown, but one may not rule out the fact that the virus occurs naturally in wild salmon residing along the Norwegian coast.

A need for more knowledge

In light of this lacking knowledge about the reciprocal risk of infection between wild and farmed fish, scientists from Nofima in Tromsø have studied the existence of the pathogenic virus in salmon caught in the Målselv waterway. The Målselv River is connected with the Astafjord basin in South Troms, and there have been repeated ISA outbreaks in farmed salmon in this area over a period of several years.

Farmed fish in South Troms were vaccinated against ISA in 2010, but this did not prevent outbreaks of the disease. This study, as with previous studies, points to the fact that all the outbreaks in South Troms in the period 2007 - 2010 are caused by just one variant of the ISA virus and, therefore, that this variant is established in the fjord system.

No ISA virus found in wild fish

In this study, the ISA virus was not detected in 28 fish caught in the Målselv waterway during the 2010 season. One of the salmon tested weak positive for the virus, but an independent analysis concluded that none of the fish had the ISA virus. It is highly likely that all the fish resided in an area in which there are many fish farms that have had outbreaks of the disease.

“However, we cannot conclude that the pathogenic ISA virus does not transfer between wild fish and farmed fish or vice versa; for that purpose the sample material analysed is too small,” says Øyvind Kileng, a Scientist who participated in the project.

“In order to draw sound conclusions regarding the risk of infection between wild fish and farmed fish, examinations of a large number of samples collected over a longer period of time would be appropriate. Several waterways and other fish species should also be included,” concludes the scientist.

This project is financed by the Fishery and Aquaculture Industry Research Fund (FHF).

TheFishSite News Desk
http://www.thefishsite.com/fishnews/15880/does-isa-transfer-between-wild-farmed-salmon

 

[Whole in the Water]

What a bunch of dithering, corrupt, manipulative spin doctors we have in the DFO, CFIA and Conservative Govt!!! They are stalling until there are painted in a corner on this issue and only then (maybe) will they admit a problem - and then it may very well be too late!!!

WHERE ARE THE STEWARDS AND PROTECTORS OF OUR COMMON PROPERTY RESOURCES!!! They are in bed with the fish farming corporations that's where! The only people that will bring a change to this disasterous situation is us - WE THE PEOPLE! as Margaret Mead said "Never doubt that a small, group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." We who care need to spread the word to more people to increase the pressure on this vital issue to make sure this doesn't get swept and 'spin doctored' under the carpet. We need to join together to write, to lobby and to protest - time for more action people!

 

[GLG]

Perhaps DFO could start testing for ISAv in the new year.
That way there would be no sick wild fish to find in our rivers.
They would be long gone by then.
I think it is up to us to save all suspect cases of sick fish we find in this years brood capture programs.
Test them on our dime and report back the results to everyone concerned.
GLG

 

[Striper Sniper]

Hmmmmmmmmm, i'm surprised the First Nations aren't picking this up and running with it more........

SS

 

[Seafever]

I'm surprised this virus wasn't artificially manufactured as a "pandemic" by the powers-that-be.

Pandemic= need for authoritative powers to step in and control...as evidenced by the manufactured flu pandeimics that never were. Population control with forced flushots, producing serum sales that equate to huge profits.
And the WHO gets to strongarm and control you. (for your own good, of course).

So what's next?.......suddenly government realizes that, sorry folks there is a huge problem and naturally we'd better step in with controls and restrictions to save you all from yourselves.....
They won't close the farms but will instead create a Virus Tax.....as we all know that a good hefty tax will kill anything it's path.

 

[reelfast]

one 23 y/o young lady brought bank of america to its knees. maybe you folks should stop whinning and take a lesson in how to go about this.

 

[searun]

Typical deny and defend response from DFO unfortunately. Aren't these the folks who have a fiduciary duty to protect wild salmon by being ever vigilant to stop threats such as ISA? More independent testing is needed to hold them accountable to do the right thing as it appears they won't do it on their own.

 

[calmsea]

Sorry, they only have the duty to do whatever the Canadian public asked them to do at the last election; and by having given them a majority means:
1) Carry on with what you tried to do in the past and do it even more vigorous and reckless
2) Canadians do not care for fish nor environment, little personal gains are more important to them

So what are you complaining about? You got what you all wanted!

 

[ratherbefishing]

Like it or not, I think Calmseas is right. The fact is, the Conservative majority has made it VERY clear that the environment is not a priority and big business is. Hmmm, lets see here...

Aquaculture = multinational big business
healthy ecosystem = about as far from multinational big business as you can get. In fact, this usually runs contrary to the interests big business

The Canadian public will get what they voted for. Like it or not. If you voted for them, then you can pat yourself on the back for putting the environment near (if not at) the bottom of the list.

And Holmes, politics has EVERYTHING to do with environmental stewardship. Politics drives EVERYTHING. That is the fundamental issue = political influence trumps biology (and common sense!).

 

[chris73]

Sadly I agree with you, ratherbefishing!

 

[Charlie]

ISA virus high-stakes global finance

On November 8, two weeks ahead of their own schedule, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) and the Province of BC suddenly held a phone-in press conference. When we got our first positives for ISA virus, the CFIA said they would require 4 - 6 weeks, but they did not wait that long. You can listen to the briefing here.

The statements made by these government agencies in their press conference countered the ISA virus positive test results that we received from two different labs. The government agencies said their own tests on the 48 original samples - the Rivers Inlet sockeye of which 2 tested positive for ISA virus at the World Animal Health Lab for ISA virus - were all negative for ISA virus. Con Kiley, director of the CFIA's national animal health program went on to say that the DFO lab in Moncton "verified" results from an independent lab in Norway.

“The results are consistent with independent testing conducted by a lab in Norway, officials said. While that lab found one weak positive reading among multiple tests, it also noted the sample was poor and results could not be reproduced", said Peter Wright, national manager for the Research and Diagnostic Laboratory System with Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

They took the weak positive found in Norway and made it a "negative" because it was not repeatable. All sampling and testing were considered negative due to poor quality of some of the samples.

"There is no evidence that ISAv occurs in fish in the waters of British Columbia" - Con Kiley CFIA

However, the Norwegian scientist at the University of Bergen, who has studied and tracked ISA virus through Norway and Chile who did the tests says:

"Our results are not conclusive, but do suggest ... that an ISA virus is present in wild populations of O. nerka (Pacific sockeye)," Dr. Are Nylund, a professor of biology at the University of Bergen, wrote in an email exchange with The Seattle Times.

The CFIA and the federal and provincial government turned 6 ISA virus positive tests into negatives, because they were apparently unable to reproduce the results. Since the labs that arrived at positives results are world-accredited labs, this calls into question the ability of the government lab. They have not released the actual results and said they were not going to share the samples with the U.S. They did not explain how the World Animal Health Reference Lab results were invalid. They reasoned that the positive result from the Norwegian lab (verifying the World Animal Health lab's results) were actually a negative because the quality of the tissue was degraded. But ISA virus is not going to appear as a result of freezer-burn, to the contrary it would disappear.

ISA virus is the most deadly salmon virus known, it plagues salmon farms worldwide but Canada is going to ignore the results from two of the top ISA virus labs in the world, because the samples were of poor quality?

They did not mention the fresh samples I sent to the World Animal Health Lab that produced three more positives. One of the government scientists said these positive results defied logic. This seems an odd comment. We are not dealing with logic here, we are dealing with an aggressive influenza-type virus.

Why would government jump out and deny evidence of ISA virus in BC? If the samples were poor wouldn't it make sense to go back to the places where the positive tested fish came from and take their own samples? How can we take any confidence when government says everything is fine because the virus was found in poor quality samples?

The November 11, 2011 headlines in the aquaculture industry paper Intrafish provide interesting backdrop to this drama:

Real Salmon files for bankruptcy
The group, which owned shares in Bolaks, Scottish Salmon Company and Grieg Seafood, has filed for bankruptcy

Salmon prices slide backwards

Fredriksen Fish Farmer Chokes on Salmon Glut: Corporate Finance
“Marine Harvest’s” ability to honor loan conditions is being called into question after third-quarter net income declined 97 percent” “The industry outlook looks weak”

Investors grow concerned about Marine Harvest’s heavy debt load

On another website:

Norwegian fish farm companies' share prices have been in freefall for some time: Marine Harvest is at: 44.2 cents; Cermaq is at $10.20; Grieg Seafood is at: 66.1 cents. All USA dollars.

From Norway: Salmon producers face new crisis

The industry has over-stocked its farms worldwide, the public appetite is not keeping up. On October 28, Marine Harvest just fired 50 people from the communities of Northern Vancouver Island CTV News due to "oversupply."

As it turns out, the Premier of BC was in China on a trade-mission on the day of the government press conference.

British Columbia Minister of Agriculture Don McRae noted: “It is vitally important that we base our policy decisions on sound science so as to preserve and protect BC’s reputation as a reliable supplier of high quality seafood to the world. This is particularly true for the dozens of coastal communities that rely on wild and farmed fisheries to feed their families and maintain their way of life. Reckless allegations based on incomplete science can be devastating to these communities and unfair to the families that make a living from the sea. Since Premier Clark is currently on a trade mission to China, I have personally asked her to reassure our valued trading partners that now, as always, BC can be relied upon as a supplier of safe, sustainable seafood.” fishnewseu.com

The news that the industry is going downhill because they have more product than the world wants and that the BC Premier, on a trade mission in China, was immediately briefed on BC's hastily-declared ISA virus - free status does raise questions. Perhaps the CFIA and DFO have the only lab that can't find ISA virus in the samples, but isn't it a bit reckless to declare there is "no evidence that ISA virus occurs in BC"? Isn't 6 positive tests from world-class ISA virus labs "evidence"? Was this press conference an effort to encourage China to buy up the farm salmon product that is now piling up worldwide?

In a November 9 press release from Canada says:

In Canada, infectious salmon anaemia is a "federally reportable disease". This means that all suspected or confirmed cases must be immediately reported to the CFIA. But the 1,100 reports by the BC fish farm vet of "classic lesions" associated with ISA virus were never reported to the CFIA.

In an October 24 statement the Minister of Fisheries Keith Ashfield says:

"There are stringent federal regulations in place to protect Canada’s aquatic species (farmed and wild) from disease."

But he fails to mention that in 2004 his department waived the Canadian Fish Health Protection Regulations to allow Atlantic salmon eggs to pour in since then from a hatchery in the North Atlantic that does not meet Canada's "stringent federal regulations." Download 2004 Fish Health1[1].pdf (2176.3K)

All the public salmon hatcheries in BC received a notice not to provide samples for ISA virus testing to independent researchers. I hope that the hatcheries will take it on themselves to make sure testing is done. ISA virus is an aggressive competitor against other pathogens and so when it occurs in a confined environment it ramps up virulence to win out over the competition. Two of the positives I received from my fresh samples were found only in the gills (chinook and chum). Experts say this could mean very recent exposure. Because these two salmon were found in the same area as a coho that had ISA virus in her heart, which suggests a more systemic infection, it is possible the chum and chinook had just become infected. It is well known around the world that ISA virus can move from harmless to lethal in fish confined in close quarters.

It would be tragic if the hard work by hundreds of volunteer British Columbians was undone by spread of ISA virus through hatcheries. The samples required for testing are heart and gills, unfrozen stored in RNALater.

I went back to the area where I got the three ISA virus-positive salmon at Harrison Mills, took fresh samples again of the recently dead fish and over-night Fedexed them back to the World Animal Health Lab. They did not run the samples, they put them in storage. I am not sure what this means for future testing in BC.

I do not accept the CFIA, DFO, BC opinion that there is "no evidence" of ISA virus. I have not seen their test results. I have 6 positives, including confirmation by a second highly experienced lab in one of the Rivers Inlet sockeye. I feel the only responsible action right now is to test for this virus as widely as possible, striving for the best possible sample quality.

Thank you for your donations we will keep you informed of results. We did get negative results from juvenile herring that we tested - which is really good news.

Donate:

http://alexandramorton.typepad.com/

 

[Little Hawk]

Thanks Charlie for posting this. It's somehow reassuring to know there's some south of the 49th who support the abolition of this mess.

 

[Cuba Libre]

Alex mentions RNALater... This is the product for storing samples. http://www.ambion.com/catalog/CatNum.php?AM7021 Seems a roadblock to getting the samples analyzed might be getting time in an approved lab. No mention of cost.... but it has to be a few bucks.


And then I came across this.. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2016565085_fishfarms21m.html just what we need-- another avenue of infection for south coast salmon...