islandboy
Well-Known Member
Letter to the editor in today's Times Colonist;
http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/letters/index.html
'Over-the-top rant' wrong on salmon farming
Times Colonist
Published: Wednesday, March 12, 2008
We'll agree with Terry Anderson ("Sport angler declares war on B.C. fish farms," March 10) that B.C.'s wild Pacific salmon are "magnificent." We salmon farmers also share his commitment to protecting and enhancing this great resource.
But we take exception to the wrong-headed statements in his over-the-top rant against our business. He brings up the long-discounted notion that our industry deposits the equivalent of 100 Victoria-sized cities' sewage into local waters. We regulate the amount of food given to our fish carefully; when they stop eating we stop feeding. Typically, sites remediate within months of fallowing, not five years, as Anderson charges.
He says sea lice transfer is pushing Pacific salmon runs to extinction. Pink salmon runs in the Broughton are increasing and are in line with historical cycles. There is zero evidence for claims of extinction.
He claims "undisputed scientific evidence" supports his inaccurate view. There is considerable dispute within the scientific community. A paper signed by 20 marine scientists and biologists pointing out serious errors in an article published by salmon-farming critics is soon to be published in Reviews In Fisheries Science.
Finally, he says the industry creates "very few jobs." The 500 Marine Harvest employees and the thousands of employees working for other companies and suppliers might disagree.
Efforts to protect and enhance wild runs will be more successful if actions are based on real causes of concern.
Ian Roberts
Marine Harvest Canada
Campbell River
http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/letters/index.html
'Over-the-top rant' wrong on salmon farming
Times Colonist
Published: Wednesday, March 12, 2008
We'll agree with Terry Anderson ("Sport angler declares war on B.C. fish farms," March 10) that B.C.'s wild Pacific salmon are "magnificent." We salmon farmers also share his commitment to protecting and enhancing this great resource.
But we take exception to the wrong-headed statements in his over-the-top rant against our business. He brings up the long-discounted notion that our industry deposits the equivalent of 100 Victoria-sized cities' sewage into local waters. We regulate the amount of food given to our fish carefully; when they stop eating we stop feeding. Typically, sites remediate within months of fallowing, not five years, as Anderson charges.
He says sea lice transfer is pushing Pacific salmon runs to extinction. Pink salmon runs in the Broughton are increasing and are in line with historical cycles. There is zero evidence for claims of extinction.
He claims "undisputed scientific evidence" supports his inaccurate view. There is considerable dispute within the scientific community. A paper signed by 20 marine scientists and biologists pointing out serious errors in an article published by salmon-farming critics is soon to be published in Reviews In Fisheries Science.
Finally, he says the industry creates "very few jobs." The 500 Marine Harvest employees and the thousands of employees working for other companies and suppliers might disagree.
Efforts to protect and enhance wild runs will be more successful if actions are based on real causes of concern.
Ian Roberts
Marine Harvest Canada
Campbell River
