Salmon Confidential ( the movie) EXPOSED

Birdsnest

Well-Known Member
Good to see a website like this finally. Let me help you guys out. Here are some other myths or exaggerations spread by the film:
1. There is no evidence that diseases are out of control on fish farms. Critics can check out the Cohen Report.
2. The film is not entirely accurate about Harrison Sockeye migration. Actually there is uncertainty in their migratory route as explained in the Cohen Final Report (Vol. 3, Chapter 2, pg 62).
3. The film did not mention that Harrison Sockeye can suffer high prespawn mortality.
4. Salmon Leukemia diagnosis requires more than just a few symptoms, but the film doesn’t mention that.
5. DFOs Aquaculture website releases fish farm information to the public now, so to say that this information is not available is not true.
6. The film makes reference to the Chilean situation, but if ISA was here the fact is that we would likely see it on the farms first. There would not just be a few dead Atlantic Salmon, but millions of dead Atlantic Salmon. This was described by Dr. Nylund during the Cohen Commission. His comments and Dr. Miller’s were convienently edited during the film.
7. ISA is a reportable disease (OIE website) so if it is present on fish farms they have a legal obligation to report it.
8. Where was the testing of Harrison Sockeye? I noticed that Coho, Chum and Chinoook were sampled, but no Sockeye given that there were thousands of Sockeye carcasses for her to choose. Seeing as though Ms Morton was at the Harrison in 2011 what were the test results from Sockeye. Simple question. Fact is that she does not tell us in the film.
9. It was the OIE that conducted the audit of the AVC lab – not CFIA (http://www.oie.int/for-the-media/pr...le/information-on-oie-reference-laboratories/). However, this fact was not mentioned in the film.
10. The Moncton lab can find and report ISA. Saying that they cannot is incorrect. For instance, the lab has found ISA on east coast fish farms and it was reported to the OIE. Check out the database (http://www.oie.int/wahis_2/public/wahid.php/Wahidhome/Home)
11. ISA was routinely tested by the province (see Annual Reports by the province). It wasn’t just selected because of something sinister.
12. Instead of getting Jody Eriksson’s (field researcher) opinion why wasn’t someone with some knowledge of fish pathogens consulted. He obviously has not been on spawning grounds much. White gills? How old was the carcass? Gills will go white after awhile. He is implying that the fish has ISA, but it is obvious that he doesn’t really know what he is doing or what to look for. He then when on to discover a common parasite in Pacific Salmon, but instead called it instantly suspicious. In fact, Mr. Eriksson called every spot, blemish, soft spot, parasite and wound suspicious and implied that it was because of disease. There is a problem and we should be doing more about it, but Mr. Eriksson’s way is not the way to go about it.
13. Ever seen stocked rainbow trout from BC hatcheries with deformities, Annisa? I don’t think so. Showing a fish with deformaties is again implying that some mysterious disease is implicated. She is working the “ick” factor to scare people from eating farmed fish, but it is not uncommon for even wild fish to have deformaties. Annisa needs to get out more see fish.
14. A skinny, GUTTED fish is determined to be unhealthy by Annisa.
15. The films says to buy your fish wild? Sure, I like eating wild fish, but remember that wild fish have pathogens also. Fact is that adult Fraser Sockeye are carriers of IHNV but do not typically develop IHN. Fact is that wild salmon have parasites also. Most of these pathogens are endemic to our coast (http://www.cohencommission.ca/en/pdf/TR/Project1-Report.pdf#zoom=100)
16. There is no direct evidence that PRV gives heartattacks in fish. The presence of PRV alone does not constitute a diagnosis of HSMI. There is absolutely no evidence that PRV turns fish hearts to mush. Showing a soft looking heart from a salmon carcass does not necessarily mean that we should be automatically suspicious and think HSMI. There are likely other factors which interact with PRV infected fish to develop disease or not. Proper fish husbandry likely plays a key role and this is done on BC fish farms. This was omitted from the film. The fact is that HSMI has never been diagnosed on BC fish farms and that healthy fish that make it to market size can have PRV but not show HSMI. Ms Morton’s own supermarket trip proved that.
17. Bill 37 is misinterpreted by Morton again. This myth was already dispelled here: http://www.salmonfarmers.org/sites/default/files/morton-petition.pdf
18. Morton’s marine anemia theory was not endorsed Justice Cohen (Vol. 2, Ch 5, pg 113). What Cohen did agree with was that governmental and non-governmental scientists should be reviewing fish health data to ask tthese “big picture” questions and encourage some open scientific debate.


I find it funny that farm critics complain about government and industry not being transparent, but after watching the film it is clear what they do not want the general public to see. Dr. Miller had much more to say but her comments were edited to just focus on what critics wanted. Most of the other factors brought up at the Cohen Commission were hardly even mentioned. For instance, Scott Hinch and his team has done some outstanding research with Fraser Sockeye for over 12 years now, but not even mentioned in the film. In my opinion, the Cohen Final Report provides an objective view to the issue. This film doesn’t even come close.

http://salmonconfidential.com/2013/03/11/harrison-sockeye-salmon-aids-and-other-fibs/
 
Well that was a real well thought out comment about the content of my post. Thanks for your contribution. I wouldn't expect for you to ask an obviouse question like why the fish died. It's late, I understand.
 
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Although some points BN state appear minor and to be grasping at straws, I am prepared to seriously understand some of these critiques in the hopes of identifying gaps in our understanding of the issues.

1. There is no evidence that diseases are out of control on fish farms. Critics can check out the Cohen Report.
Actually, there is very little evidence, data, and/or research on amplification and transfer of viruses or bacteria on fish farms being done and/or that makes it to public scrutiny. That's really the problem. Cohen also identified this.

We are dealing with a big unknown, and a technology (the open net-cage) that allows free transfer of pathogens back-n-forth between wild and cultured stocks. WE the public - really don't know what was imported in Atlantic salmon eggs for the industry since senior members of DFO circumvented the normal egg import testing requirements for the industry – under pressure from the industry – including from a non-certified Icelandic hatchery that had confirmed ISA.

I think the general public (including those who made the film) are not responsible for the open net-cage technology still being used, or for those imports of potentially diseased eggs.
2. The film is not entirely accurate about Harrison Sockeye migration. Actually there is uncertainty in their migratory route as explained in the Cohen Final Report (Vol. 3, Chapter 2, pg 62).
With fish – ya lots uncertainty. Are you saying Harrison does NOT migrate to the outside now?
3. The film did not mention that Harrison Sockeye can suffer high prespawn mortality.
Do you have a reference for this? Was it elevated water temps?
4. Salmon Leukemia diagnosis requires more than just a few symptoms, but the film doesn’t mention that.
ok – are you saying the fish didn't have SLV?
5. DFOs Aquaculture website releases fish farm information to the public now, so to say that this information is not available is not true.
2 responses:1/ Is sea lice data now released on a site-by-site basis?, and 2/ CFIA is supposed to handle farm fish health info, not DFO. So does the CFIA website have that info? I can't find it.
6. The film makes reference to the Chilean situation, but if ISA was here the fact is that we would likely see it on the farms first. There would not just be a few dead Atlantic Salmon, but millions of dead Atlantic Salmon. This was described by Dr. Nylund during the Cohen Commission. His comments and Dr. Miller’s were convienently edited during the film..
Not necessarily. What if the ISA strain wre an altered strain (something viruses do) – that affected wild stocks, but wasn't as bad for Atlantics?
7. ISA is a reportable disease (OIE website) so if it is present on fish farms they have a legal obligation to report it..
You just hit on of the worst failings of the fish health monitoring/reporting for farmed stock.

First the signs of ISA has to be correctly recognized, by farm staff, then a fish vet, then the provincial fish vet.

THEN the provincial fish vet deceides to test (or NOT!!) using the PCR method - which only tests for a known segment of known ISA virus RNA, or NOT (BC is certified ISA-free to sell farmed fish to the US market). It's all up to Marty (whose job depends on the farm industry) with no oversight or public data.

Those clinical records are NOT publicly available.

I fail to see how any of this is the filmakers responsibility.
8. Where was the testing of Harrison Sockeye? I noticed that Coho, Chum and Chinoook were sampled, but no Sockeye given that there were thousands of Sockeye carcasses for her to choose. Seeing as though Ms Morton was at the Harrison in 2011 what were the test results from Sockeye. Simple question. Fact is that she does not tell us in the film.
Good question.
9. It was the OIE that conducted the audit of the AVC lab – not CFIA (http://www.oie.int/for-the-media/pr...le/information-on-oie-reference-laboratories/). However, this fact was not mentioned in the film.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...s-in-bc-salmon/article5582798/?service=mobile
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/...n_agency_tangles_with_pei_fish_scientist.html
http://saakovaal.wordpress.com/2012/11/23/cfia-continues-to-play-attack-dog/

It was my understanding that NO - CFIA did an audit on Kibenge's lab (and seizedbsamples from Routledge's lab as well), and then complained to OIE like a bully who wasn't getting their way. I haven't heard if OIE has yet made a decision. Did you?
10. The Moncton lab can find and report ISA. Saying that they cannot is incorrect. For instance, the lab has found ISA on east coast fish farms and it was reported to the OIE. Check out the database (http://www.oie.int/wahis_2/public/wahid.php/Wahidhome/Home)
The Moncton lad used the PCR method which is limited to test only for known segments of known strains of ISA. Guess you are unaware of the different testing methods.
11. ISA was routinely tested by the province (see Annual Reports by the province). It wasn’t just selected because of something sinister.
It's all up to Gary Marty if any PCR testing happens rather than observing and recording clinical signs, and his site-by-site records are confidential – that's the sinister part.
 
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12. Instead of getting Jody Eriksson’s (field researcher) opinion why wasn’t someone with some knowledge of fish pathogens consulted. He obviously has not been on spawning grounds much. White gills? How old was the carcass? Gills will go white after awhile. He is implying that the fish has ISA, but it is obvious that he doesn’t really know what he is doing or what to look for. He then when on to discover a common parasite in Pacific Salmon, but instead called it instantly suspicious. In fact, Mr. Eriksson called every spot, blemish, soft spot, parasite and wound suspicious and implied that it was because of disease. There is a problem and we should be doing more about it, but Mr. Eriksson’s way is not the way to go about it..
ya, wouldn't it be nice if CFIA worked with our communities rather than indulging in an attempt to muzzle, intimidate and discredit researchers?
13. Ever seen stocked rainbow trout from BC hatcheries with deformities, Annisa? I don’t think so. Showing a fish with deformaties is again implying that some mysterious disease is implicated. She is working the “ick” factor to scare people from eating farmed fish, but it is not uncommon for even wild fish to have deformaties. Annisa needs to get out more see fish.
Thats why I won't eat farmed salmon.
14. A skinny, GUTTED fish is determined to be unhealthy by Annisa..
so? straw grasping.
15. The films says to buy your fish wild? Sure, I like eating wild fish, but remember that wild fish have pathogens also. Fact is that adult Fraser Sockeye are carriers of IHNV but do not typically develop IHN. Fact is that wild salmon have parasites also. Most of these pathogens are endemic to our coast (http://www.cohencommission.ca/en/pdf/TR/Project1-Report.pdf#zoom=100).
Let's hold you to the same standards you are claiming the filmakers should be held to. What disease are endemic? Whaich ones are transferred? What are the prevalences on both wild and farmed stock differentiated by life history stages? What strains are prevalent? What is the mortality on a species-by-species basis? Which stocks are impacted? Which ones have population-level impacts? What are the migratory routes of outmigrating wild smolts in all areas potentially-affected by fish farms? What are the risks to wild salmon stocks? What are the outbreak response and containment plans?

Don't know – gee, really? Then hows does the “Nothing to see here – move along folks” response you continually give play here, now?
16. There is no direct evidence that PRV gives heartattacks in fish. The presence of PRV alone does not constitute a diagnosis of HSMI. There is absolutely no evidence that PRV turns fish hearts to mush. Showing a soft looking heart from a salmon carcass does not necessarily mean that we should be automatically suspicious and think HSMI. There are likely other factors which interact with PRV infected fish to develop disease or not. Proper fish husbandry likely plays a key role and this is done on BC fish farms. This was omitted from the film. The fact is that HSMI has never been diagnosed on BC fish farms and that healthy fish that make it to market size can have PRV but not show HSMI. Ms Morton’s own supermarket trip proved that.
We have been though some of this already at: http://www.sportfishingbc.com/forum...ew-Forum-Rules-quot-Thread-Conspiracy-!/page5 and you seemed to not read and/or understand or want to understand my response.

Concisely:

As far as the current science is concerned: PRV is associated with HMSI. PRV may or may not cause HMSI, but likely does (see Løvoll).

Remember when we knew little about AIDS but found-out later that the HIV virus caused AIDS? Likely to turn-out to be the same here.

NOBODY is saying PRV does NOT cause HMSI. There IS evidence to suggest PRV causes HMSI, but it is correlative evidence so far.

Just because it is correlative, does NOT in-substantiate the possibility that it is connected and it is real – that is the false trap that fish vets get themselves into when they parrot the tired statement “correlation does not [necessarily] mean causation”. I's like they have it tattooed on their rather thick foreheads.
Are you now trying to state that PRV does NOT cause changes to the heart muscles. Boy I can't wait for your reference on this one.
17. Bill 37 is misinterpreted by Morton again..
it's dead now – thank god.
18. Morton’s marine anemia theory was not endorsed Justice Cohen (Vol. 2, Ch 5, pg 113). What Cohen did agree with was that governmental and non-governmental scientists should be reviewing fish health data to ask tthese “big picture” questions and encourage some open scientific debate..
yea for cohen!! you disagree?

Well you gave it your best shot bn...
 
Well I see salmon confidential has make work for some on this forum. Let me just say this. There is a lot more science coming your way. Dr. Miller was recently allowed to go forward with her work that will specifically examine the relationship between farm disease and wild salmon declines. My work is not published yet and I am not talking about it until then because all of us are under nasty attack. Marine Harvest just put ~ 500,000 piscine reovirus infected fish in BC waters. They have put themselves at risk by doing this. This is fight, and it is not over. Justice Cohen's opinion in recommendation #18 is that all salmon farms be removed from the Discovery Islands unless DFO can show the salmon feedlots have LESS than minimal impact. At a meeting of scientists at SFU a few weeks ago we hammered out the definition of less than minimal impact. This gives us a template to work with and more and more scientists are stepping into this. The people who work in the salmon feedlot industry are understandably nervous, but I am pushing government to offer them a way to transition into other work. They are caught in the middle of this and it is not their fault. Many of the them talk to me and I know what a tough time they are having in their jobs. The companies are doing very poorly on the world market and their reports to shareholders point to Canada as one of their worst production areas. Companies are not paying dividends.

I have a question for the fish farmers on this forum. Why are almost all your farms empty in the Campbell River area?

I highly suggest the fish farmers really look at what you are doing, what you are seeing in the pens. They wild fish in there, the diseases, the fish dying during harvest operations, the massive movement of morts last summer and think about your kids and what you might be doing to their future.
 
Welcome back mrs Morton. I hope you stick around and participate in the discussion.
 
Why not answer her question re: the Campbell river area birdsnest? If you really want her to participate show it by answering a simple question.
 
Well I see salmon confidential has make work for some on this forum. Let me just say this. There is a lot more science coming your way. Dr. Miller was recently allowed to go forward with her work that will specifically examine the relationship between farm disease and wild salmon declines. My work is not published yet and I am not talking about it until then because all of us are under nasty attack. Marine Harvest just put ~ 500,000 piscine reovirus infected fish in BC waters. They have put themselves at risk by doing this. This is fight, and it is not over. Justice Cohen's opinion in recommendation #18 is that all salmon farms be removed from the Discovery Islands unless DFO can show the salmon feedlots have LESS than minimal impact. At a meeting of scientists at SFU a few weeks ago we hammered out the definition of less than minimal impact. This gives us a template to work with and more and more scientists are stepping into this. The people who work in the salmon feedlot industry are understandably nervous, but I am pushing government to offer them a way to transition into other work. They are caught in the middle of this and it is not their fault. Many of the them talk to me and I know what a tough time they are having in their jobs. The companies are doing very poorly on the world market and their reports to shareholders point to Canada as one of their worst production areas. Companies are not paying dividends.

I have a question for the fish farmers on this forum. Why are almost all your farms empty in the Campbell River area?

I highly suggest the fish farmers really look at what you are doing, what you are seeing in the pens. They wild fish in there, the diseases, the fish dying during harvest operations, the massive movement of morts last summer and think about your kids and what you might be doing to their future.

Hello Ms. Morton,
Here is recommendation #18 from the Cohen Commission.

"18 If at any time between now and September 30,
2020, the minister of fisheries and oceans
determines that net-pen salmon farms in the
Discovery Islands (fish health sub-zone 3-2)
pose more than a minimal risk of serious
harm
to the health of migrating Fraser River
sockeye salmon, he or she should promptly
order that those salmon farms cease
operations."

You state, "At a meeting of scientists at SFU a few weeks ago we hammered out the definition of less than minimal impact."

See the difference there?

Please provide this, as it will be very interesting and relevant to this discussion, and far more useful than your market speculation and apparent concern for my kids.
 
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Why not answer her question re: the Campbell river area birdsnest? If you really want her to participate show it by answering a simple question.

I certainly am not here saying I am all knowing so the answer is I do not know. You will certainly exploit this statement and blow it way out of proportion, have at at'er if that's what you have to do. At least Morton has the ability to post with pleasant plain English without all the lowbrow pokes as we see around here.
So what was Millers big secret that she was muzzled about. Spill the beans she is free to speak so what's the big thing? It was a big deal for miss Morton so surely she must know.
 
This just came across my FB feed through PSF's page:

At 12:30 p.m. today our president and CEO Dr. Brian Riddell will be on CBC Radio’s B.C. Almanac to discuss our new intitiative with Genome BC and Fisheries and Oceans Canada. The new Salmon Health Initiative will provide the largest evaluation of the distribution and impact of potential disease agents ever conducted on B.C. Brian will be on air to take calls from the public. You can hear the program at 690 AM or 88.1 FM in Vancouver or via the CBC website: http://www.cbc.ca/
 
Welcome back mrs Morton. I hope you stick around and participate in the discussion.

I recently had the chance to talk with Morton and hear her speak. She is reasonable, highly intelligent, unassuming and not preoccupied with personal gain. So you want her to swing at pitches in the dirt and role around in the mud with you and your other Atlantic fish farm PR hacks. Why don’t you hold your breath until she does?
 
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Yes, good point, my mistake - if the feedlots have more than minimal impact they will have to be removed from the Discovery islands by 2020. When Marine Harvest put ~500,000 piscine reovirus (PRV) infected smolts into ocean net pens, that is a risk no one fully understands and no one in DFO will say they are monitoring what is going to happen the wild salmon that swim past this feedlot.

In this paper:

Heart and Skeletal Muscle Inflammation of Farmed Salmon Is Associated with Infection with a Novel Reovirus.

The authors from leading institutes in the US and Norway say:

"Nonetheless, as our data indicate that a causal relationship is plausible, it is urgent that measures be taken to control PRV not only because it threatens domestic salmon production but also due to the potential for transmission to wild salmon populations."

And yet this warning is entirely ignored. The vet for the Province of BC, writes that he is confident PRV is not causing the disease, HSMI, in BC. And government is going to go along with that.

However a team of international scientists have developed a vaccine for PRV. http://www.freepatentsonline.com/y2013/0058968.html and they write:

"However, the emergence of infectious diseases in aquaculture threatens production and may also impact wild fish populations. Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) are amongst the most popular of farmed fish, accounting for annual production of more than 1 million tons. Atlantic salmon mariculture has been associated with epidemics of infectious diseases that threaten not only local production, but also wild fish coming into close proximity to marine pens, or fish escaping from them. Heart and skeletal muscle inflammation (HSMI) is a frequently fatal disease of farmed Atlantic salmon. First recognized in one farm in Norway in 1999 (Kongtorp et al., J Fish Dis 27, 351-358 (2004)), HSMI was subsequently implicated in outbreaks in other farms in Norway and the United Kingdom (Ferguson et al., J Fish Dis 28, 119-123 (2005)). Although pathology and disease transmission studies indicated an infectious basis, efforts to identify an agent were unsuccessful.

HSMI is transmissible but the causal agent has not been previously isolated. HSMI is an important disease that threatens aquaculture. There is a need for immunogenic compositions and vaccines suitable for preventing and containing PRV infection and for treating animals having HSMI. This invention addresses these needs."

Another report states:http://www.virology.ws/2010/07/14/reovirus-infection-of-farmed-salmon

"It’s important to identify the etiologic agent of HSMI because it is a threat to both farmed and wild salmon. Farmed fish are kept in pens in the open ocean, facilitating spread of infectious diseases to wild fish. Knowledge of the causative agent will permit preventive measures such as immunization."

A few days ago I filmed the Marine Harvest transport vessel headed out loaded-down:[tpNq63eQPoM] http://youtu.be/tpNq63eQPoM
 
Yes, good point, my mistake -

I assume (and trust) this is indeed Dr. Morton. Forum readers will know she is already on here as "alexandramorton". (see previous page)

Perhaps she just forgot her password and I am worrying unnecessarily....:) LOL
 
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