Escapes! Escapes!

One of the worst things about fish farms is that when they have a problem it is usually a catastrophe. And, over time, the catastrophes get worse. Intrafish has put together a list of major escapes from fish farms around the world. Losses of less than 100,000 are not reported in these stats. And that means that a lot of escape catastrophes are not on this list of the largest catastrophes.

These fish carry diseases to other fish, interbreed with their own species, and marginalize salmonids in their own territory all around the world. Chinook are wild in Argentina now, for example, which is its own catastrophe, but a different kind. Pacific salmon in the Atlantic is a catastrophe, for the first time having wild but exotic salmonids from a different ocean in the Atlantic. Shouldn't happen.

Here is the Intrafish post: https://www.intrafish.com/aquaculture/here-are-the-largest-recorded-farmed-atlantic-salmon-escapes-in-history/2-1-388082.

Here are their numbers:

AquaChile                           2013       787,929              Damaged cages, wind

Marine Harvest, Chile         2018       680,000              Wind

Marine Harvest                    2005       496,000              Wind, electricity

Cypress Island, WA             1997        369,000             Unknown

Meridian                               2011        336,470            Tides

Sjolaks, Norway                   2008        307,336            Unknown

Scottish Sea Farm                2000        258,000            Weather

Grieg Seafood, Shetlands     2002        238,420            Unknown

Australis, Chile                     2016        173,156            Water currents

SalMar, Norway                    2011        173,156            Unknown

Cooke Aquaculture, US        2017        150,000            Weather

Admiral Fish Farms, CDN    2010        138,800            Net Failure

Frida Sjofarming, Naroway   2013       122,914             Unknown

Huon Aqua, Tasmania           2018       120,000             Weather

Frida Sjofarming, Naroway   2014       119,942            Unknown            

Cermaq, Chile                       2017        115,703             Net Failure, Wind

Brilliant, Norway                  2009       115,000              Unknown

Cypress, USA                      1999        115,000             Unknown

Bakkafrost, Faroes                2017        109,515             Weather

ScanAm (Cypresse)              1996        100,000             Weather

Scottish Sea Farm                 1999        100,000             Weather

Sjohall Havbruk, Norway     2008        100,000             Unknown

(Country of origin not always identified).

The total of escapes over 100,000 is a massive 4.73M. Yes, 4.73M. Intrafish says: 5.3M but does not explain the inconsistency.

What are the main points?

First: What about all the escapes less than 100,000? An example is the 21,000 from Mowi in BC in 2019. See links at bottom. Cermaq (Owned by Mitsubishi - we should stop buying their cars until their fish farms are on land) lost 130,000 fish to death, perhaps the result of using a Thermolicer to kill lice, or to warm water. Either case shows that fish farms need to be on land.

Second: Notice that all losses are due to weather, 'unknown' (whatever that means) and net failure. This is direct evidence that fish farms should not be in the world's oceans, because they can't take the environment. And, of course, if on land, these millions of fish would not be lost, and causing problems in the environment. Also, warm water losses, something that will only increase in future, can be eliminated on land.

And note that Cypress, aka Cooke, lost 263,000 in 2017, so the above number above is way low, 110,000 low. It got dinged $410,000 for the WA escape. Read this article on its negligence: http://www.southcoasttoday.ca/content/cooke-aqua-troubles-usa-grow-huge-fine-salmon-escape-disaster. How many other numbers above are way low?

Oh, and third: note that this farm, owned by Cooke now, has had three escape events exceeding 100,000 over the years.

Fourth: there are more escapes: Cermaq has lost 134,000 farmed salmon in Clayoquot Sound, BC in 2019 (see link below). And right now it has ISA problems in Chile. Mowi just lost 2.6 million farmed fish to, implausibly, warm water, in NL a couple of months ago, and has ISA in Norway, right now, too. So escapes, mortality and disease happen at the same time all around the world.

Fifth: the escapes are even worse than the numbers above. John Volpe's work on escapes in BC and breeding in Van Isle rivers found that of the 40 rivers swum that have multiple species of wild salmonids, 97% have 'wild' Atlantic salmon, meaning spawned fry and former farmed salmon, and now their progeny.

While I have done a half dozen posts on Volpe's work, here is one post: https://fishfarmnews.blogspot.com/2018/03/otto-langer-on-farmed-fish-escapes.html. Among other things, the post shows how to calculate the passive escape/leakage  number of fish, outside of reported escapes.

Note that 'leakage/passive' escapes are 153,000 per crop in BC, but are not reported, and they are not put into the Intrafish stats. So, add that for the lowest country and then only higher around the globe. In other words, 'escapes'/leakage/unaccounted/spawning are far higher in fish farm countries. And the stats are not calculated or kept. So, it is far worse than Intrafish notes, as in catastrophes that are unreported, and denied by fish farms, though the scientists say yes.


Sixth, the Intrafish post above also points out that companies aren't about being public about the catastrophe of large, exotic fish escapes: "Tasmanian salmon farmer Huon Aquaculture refused to confirm if an escape reported earlier this year was above or below 100,000 Atlantic salmon" The refusal to be public is one reason citizens don't want fish farms: it's their problems and refusal to be honest about their problems. And fish farms also claim their problems are not their fault, in this case, Huon said waves were 11 metres high that went through their site. What this doesn't say, is that fish farms should not be in an ocean where they can we wiped out. They should be on land, so no catastrophe will happen. It's very simple.

And this lack of transparency also makes the public hate fish farms: "“The numbers quoted by media and in our local parliament were greatly exaggerated, and had no factual basis. Huon has no intention of providing a running commentary on false claims."" Nor is it making public the numbers of fish escaped. Not Good.

Seventh: Did you notice that almost half of the catastrophic escapes - 9 of 22 - are from unknown causes. So, if fish farms can't even name what caused the catastrophe, why are they in the ocean? This doesn't make sense.

                                                                       ***

And, just in, 2019, 130,000 dead fish, Cermaq, Clayoquot Sound: https://seashepherd.org/2019/11/21/massive-salmon-farm-die-off-pollutes-canadas-clayoquot-sound/. That is likely the low end figure as the Sea Shepherd stated it could go into the millions.

Now, the fish loss figure is penned at 205,000 dead fish, Cermaq, Clayoquot Sound, algae the cause: https://www.undercurrentnews.com/2019/12/13/ngo-claims-cermaq-has-lost-thousands-of-salmon-off-canada-2/?utm_source=Undercurrent+News+Alerts&utm_campaign=a79863a1b0-Americas_briefing_Dec_13_2019&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_feb55e2e23-a79863a1b0-92426209.

And, just in, 2019: escape in Chile: Marine Farm: https://salmonbusiness.com/chilean-authorities-report-salmon-escape/.  No number as of December 2019.

And, just in, Dec 2019, Mowi, BC, 21,000 escape:  https://globalnews.ca/news/6328416/bc-fish-farm-fire-salmon/?fbclid=IwAR22JxvN_pVUfV_7z2rny3KnMUAY3S8TZuIU5YMnipoiJL6SK79BHlFPcIA. This article has many good links in it about the problems with farmed salmon, for example, PRV.

And, just in, Jan 2020, Cermaq loses 23,000 fish:  https://www.intrafish.com/aquaculture/23-000-salmon-escape-from-cermaq-chile/2-1-731267?utm_source=IntraFish%20Aquaculture%20Newsletter&utm_campaign=1b8e87e7cc-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_01_06_07_00&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_ec4b681694-1b8e87e7cc-244877629. And these were coho salmon, not Atlantics.

Now, 7000 have been recaptured from 23,000 fish escape: https://www.intrafish.com/aquaculture/cermaq-chile-recaptures-nearly-a-third-of-escaped-coho-salmon/2-1-733620?utm_source=IntraFish%20Aquaculture%20Newsletter&utm_campaign=77c291c0ed-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_01_10_07_00&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_ec4b681694-77c291c0ed-244877629.

And, yet another: Jan 8, just in:  Escape - Scotland, Mowi, 24,000 salmon: https://www.fishfarmingexpert.com/article/second-big-escape-in-a-year-at-mowi-high-energy-site/?utm_campaign=newsletter__08_01_2020&utm_source=netflex&utm_medium=email. "It was the second incident at the site in under a year, following the escape of 24,572 fish with an average weight of 1.1kg during storms in November 2018." The loss was 500,000 Euros.

And, yet another - Salmar, Norway:  https://www.intrafish.com/aquaculture/salmar-reports-escape-at-damaged-salmon-farming-site/2-1-720114?utm_source=IntraFish%20Salmon%20Newsletter&utm_campaign=dfb52154ab-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_12_16_07_00&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_5c825a4a64-dfb52154ab-245113141.

And, yet another: Mowi, Norway, 2500 fish:  https://www.intrafish.com/aquaculture/mowi-confirms-salmon-escape-in-northern-norway/2-1-734515?utm_source=IntraFish%20Aquaculture%20Newsletter&utm_campaign=77c291c0ed-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_01_10_07_00&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_ec4b681694-77c291c0ed-244877629.

And, yet another: Escape - Norway, Salmar, number not yet known:  https://www.intrafish.com/aquaculture/salmar-reports-escape-at-damaged-salmon-farming-site/2-1-720114?utm_source=IntraFish%20Salmon%20Newsletter&utm_campaign=e1fa7ed92c-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_12_13_07_00&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_5c825a4a64-e1fa7ed92c-245113141.

And, yet another: Escape, Chile, Tornagaleones: https://www.intrafish.com/aquaculture/chiles-tornagaleones-loses-harvest-sized-salmon-in-escape/2-1-712848?utm_source=IntraFish%20Salmon%20Newsletter&utm_campaign=0961630456-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_12_06_07_00&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_5c825a4a64-0961630456-245113141.

And, yet another: Escapes - Norway, 287,000 salmon in 2019: https://www.intrafish.com/analysis/the-biggest-farmed-salmon-escapes-of-2019/2-1-734544?utm_source=IntraFish%20Aquaculture%20Newsletter&utm_campaign=f2ab71ce3a-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_01_13_07_00&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_ec4b681694-f2ab71ce3a-244877629. 

And, yet another: Escape - Scotland, Mowi, 74,000, Jan 2020:  https://www.undercurrentnews.com/2020/01/21/mowi-loses-74000-fish-from-exposed-scottish-site/?utm_source=Undercurrent+News+Alerts&utm_campaign=9120b002e5-Europe_briefing_Jan_21_2020&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_feb55e2e23-9120b002e5-92426209. And another article on this issue: https://www.fis.com/fis/worldnews/worldnews.asp?monthyear=&day=21&id=106088&l=e&special=&ndb=1%20target=.

And, yet another: historical Escapes, Mowi Scotland:  https://www.fishfarmingexpert.com/article/73600-fish-escape-from-mowi-site-after-storm-rips-net/?utm_campaign=newsletter__22_01_2020&utm_source=netflex&utm_medium=email. These are historical escapes: "Earlier this month Fish Farming Expert reported that nearly 24,000 salmon with an average weight of 4.5kg escaped from Mowi Scotland’s high-energy site at Hellisay, Isle of Barra in October. It was the second incident at the site in under a year, following the escape of 24,572 fish with an average weight of 1.1kg during storms in November 2018."

And, yet another: Huge Escapes in 2019 Prompts Norway to Review Escapes - the 287,000 fish:  https://www.intrafish.com/salmon/after-year-of-record-farmed-salmon-escapes-norway-rethinks-strategy/2-1-742166.

And, yet another, Jan 29, 2020: huge escapes, Norway: https://www.fishfarmingexpert.com/article/norway-290000-salmon-escaped-in-2019/?utm_campaign=newsletter__29_01_2020&utm_source=netflex&utm_medium=email. " Figures from the Fisheries Directorate show that 290,000 salmon escaped in 2019, along with 2,000 rainbow trout, and that fish farmers reported 49 escape events. The last year that escape numbers were similarly high was 2014, when 286,000 salmon escaped. In 2018, by comparison, 160,000 salmon and 3,000 rainbow trout escaped in 44 reported incidents."

And yet another, science article:  Tens of Millions of Salmon Have Escaped - globally, over the decades: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/faf.12214.

And, yet another, March 2020: trout, Cermaq, Chile, Magallanes, 40- to 50-thousand fish: https://www.undercurrentnews.com/2020/03/13/trout-escape-cermaq-magallanes-site-company-confirms-norway-plant-still-operating/?utm_source=Undercurrent+News+Alerts&utm_campaign=bdc1e4bce3-Americas_briefing_Mar_13_2020&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_feb55e2e23-bdc1e4bce3-92426209.

And, yet another:  Bakkafrost Can't Find 200,000 Escaped Fish - Iceland, of 1M lost due to storm: https://www.intrafish.com/aquaculture/bakkafrost-still-hunting-for-200-000-escaped-salmon/2-1-773115?utm_source=IntraFish%20Salmon%20Newsletter&utm_campaign=ce9fa102e9-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_03_16_12_26&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_5c825a4a64-ce9fa102e9-245113141.

And yet another: 

Too Many Workers? Too Few Workers? For Fish Farms

Fish farm companies like to say they bring jobs and revenue by opening up fish farms. The problem is that it isn't true. And the post I put up on the issue recently pointed out that fish farm jobs are down 32% in Atlantic Canada, and in BC, down 5.2% over the past twenty years.

Here is the post, and the paper by Milewsky is the best single document I have ever read. Do read it. Find the link here: https://fishfarmnews.blogspot.com/2019/07/fish-farm-problems-on-global-scale-inka.html. 

At the bottom of the post, the link points out that Norway produces ten times the salmon as all of Canada, and with only 2 times the people  - because of all the automation brought to the industry, they don't need people any more. As in no jobs, the main feature they sell to government to get themselves in the water.  The bottom line figure of jobs is this:

"The above stats suggest that if Canada's output is about 10% of Norway, that 10% of Norway's job numbers is all it will take to farm in Canada, or about 630 jobs. Even if you believe the 3,205 number of Canadian jobs, what would be left would be less than 20% of the current job numbers (630/3205 = 19.6%)."

So, here is another take on jobs in Atlantic Canada, that fish farm jobs are not taken and the area has trouble filling other jobs, even though higher paid: 

 Living in an upside down (seafood) employment world ….

          

Those who live in rural communities in coastal Atlantic Canada might  have noticed a rather curious dichotomy. Governments and Aquaculture Companies always talk about plan to create jobs, whereas we near the water are constantly looking for able bodied employees. We have many more jobs than workers to fill them, whereas Government is convinced we have many more workers than jobs for certain. Someone is missing the boat here, if you will forgive the phrase, and this upside down seafood world should finally be addressed and more honestly revealed ….

A former Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture in Nova Scotia liked to say with a fair bit of relish that: “ this isn’t your Grandfather’s lobster fishery ”. He was absolutely right. If he were in office today he might broaden it to say: “ This isn’t your Grandfather’s wild fishery sector either ” !  Circumstances have changed so dramatically in the last five years in Atlantic Canada.  The world has become much smaller with the growth of the internet and social media , Nova Scotia wild caught seafood has officially been ‘discovered’ by a protein hungry market throughout Asia, and America and China are in a fight to the death trade war which gives Canada a substantial tariff advantage from a privileged seafood platform. All of which means job creation in the wild caught seafood sector has stabilized and even grown at the very time our coastal communities are aging and shrinking generally. Surprise, surprise, The Ivany Report could see it all coming…. 

The somewhat inconvenient truth is that wild caught seafood companies in Atlantic Canada may be 5% short of optimal employee levels right now on a daily basis. This is a new reality we are struggling to cope with. We deal with positions that cannot be easily filled, whereas Government talks about employees who cannot easily find work. Needless to say, it is a frustrating and fundamental disconnect.
 

           Provincial and Federal Governments have been on a mission lately to promote aquaculture, most particularly that of the open net pen variety. Let’s for the moment ignore the environmental impacts, the food safety impacts, the escaped species impacts and the pollution impacts. Let’s give open net pen a pass on all these dubious fronts, and let’s instead say that when open net pen fish farms come to town, they must somehow recruit employees for the jobs they hope to create. Okay, so they are seasonal fish farm jobs generally, and a bit dangerous working at the pens waterside, but they are jobs none the less. Where will the open net pen recruiters find workers when they are paying not much better than minimum wages? Are these aquaculture companies able to match the wages of the traditional wild fisheries processing and export companies? 

The grim truth is that Glen Cooke himself, of Cooke Aquaculture , suggested his company was increasingly dependent upon the contributions of foreign workers long ago. Atlantic born workers at the time weren’t coming back from the oil and gas sector in Alberta to work on a Cooke Aquaculture fish farm operation. And if they come back now, those same trades people are more likely to be employed in an Irving ship building enterprise…. 

For those who want to look back over the decades, the growth in Employment Insurance reliance has surely been an issue. Our region may have the highest % of unemployment officially, and the greatest shortage of full employment placements simultaneously. We have so many Atlantic Canadians completely unwilling to take the jobs that now exist. How on earth is that possible?  Well, thanks to the flexibility of employment insurance mostly …but that is surely a topic for another day. 

Right now, we need to determine once and for all who is right and who is sadly mistaken. Do we have a shortage of work, or do we have a shortage of employees in coastal communities? That is the $ 18/hour question. If we can answer this singular matter honestly and accurately, I dare say many of the other concerns unravel themselves rather easily … 

                  Stewart Lamont

                  Managing Director, Tangier Lobster Company.

          

Gov Jay Inslee Bans In-ocean Fish Farms - A Great Victory for the Public and the Environment

On Thursday, Washington Governor Jay Inslee signed HB2957 into law, an act that will effectively ban the practice of open-water Atlantic salmon aquaculture in the state of Washington. The Our Sound, Our Salmon coalition sincerely thanks Governor Inslee and the Washington State Legislature for their bold and prudent efforts to protect Washington’s public waters from the threat posed by Atlantic salmon net pens, an industry that has been allowed to recklessly endanger the ecological health of Puget Sound for far too long.

Read more at oursound-oursalmon.org

There is very little doubt that public support was the primary motivating factor behind the passage of HB2957. This year lawmakers expressed that they heard more from their constituents on the Atlantic salmon net pen issue than any other, and many members of both the House and Senate changed their stance on the issue over the course of the session, having considered the concerns of their constituents.  We find it heartening that a measure to protect wild fish, marine mammals, and coastal communities was passed in large part due to the outspoken voices of concerned citizens, the very citizens to which our public waters belong. Thank you.   Now is the time for BC to join its neighbours and put fish farms on land. BC is now the only jurisdiction on the entire North American Pacific Coast that allows in-ocean fish farms. It is time for a change. BC and WA aboriginals, Lummi, Ernest Alfred have joined forces to push  for change in BC. Our Sound Our Salmon goes on to say:  "There is very little doubt that public support was the primary motivating factor behind the passage of HB2957. This year lawmakers expressed that they heard more from their constituents on the Atlantic salmon net pen issue than any other, and many members of both the House and Senate changed their stance on the issue over the course of the session, having considered the concerns of their constituents." So send your comments to your MLA in BC, as well as: John Horgan (premier@gov.bc.ca); Andrew Weaver (andrew.weaver.mla@leg.bc.ca); Lana Popham, Minister (AGR.Minister@gov.bc.ca); Adam Olsen – BC Greens <info@bcgreens.ca>; 'Furstenau.MLA, Sonia' <Sonia.Furstenau.MLA@leg.bc.ca>. We can get fish farms out of our waters, too, and set up on land.