Friday 14 September 2018

Toxic Sea Lice Chemicals - Norway is a Disaster Zone, Add Scotland, Nov 7, 2018

Coincidentally, I am reading Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring.
What is being reported here is exactly like what happened with chlorinated hydrocarbons and phosphorous based insecticides/herbicides/fungicides in the USA/UK (and several salmon rivers in BC) in the 1940s to ‘60s, and what lead to the banning of DDT and so on, after millions of birds were killed with the aftermath of chemical use.
Then there were millions of mammals, and lower forms like earthworms. The land and underground water still contain these chemicals today, as do we, particularly in our livers, PCBs for instance. Not to mention the bioaccumulation in other higher predators, like southern resident killer whales in BC – down to 75 animals, and with more chemicals in them than any other cetacean in the world.
Her book came out in 1962. It makes difficult reading, but you might want to read it.
In the present case, of the same thing, we are still in the phase where industry and chemical companies, along with governments are saying there is no problem.
Glad to see there is some research being done in Norway, to learn the same thing for the second time. Sounds like a disaster in Norway.
D

Norwegian text translated into English by Google Translate. Text assembled by Bill Bryden, NL.


A growing list of leading researchers are now publicly going after the Norwegian government to ban the sealice neurotoxins. The largest national papers has got involved as well. See below

Fisheries Minister: "We can not relate to what one researcher says

But, several researchers now require politicians to ban the use of environmentally hazardous chemicals in the aquaculture industry. But the Minister of Fisheries will not decide yet, and the climate and environmental minister will not answer too.
NRK has previously stated that the aquaculture industry's most widely used lucrative chemical - hydrogen peroxide - is far more dangerous for shrimp and the environment than we have thought so far .
- Nobody died the first day, no one died the other day, but on the third the rake began to die. So when we followed them in clean water afterwards, we could see that most of them died when they were exposed to a 100-fold dilution compared to the salmon getting into the fish farm, senior researcher at IRIS, Renée Bechmann, told NRK.
Bechmann is leading an international research project that started in 2017, which expires in 2019, looking into the environmental impact of chemicals used for salmon lice. In addition to hydrogen peroxide, deltamethrin and azamethifos are also tested.



120,000 tons dumped in the ocean: Research now shows that the lice poison breaks the rains

The researchers have carried out a series of tests on deepwater regimens, and they think the findings are so disturbing that the authorities should respond now - even if the research report has not yet been published.
"This long-term effect on the rains came very surprisingly on us. There is reason why the authorities should now put an end to the use of these chemicals against lice, "said Bechmann.

Minister of Fisheries: - Can not comment on this now

- What does the Minister for Fisheries think that hydrogen peroxide can be far more dangerous than expected?
"This is relatively new research, and something we need to look into. That's why it goes without saying that I can not make a decision about this now, says Minister of Fisheries Harald Tom Nesvik (Frp) to NRK.
- Would you consider stopping the use of hydrogen peroxide, as the researcher Bechmann asks for?
"We can not just relate to what one researcher says. We must go into the research report itself and see what is there. There are several ways to address the problem associated with hydrogen peroxide on. But we must first have time to put our mind in the report before we reach a final conclusion, "says Nesvik.



TAUS GOVERNMENT: NRK is informed that the use of hydrogen peroxide lies under the Ministry of Food and Fisheries. The picture is from July when climate and environmental minister Ola Elvestuen (V) traveled to Svalbard to see how tourism influences nature there.
PHOTO: RUNE NORDGÅRD ANDREASSEN / NRK

The climate and environmental minister will not comment

NRK has also asked the climate and environmental minister Ola Elvestuen (V) to comment on the new findings on hydrogen peroxide - since it is his department responsible for nature diversity and pollution in Norway.
Elvestuen does not want to comment - but refers to the response of the Minister of Fisheries.
At the same time, the deputy head of the Nutrition Committee in Trøndelag County Council, Tove Eivindsen (V), stated that she has taken direct contact with the government apparatus to make Elvestuen look at the use of hydrogen peroxide.
"Trøndelag Venstre has raised the issue with state secretary Atle Hamar (V) at the Ministry of Climate and Environment, in order to encourage political leadership to go into this case and see if there is a need to change the regulations regarding the use of hydrogen peroxide," says Eivindsen.
She points out that for many years, Venstre has been busy with clean seas and getting down the sea. At the same time, the party believes that the aquaculture industry is important for Norway and that the industry is to grow - assuming growth is sustainable.



WISHING A PROFESSIONAL ENTERPRISE NUTRITION: Deputy Head of Nutrition in Trøndelag County Council, Tove Eivindsen (V).
PHOTO: PRESS PICTURE / LEFT

- The prawns are a key species in the ocean's ecosystem

Conservationists believe the hesitation of the government is untenable. They demand that the politicians listen to the researchers who are now shouting warning.
- This is a classic letter of responsibility in the meeting with the aquaculture industry. But this we do not have time for anymore. We can not have a political leadership that closes both ears and eyes for what is happening now, says the leader of the Swedish Conservation Association, Silje Ask Lundberg, to NRK.
Lundberg believes the environmental impacts from the aquaculture industry are huge and that Norway is in many ways conducting an unknown experiment - with potentially catastrophic consequences for life in the fjords.
- The prawns are a key species in the ocean's ecosystem. And the influence now documented can lead to a host of other consequences, because crustaceans - which are not necessarily commercial shrimps - are important food for other species, explains Lundberg.

"The time has come for hydrogen peroxide to be banned

The Swedish Conservation Agency demands that the government be in favor of a conversion to closed farms, and does not allow new concessions in open cages.
"We believe that the time has come for hydrogen peroxide and other toxic solvents to be banned," Lundberg says.
Industry Association Seafood Norway states that the use of hydrogen peroxide in the aquaculture industry is significantly lower now than a few years ago. But the industry is open to review the use of this chemical - if research suggests it.
"We are keen to acquire new knowledge," said Head of Food in Seafood Norway, Ketil Rykhus, to NRK .



DYPT CONFIRMED FOR LIFE IN FJORDENE: Head of the Swedish Conservation Association, Silje Ask Lundberg.
PHOTO: ANDREAS KALVIG ANDERSON

Fishermen expect full review of the rules

The professional organization for Norwegian coastal fishermen, Norway's Coastal Fisheries, believes the authorities do not have to wait for a final report from the researchers.
"We expect the fisheries authorities to get on the track and a full review of the regulatory framework. When we look at the issue of illegal dumping of lice in forbidden zones , together with the case of preliminary results from IRIS research , we think it is more than enough knowledge for the authorities, says the head of the Norwegian Coastal Fisheries, Annsofie Kristiansen, to NRK.
They have now sent a letter to the Ministry of Fisheries and Fisheries, the Directorate of Fisheries and the Norwegian Food Safety Authority, which requires, among other things, an immediate stop in the use and discharge of chemical liqueurs at fish farms.




"Confidence in the fisheries authorities has weakened

"We are really shocked at how little control the fishing authorities have. It is quite clear that there is a gap in the rules that neither of us can accept. Moreover, the fisheries authorities have shown little interest in all the concerns they have received from fisheries teams in recent years, says Kristiansen and continues:
"The cover that NRK has done is really the job of the Directorate of Fisheries and the Norwegian Food Safety Authority. Our confidence in the fisheries authorities is weakened, there is no doubt.



HAVE HAVE THE AUTHORITIES FOR MORE YEARS: Director of the Norwegian Coastal Fisheries, Annsofie Kristiansen.
PHOTO: JOHN INGE JOHANSEN / NRK

The MDG will take a ban on the Storting

The Green Party has sent a written question to the Minister of Fisheries Harald Tom Nesvik (Frp) where they demand an answer if the government agrees that "dumping of the pollutant hydrogen peroxide in the sea must be stopped?"
"When the research now shows that the fishermen have for a long time, namely that the lice pointers are much worse than previously assumed, we demand that the Minister of Fisheries immediately stop poison dumping. The aquaculture industry must - like everyone else - take responsibility for its waste, if we are to conserve the diversity of wildlife and wildlife in the ocean, "said national spokesman in MDG, Une Aina Bastholm, to NRK.
MDG will get the aquaculture industry into closed plants by 2025. The party also wants hydrogen peroxide to be phased out and eventually banned.
"Generally, the aquaculture industry has become an environmental phenomenon with serious problems like salmon lice , salmon drainages , sewage discharges , and diseases . A proper rescue action for the sea and the shrimp is needed, and I can notify that the MDG will take a ban on poison dumping at the Storting, "says Bastholm.



REQUEST ANSWER FROM THE GOVERNMENT: National spokesperson in MDG, Une Aina Bastholm.
PHOTO: SIV SANDVIK / NRK

Published  updated 

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Now add Scotland to the same list as a country where the chemicals used in lice control, etc., have been shown to dramatically affect the environment. The Sunday Post put this up on Nov 7, 2018:

Scottish salmon farm medicine found to cause significant damage to marine environments



2 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for this. The situation in Canada, with the DFO simply not doing any research at all, is disgraceful. Not that the DFO would respond to discoveries like this....

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  2. Yes. Go and read Alex Morton's five blog posts on DFO, along with the fish farms, trying to escape testing for PRV in the court case this past week. Their weasel words on issues like aboriginal 'consultation' are worth reading, and we should have great disappointment of their trying to escape doing anything on PRV, and HSMI, along with the jaundice of chinook salmon from PRV. Her posts are at: http://alexandramorton.typepad.com/alexandra_morton/2018/09/day-one-in-court-the-inconvient-virus.html.

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