Smoke and Mirrors - NL Millions of Dead Fish

Smoke and Mirrors - remember Cooke saying its nets collapsed in WA because of a lunar eclipse high tide? The reality was that the nets were old and could have collapsed at any time.

The industry always says the disaster isn't their fault, rather than adopting the solution, which is: to move to land. It is being done all around the world. My list has 300 on-land fish farms around the globe: https://fishfarmnews.blogspot.com/2016/05/152-different-on-land-fish-farm-systems.html.

And, of course, a scientist says the warm water kill-off excuse is more of the same, "It's not our fault." meaning smoke and mirrors (others would say BS). Memorial University prof, Brad De Young

Watch the CBC video: https://www.asf.ca/news-and-magazine/salmon-news/oceanographer-calls-climate-change-excuse-for-die-off-just-smoke-and-mirrorns. Young's comments start at 1 min 30 secs."They want us to sympathize with them being at the mercy of the environment." And he says the system wasn't designed for the circumstances. Really. We're now up to 2.6 million dead fish, all of which would have survived on land. Why should we be sympathetic to a company, Northern Harvest, now owned by Mowi who has the most experience as its the biggest company in the world? And of course, it's just like Cooke saying please, please sympathize with us the moon killed all our fish, it wasn't our fault.

The CBC clip ends with the reporter saying that DFO and the federal environmental body won't give CBC an interview. As in, no oversight, no comment.

Also a CBC investigation, this second video has the pink sludge stream from the boat that is polluting (Bad) Fortune Bay, NL. At the bottom of the pens, the dead fish have congealed into blocks. Think how bad that would smell, above water. It's so bad that the divers are getting new, free suits after because the decomposing fish are decomposing their suits, it's so bad.

Don Ivany of the ASF points out that this is yet another disaster in this disaster prone industry (because it is not on land), ISA and sea lice being other examples. He says the industry and govt need to convince the public no more disasters will happen - which is unlikely. And the industry should be in closed containment.

The regulations stink, commentary at about 5:40, adding that a third party investigation is needed : https://www.asf.ca/news-and-magazine/salmon-news/don-ivany-of-asf-gives-perspective-on-the-massive-die-off-of-farmed-salmon-in-fortune-bay.

A follow up article appeared in the G&M: https://www.asf.ca/news-and-magazine/salmon-news/newfoundlanders-raise-a-stink-after-as-many-as-1-8-million-dead-farmed-salmon-are-dumped-on-south-shore.

"“It was an absolutely awful smell,” said Don Ivany of the Atlantic Salmon Federation, who was on a boat that toured the cleanup site last week. “When the vessel went over the sludge, the propeller kind of stirred it up and the smell was so bad a couple people on the boat had a job to keep their breakfast down.”"

And: "But while the federal Liberal Party promises to phase out offshore, open-pen salmon farms in British Columbia, that’s not on the table in Newfoundland because of a lack of political will, Mr. Cleary said."

And: "One scientist called the gunk “more noxious stuff than partially treated sewage."

And, if you can believe it: "Fisheries and Oceans Canada says it’s monitoring the situation, and added that the dumping is permitted under the Fisheries Act."

And: "Jeffrey Hutchings, a marine biologist at Dalhousie University, said it’s very possible warmer-than-usual water temperatures contributed to the die-off. But it’s the combination with an “unnaturally high density” of distressed salmon in crowded cages that causes problems, he said."

Moving on, listen to the radio podcast on the issue: https://soundcloud.com/user-842585674/concern-about-whats-going-in-ocean-during-dead-salmon-clean-up.

And, it's a major, environmental disaster: https://www.asf.ca/news-and-magazine/salmon-news/asf-calls-effects-from-salmon-die-off-a-major-environmental-disaster-1.

"Director of Programs with the ASF, Don Ivany says they have yet to hear anything ‘official,’ but they place their estimates at about 9,000 tonnes of rotting salmon. That translates into about 1.8-million fish in 72 net pens across a 30-kilometre section of shoreline on the south coast. As comparison, the average blue whale can weigh as much as 200 tonnes."

Ivany said, 'It's a major environmental disaster.'

The Atlantic Salmon Federation calls for a major public investigation.

 Who's to blame? Not me. How About you? No, not me. Govts dodge resp: https://www.asf.ca/news-and-magazine/salmon-news/no-oversight-of-fish-kill.

Moving on, fish farms become election issue after mass kill-off: https://www.asf.ca/news-and-magazine/salmon-news/salmon-farms-become-election-issue-after-multiple-deaths-and-escapes.

"In response, the Liberal government has included new regulations for fish farms in B.C. in its platform for the upcoming federal election. This proposal would see all open-net fish farms moved to closed containment by 2025.

"But the one essential piece of technology that really hasn't changed is the net pens themselves." As in closed containment is the answer.

Crabbe says the Greens have included similar promises in their platform.

"It's an implicit acknowledgement of the risks that the industry poses to wild species and the environment," he adds."

***

And the mortalities have cost Mowi $5.5M:  https://www.intrafish.com/aquaculture/1863047/newfoundland-farmed-salmon-mortalities-cost-mowi-usd-55-million?utm_source=IntraFish+Aquaculture+Newsletter&utm_campaign=51effe50ef-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_10_14_12_00&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_ec4b681694-51effe50ef-244877629.

And now the mortalities are up to 2.6M dead fish. 

And now, Oct 16, 2019, the mortalities have cost Mowi $7.3M:  https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/aquaculture-disease-salmon-1.5322420?__vfz=medium%3Dsharebar&fbclid=IwAR3kG8Vrl6TbJavYueAoiYQHTaIxzS5CcOgfOirpiIGAbB4PX8uSDsBjYqw.

And now the fish had ISA, but according to the company it wasn't part of the problem. SURE. Is it just me that thinks this is highly unlikely? ISA, afterall is the highest mortality viral infection of farmed salmon. For example, in 2008 Chile's ISA cost it $2B, yes two billion. Looks like Mowi got off lightly.

And, if we charge what Norway charges for an in-ocean licence, which is $32- to $40-Million, that would be a highly persuasive reason to come to land for a $1 Million licence.

Here is a post by me, and it includes a link to press: https://fishfarmnews.blogspot.com/2018/08/increase-license-fees-to-32-to-40.html. It calculates the licence cost in CDN dollars.

This gives you the licence fee: “393. Huge License Costs - Norway:  http://salmonbusiness.com/have-the-salmon-auction-winners-paid-too-high-a-price-for-the-gold/. "“Adding a minimum price of NOK 120 (€ 12.7) million per license is incomprehensible. In areas with the highest dominance of listed companies, the real price can quickly reach between NOK 200-250 (€ 21-26) million per license. You don’t have to be a mathematician to figure out that this is a gratuitous fit for only a handful of the major publicly listed companies,” NSL Managing Director Robert Eriksson said."

And this CBC video covers the ISA issue:  https://www.asf.ca/news-and-magazine/salmon-news/mowi-isa-and-reporting-delays. Note that the CFIA says that the two NL cases of ISA were with an infectious strain. This is not good.

Here is the CFIA ISA link: https://inspection.gc.ca/animals/aquatic-animals/diseases/reportable-diseases/isa/locations-infected/eng/1549521878704/1549521878969.

This just keeps getting worse.