Furunculosis - Grieg Seafood, Skuna Bay in Big Trouble - Taxpayers Unhappy

Fish farms like to say farmed fish catch diseases from wild fish. So: bad Mother Nature, and good and poor farmed fish. Yes? No, I don't think so.

Were it more expensive than the free sewage treatment they get in pristine oceans, fish farms would have set up on land long ago and never gone back. And, any company that blames Mother Nature for their problems, needs to get a grip: nature is the way things are supposed to be. If you have a problem with Mother Nature, you are doing something wrong.

In Norway, the in-ocean license cost is $9- to $12-million each and they are snapping them up. Our fish farm licenses are a measly $5,000 - sad, but true. So we are subsidizing fish farms, like Skuna Bay, Grieg Seafood, Cermaq and Marine Harvest, $1.17- to $1.56-Billion to set up in BC and fill our pristine water with sewage.

The other thing fish farms like to say, and this is another example of their global communication's spin, is: fish farm fish get diseases, but wild fish do not. So no reason to take them out of the water, eh?

Sorry, but that is also bull, too. In the first case, the science shows that fish release cortisol into their blood when they are stressed, and farmed fish are stressed because of being close to other fish and the unnatural environment they are in. Cortisol leads to inflammation, and thus to more easily catching diseases. Look back in the Index for 2015, on this site and it has the link to the science: http://fishfarmnews.blogspot.ca/2016/01/key-document-index-2015.html.

So, Grieg Seafood - that raises Skuna Bay, Nootka Sound farmed fish in a 'craft' way, as in 'organic', sort of - that has just latched on to Buckhead Beef as a distributor in the USA - has been dumping its Nootka Sound dead fish because that are dying of furunculosis.

This is plenty worrying because this is a bacteria, not a virus, and while we don't care that fish farm fish die of disease, we certainly don't want them infecting wild salmon. Fish farms need to be on land.

This is what happened the last time around with this disease:

"This is a highly contagious bacterial disease.  The industry had big problems with this in the early 1990s in Broughton and as a volunteer in a local coho hatchery we got it lost 28% of our broodstock, injected the rest with Oxytetracycline and it worked,  but the second time the strain was drug resistant as it was on the farms - resistant to all drugs approved for use at the time.  During this outbreak in the farms we lost the over-wintering chinook and the spring chinook fishery in Kingcome, all the lodges pulled out the next year and those fisheries have never re-established.  This was in the days that the salmon farmers lived in Echo Bay so there was a lot of information exchange." June 17, 2016

There must be lots of dead salmon in Grieg Seafood's Nootka Sound farms because the most popular post on my site for the past couple of weeks is the one on the $177 million we taxpayers have paid for diseased dead fish farm fish. We don't want to pay. This is the post: http://fishfarmnews.blogspot.ca/2016/01/taxpayers-pay-for-diseased-dead-fish.html.Fish farms are obviously looking to make us pay more for their diseased dead fish in Canada.

Here is the letter confirming that Grieg Seafood is losing fish to disease in Nootka Sound:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Grieg Seafood BC identifies furunculosis in Nootka Sound farms
CAMPBELL RIVER, BC – June 1, 2016

Grieg Seafood BC has identified that several of its Nootka Sound farms show signs of the
pathogen furunculosis, an endemic disease in the Pacific Ocean that does not impact wild
salmon.

We have removed these mortalities from our farms to comply with our Mortality Recovery and
Disposal Management Plan as part of our Condition of Licence. Actions such as this, are taken when necessary and follow strict protocols.

Number of fish removed May 23-31, 2016:
Atrevida - 3907 (1.46% of fish stocked)
Concepcion - 4154 (1.09% of fish stocked)
Williamson - 6953 (1.36% of fish stocked)

- 30 -

About Grieg Seafood BC Ltd:

Grieg Seafood BC Ltd. is a salmon farming company established in 2000, with offices in Campbell River, a hatchery in Gold River and farms located on the east and west coasts of Vancouver Island. It farms approximately 14,000 metric tonnes of salmon per year and directly employs more than 100 people from Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast of BC. Grieg’s commercial activities support a wide range of rural communities and supplier companies on the Island and elsewhere in BC

For further information contact: Stewart Hawthorn , Managing Director

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So, for 100 jobs, we in BC are putting up with farmed fish passing a virulent bacteria to wild Pacific salmon - 73 Million wild salmon, and 13,900 jobs dependent on them. My calculation is that from wild fish, in the ocean and on land, in BC, the annual take is $2.52 Billion, while all the aquaculture industry contributes to GPP is a measly $61.9. Yes, that's how bad the disparity is.

My information is that the Powell River area farms - also Grieg - are dying right now - an area that we taxpayers paid for diseased dead Grieg fish only two years ago. DFO, Justin Trudeau, Dominic LeBlanc, we want fish farms out of the water.

See this for text on the Clayoquot Sound, BC bloom and salmon die off, June 17, 2016 post: http://clayoquotaction.org/. Here is the article: http://clayoquotaction.org/2016/06/mass-die-off-at-clayoquot-farms/.

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One more thing: Skuna Bay has had furunculosis in the past, 2012:  https://grieg.no/content/uploads/2015/04/GSF-ASA-AR-2014.pdf.

Safeway Says No to Unsustainable Farmed Salmon - Won't Sell In-ocean Net-pen Salmon

Since 2011, Canada Safeway has been moving toward selling only seafood from sustainable sources.

Safeway has moved diligently toward the goal and by the end of 2015, 92% of their seafood was from sustainable sources. Safeway Partnered with SeaChoice as part of their social responsibility mandate.

“Canada Safeway made a robust sustainable seafood commitment and they have demonstrated true leadership in the major grocer world by making such significant progress towards their commitment,” said Karen Wristen, SeaChoice member and Executive Director from the Living Oceans Society.

And what about those in-ocean, net-pen farmed fish that have cost the BC taxpayer $10.4 Billion in unpaid sewage in our pristine ocean, and that leach 56 Billion virus particles per hour, and, sadly, PRV is currently leaching, sea-lion killing, and etc. Marine Harvest, Cermaq and Grieg Seafood, you ask?

Safeway won't sell their salmon. "Red-ranked farmed salmon is being replaced by green ranked land-based farmed Kuterra salmon."

If you wish to look into the SeaChoice program, here is some text and their web site:

"SeaChoice, Canada’s most comprehensive sustainable seafood program is about solutions for healthy oceans. Launched in 2006, SeaChoice was created to help Canadian businesses and shoppers take an active role in supporting sustainable fisheries and aquaculture at all levels of the seafood supply chain. Based on scientific research, SeaChoice has created easy-to-use tools that help you make the best seafood choices. www.SeaChoice.org."

So, those Skuna Bay farmed salmon that Buckhead Beef is now distributing in the USA are not on many shelves in Canada, where they are from, because large foodstores won't sell them because Canadian consumers won't eat them. How long do you think it will be before Americans won't eat farmed fish? Hmm, let's see, isn't Safeway an American retailer, too?

Fish Farm Lice, and Diseased Wild Salmon Fry - BC, Okisollo Channel - Updated June 7, 2016

An infected salmon fry in BC's pristine ocean. I wonder why?

Go to this post and look at the several images of liced-up, infected salmon fry, and their abnormal behaviour - salmon fry, Broughton Archipelago, BC: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1825691990992687&set=np.1465138755420656.100001711032000&type=3&theater.

Here is the comment from John Werring, biologist, Suzuki Foundation:

So ... I am a louse. Throughout evolution my predatory instincts have been fine-tuned to ensure the survival of my species. We naturally "attack" our prey and affix ourselves to the most convenient place on the body of our prey where we can feed (like near the anal fin or at the base of the pectoral fins) ... Places where we will not be dislodged.

These photos show otherwise. So many lice are attacking the prey that there are no longer any ideal fixation points. They are on the fins (no real blood flow there), sides, back, top of head ... Anywhere where there is a possible point of contact ... Seems a little out of the ordinary.

Here is the comment from Claudette Bethune, scientist:  

Too small for so many lice....Excellent work again Dr. Morton! "The global expansion of aquaculture has changed the structure of fish populations in coastal environments, with implications for disease dynamics. In Pacific Canada, farmed salmon act as reservoir hosts for parasites and pathogens, including sea lice (Lepeophtheirus salmonis and Caligus clemensi) that can transmit to migrating wild salmon. Assessing the impact of salmon farms on wild salmon requires regular monitoring of sea-louse infections on both farmed and wild fish. Since 2001, we have collected juvenile pink (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) and chum (O. keta) salmon annually at three sites in the Broughton Archipelago in British Columbia, Canada, during the annual juvenile-salmon migration from freshwater to the open ocean. " http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecy.1438/full.

And you will know from posts to this site that the disease PRV has been found currently on fish farms in BC. Fish farms bleed 56 billion viral particles per hour into the sea.

There are 30  fish farms in the Broughton's.

Do you think anyone would eat the Buckhead Beef distributed Skuna Bay fish farm fish in the USA after viewing this series of photos?

I don't think so. 

Skuna Bay Lands Gullible Distributor in the USA - Buckhead Beef

You will recall that Skuna Bay -  that isn't in Skuna Bay, BC - killed 65 sea lions, drowning them in their nets, and then had to pay a $100,000 fine after it was convicted of killing them: http://fishfarmnews.blogspot.ca/2015/09/skuna-bay-sells-farmed-salmon-to.html.

 

Then it sold its farmed fish as 'special' to a gullible US Open Tennis tournament that, tut, tut, did not do its homework. Here is the letter by lots of well-known environmentalists about Skuna Bay's non-sustainable fish farm fish, pointing out that its claims are untrue: http://wildsalmonrecipes.com/an-open-letter-to-skuna-bay-farmed-salmon-and-their-distributors/.

Here is what Skuna has done recently, landing a gullible Buckhead Beef distributor for distribution in the USA. When the customers find out the unsustainable nature of in-ocean fish farm fish, all the sentient sea lions killed to put salmon in their mouths,  it is highly unlikely they will buy it again, and too bad for Buckhead Beef.

See: http://www.seafoodnews.com/Story/1021263/Skuna-Bay-Salmon-Nears-National-Distribution-in-Deal-With-Atlantas-Buckhead-Beef.


Skuna Bay Salmon Nears National Distribution in Deal With Atlanta's Buckhead Beef

SEAFOODNEWS.COM [SeafoodNews] June 3, 2016
Skuna Bay has struck an agreement with Atlanta-based food purveyor Buckhead Beef that will expand distribution of its Vancouver Island Craft Raised Salmon to four additional markets in the US.

The deal will see Skuna Bay salmon make it to stores in Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama and Tennessee. This brings the product close to complete national distribution now that it's available in 42 US states and 4 Canadian provinces...

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You will notice that only 4 Canadian provinces will buy the stuff, while 87.5% of the southern 48 will do so, at the moment. But not for long. As soon as the Americans, who want ethical food in their mouths find out, they will stop buying Skuna Bay unsustainable, non-organic, sea-lion-killing salmon soon.

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And today, June 15, 2016, Grieg Seafood has been shown offloading dead farmed fish in large quantities on May 31. I wonder if these are Skuna Bay fish. Mmm. And of course Skuna Bay and these fish are all in Nootka Sound. I don't think Americans will want to eat these: https://www.facebook.com/alexandra.morton.1671/activity/1830092097219343.

Text: "May 31: caught Grieg Seafood pumping dead farmed salmon into dumpsters loaded on a landing barge near Gold River. This is not the normal way salmon farmers remove their morts. This die-off is happening simultaneously with a die-off near Tofino. This farm experienced a die-off in 2014 and these are the next generation of salmon in these pens. With all these dead fish I have to wonder - what are they dying of, who is checking on these fish and is salmon farming even viable in BC? Are we risking our wild salmon to an industry which nature has turned against? ‪#‎wildsalmon‬ @clayoquotaction"

And Skuna Bay landed another gullible distributor, and a big one: Sysco's Southwest Seafood Purveyor Louisiana Foods: http://www.seafoodnews.com/Story/1018043/Skuna-Bay-Closes-Salmon-Distribution-Deal-with-Syscos-Southwest-Seafood-Purveyor-Louisiana-Foods.