Sum of Us Takes on Fish Farms, BC

Hi Sum of Us

Thanks so much for taking on fish farms in BC.

Send this to all the ENGOs in BC, as well as Sportfishing BC, several Facebook pages, including Fishers r Against Fish Farms, Alex Morton, all sport anglers (300,000 licences), the Sport Fishing Institute, the Sport Fish Advisory Board and so on.

I look into fish farms/seafood on a global scale and my site is: https://fishfarmnews.blogspot.com/2019/03/mar-21-2019-bc-stats-report-2016.html. I know more factual information about fish farms, and calculate the figures where there are none, than most commentators.

If you need info let me know. For example, I have figured out that the sewage cost of fish farms in BC is $10.4B as a conservative estimate. Fish farms kill 5.76B forage fish to feed one harvest in an industry the size of BC’s. Their actual job numbers are about 850, even though they and DFO claim 7,000 multiplier jobs.

FYI there are about 130 licenced sites in BC, with about 85 operating at any given time, and there are 20, or 22, farms in the Broughton Archipelago. There is a graphic that shows them all. Only 10 are scheduled to be out of the water in the next few years. Clayoquot Sound is the next worst place with most wild salmon already gone.

Thanks

DC (Dennis) Reid

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This is the note that Sum of Us has sent to those who care about wild salmon in BC:

We can protect wild salmon for good -- the push to ban fish farms is working, with phase-outs happening across the BC coast. Sign today to finally ban open-net fish farms threatening wild salmon in BC.  Sign the petition  DC, We could be on the brink of seeing the end of salmon farms in BC, with 17 banned at the end of last year. But there are still over 30 more open-net farms that are threatening wild salmon populations with parasites and disease. Timing is critical to ban the destructive open-net farms before the next migration season. We need to prevent wild salmon from being contaminated with sea lice and deadly viruses from fish farms. Pressure is mounting from all sides as the Federal fisheries minister pushes to take a more precautionary approach to fish farms. If we all work together we can ensure we keep his feet to the fire and protect the wild salmon for good. Tell the Federal and B.C. Fisheries Ministers to ban open-net fish farms on the West Coast! Wild Pacific salmon populations have been in decline for decades, and fish farms are making it worse. For too many years, open-net fish farms have been polluting the marine environment and failing to control the spread of piscine orthoreovirus (a super infectious virus found in both farmed and wild salmon), as well as other diseases like sea lice, which attach to young wild salmon on their migration out to sea and threaten their survival. Despite the well-documented risks associated with open net-cage farms, there are over 50 of them along the BC coast, polluting the surrounding water and seabed with waste, chemicals, diseases and parasites. After the Dzawada'enuxw First Nation sued the Federal Government in December, all 17 fish farms in British Columbia's Broughton Archipelago will either be closed or relocated. Fisheries will need to get First Nations communities’ consent to operate within their territory, as well as the approval from Fisheries and Oceans Canada that these operations do not threaten wild Pacific salmon. With these new developments, now is the time to act and call on the Federal government to completely ban open-net fish farms on the West Coast, and prevent fisheries from exploiting people and the planet for their profit. Will you call on the Federal and BC Fisheries Ministers to ban open-net fish farms and protect wild Pacific salmon? We’ve fought and won these battles before. When disgusting footage shot by Tavis Campbell was released, over 26,000 members like you rallied for change. Because of the response, the federal Fisheries minister announced a complete review of the Fisheries Act and put in more protection for wild salmon.  We know that people power has worked to protect wild salmon before and now it's time to come together again and ban fish farms once and for all.   Sign the petition  Thanks for all that you do, Amelia, Angus, Lisa and the team at SumOfUs More information: More caution needed with salmon farming on West Coast, federal fisheries minister says, Vancouver Sun, 18 February, 2019 B.C. First Nation sues feds over Atlantic salmon farming in Pacific waters, CBC, 12 January, 2019

Setting Undercurrent News Straight - Global Fish Farm/Seafood Industry 'Press'

Hi Jason

Just so you know, the Discovery Islands are 250 kms north west of Victoria, they are not close by, as your article says: https://www.undercurrentnews.com/2019/02/07/british-columbia-prv-report-winds-minimal-risk-to-wild-sockeye/.

It is also wrong to say that the Washington State Cooke collapse affected anything in BC – different countries.

The Broughton Archipelago situation has been contentious for 30 years with the local First Nations wanting fish farms out – nothing to do with Cooke. And Clayoquot Sound is the next place for First Nation action.

The science is poorly characterized by DFO as saying PRV doesn’t affect wild BC salmon. In fact, DFO’s own, and star scientist, Kristi Miller has published papers on PRV causing HSMI in BC, as well as jaundice/anemia in chinook salmon.

DFO is overlooking this as it doesn’t agree with what it wants to do, which is support in-ocean fish farms. It’s Rapid Science Response was criticized by former DFO scientist and Pacific Salmon Foundation CEO Brian Riddell as not passing the test on science. Here is one post: http://fishfarmnews.blogspot.com/2018/11/fake-science-by-dfo-riddell-response.html. That post also has the long term view on DFO managing wild salmon into extinction for 50 years, and the linked post shows what to do.

The reality here is that the Wild Salmon Advisory Council, a BC initiative, may actually end up solving the wild salmon problem. You see, Ottawa, where DFO is from, is some 3,500 miles from BC, and a five hour flight to Toronto, with connections to and through Vancouver and Ottawa, requiring even more time each way. DFO is in a different country and does not get BC.

We can only hope that BC, which can have responsibility for freshwater habitat restoration, will finally take over wild salmon from the bureaucrats in Ottawa.

Here is a cut-to-the-chase response on the BC Council’s recent recommendations for wild salmon: https://fishfarmnews.blogspot.com/2019/03/report-made-in-bc-wild-salmon-strategy.html.

In closing, let me add that the Dzawada’enuxw court case may cause big changes as well. The recent Tsilhqot’in decision is relevant to the question of land/water ownership and they have the same lawyer who won that case, Woodward.

DC (Dennis) Reid

MOST POPULAR POSTS - March, 2019

These are the posts that had the most page views in March of 2019. Note that there are some all time favourites on this list.

You will find the most popular posts of the previous month close to the beginning of the next month.

1. 272 On-Land Fish Farm Systems and 20,000 actual on land fish farms around the world: https://fishfarmnews.blogspot.com/2016/05/152-different-on-land-fish-farm-systems.html. Without a doubt this file is the most viewed over the years. I would say there are lots of people who are quite surprised that this is the case, as in-ocean fish farms have been saying on-land can't be done for almost 50 years. And what they have been saying is just more Bull.

2. Integrated Fisheries Management Plans And Managing Salmon into Extinction: https://fishfarmnews.blogspot.com/2019/03/integrated-fisheries-management-plans.html. Probably the most viewed post in March. Do go to the SRW/chinook/DFO post via the link in the post. It has been read 10,000 times since I posted it.

3. DFO, Salmon And Killer Whales (SRKW):  https://fishfarmnews.blogspot.com/2018/05/dfo-salmon-and-killer-whales.html. This is the post that has been viewed 10,000 times.

4. Scientists Harassed by Fish Farms, Norwegian Government;  https://fishfarmnews.blogspot.com/2017/06/scientists-harassed-by-fish-farms.html. If you are a scientist and do work that shows problems with fish farms, the fish farms will come after you, as will the government of Norway. This is very thorough reporting for the Norwegian newspaper that did the article.

5. DFO RAS Study Has Big Flaws - Jonathan Wilkinson?: https://fishfarmnews.blogspot.com/2019/03/dfo-ras-study-has-big-flaws.html.

6. GOOD NEWS POST: Links to On-land, Closed Containment, Studies and Papers: https://fishfarmnews.blogspot.com/2018/11/links-to-on-land-closed-containment.html. This post is closing in on 100 such articles and papers in the few months it had been up. This goes hand in hand with the 272 On Land Fish Farm Systems post in item 1 above. Fish farm companies like Mowi (used to be Marine Harvest, but they changed their name because consumers didn't like them... as though this change will make consumers hate them any less), Cermaq, Grieg Seafood, Cooke and so on.

7. Report: Made in BC Wild Salmon Strategy - Wild Salmon Advisory Council: https://fishfarmnews.blogspot.com/2019/03/report-made-in-bc-wild-salmon-strategy.html. This is the best chance for BC to save wild salmon, as the government is behind saving our salmon, DFO having abrogated its responsibilities decades ago, as all from BC know.

8. Mar 21, 2019 BC Stats Report 2016: https://fishfarmnews.blogspot.com/2019/03/mar-21-2019-bc-stats-report-2016.html. These are my comments on the updated report on the 'fishing sectors' as the govt puts it. The reality is that the sport sector comprises 60% of the jobs, which is 500% of fish farm jobs, and 40% of the GDP. We don't need fish farms in the ocean, we need wild salmon in the ocean.