The end of fish?
October 7, 2009 - 1:31am
see below
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Syndicate
Aquacalypse Now [excerpts]
The scheme was carried out by nothing less than a fishing-industrial complex--an alliance of corporate fishing fleets, lobbyists, parliamentary representatives, and fisheries economists....
Much like Madoff's infamous operation, which required a constant influx of new investments to generate "revenue" for past investors, the global fishing-industrial complex has required a constant influx of new stocks to continue operation. Instead of restricting its catches so that fish can reproduce and maintain their populations, the industry has simply fished until a stock is depleted and then moved on to new or deeper waters, and to smaller and stranger fish. And, just as a Ponzi scheme will collapse once the pool of potential investors has been drained, so too will the fishing industry collapse as the oceans are drained of life.
Unfortunately, it is not just the future of the fishing industry that is at stake, but also the continued health of the world's largest ecosystem. While the climate crisis gathers front-page attention on a regular basis, people--even those who profess great environmental consciousness--continue to eat fish as if it were a sustainable practice. But eating a tuna roll at a sushi restaurant should be considered no more environmentally benign than driving a Hummer or harpooning a manatee....
To some Western nations, an end to fish might simply seem like a culinary catastrophe, but for 400 million people in developing nations, particularly in poor African and South Asian countries, fish are the main source of animal protein. What's more, fisheries are a major source of livelihood for hundreds of million of people....
And, of course, the end of fish would disrupt marine ecosystems to an extent that we are only now beginning to appreciate. Thus, the removal of small fish in the Mediterranean to fatten bluefin tuna in pens is causing the "common" dolphin to become exceedingly rare in some areas, with local extinction probable. Other marine mammals and seabirds are similarly affected in various parts of the world. Moreover, the removal of top predators from marine ecosystems has effects that cascade down, leading to the increase of jellyfish and other gelatinous zooplankton and to the gradual erosion of the food web within which fish populations are embedded. This is what happened off the coast of southwestern Africa, where an upwelling ecosystem similar to that off California, previously dominated by fish such as hake and sardines, has become overrun by millions of tons of jellyfish....
Our oceans, having nourished us since the beginning of the human species some 150,000 years ago, are now turning against us, becoming angry opponents.
That dynamic will only grow more antagonistic as the oceans become warmer and more acidic because of climate change. Fish are expected to suffer mightily from global warming, making it essential that we preserve as great a number of fish and of fish species as possible, so that those which are able to adapt are around to evolve and propagate the next incarnations of marine life. In fact, new evidence tentatively suggests that large quantities of fish biomass could actually help attenuate ocean acidification. In other words, fish could help save us from the worst consequences of our own folly--yet we are killing them off....
Some Pollyannas believe that aquaculture, or fish farming, can ensure the health of stocks without government action--a notion supposedly buttressed by FAO statistics showing such rapid growth in aquaculture that more than 40 percent of all "seafood" consumed now comes from farms. The problem with this argument is that China reports about 68 percent of the world's aquaculture production, and the FAO, which has been burned by inflated Chinese statistics before, expresses doubt about its stated production and growth rates. Outside of China--where most farmed fish are freshwater vegetarians, such as carp--aquaculture produces predominately carnivorous marine fish, like salmon, which are fed not only vegetal ingredients, but also fishmeal and fish oil, which are obtained by grinding up herring, mackerel, and sardines caught by "reduction fisheries." Carnivore farming, which requires three to four pounds of smaller fish to produce one pound of a larger one, thus robs Peter to pay Paul....
Others believe that fish populations can be rebuilt through consumer awareness campaigns that encourage buyers to make prudent choices. One such approach is to label seafood from fisheries deemed sustainable....
The other market-based initiative, prevalent in the United States, distributes wallet-size cards designed to steer consumers toward fish that the group issuing the cards deems to have been caught sustainably. Their success is considerable if measured by the millions of cards given away, for example, by the Monterey Bay Aquarium, but assessing the impact on the fisheries is difficult. For one thing, the multitude of such cards leads to contradictions and confusion, as the same fish are assessed differently by different organizations. For example, ahi tuna is rated as "safe," "questionable," and "avoid" on the wallet cards issued by three U.S. nonprofits. A bigger issue, however, is that these cards generate only "horizontal" pressure--that is, a group of restaurant-goers might chide each other for ordering the cod filet or might ask the overworked student who served them where the fish came from, but this pressure does not reach wholesalers, fleet operators, or supermarket chains. "Vertical" pressure exerted by environmental NGOs on such decision-makers is far more effective. But, if that's true, why not directly pressure the government and legislators, since they are the ones who regulate the fisheries?...
There is no need for an end to fish, or to fishing for that matter. But there is an urgent need for governments to free themselves from the fishing-industrial complex and its Ponzi scheme, to stop subsidizing the fishing-industrial complex and awarding it fishing rights, when it should in fact pay for the privilege to fish. If we can do this, then we will have fish forever.
Daniel Pauly is a professor at the Fisheries Centre of the University of British Columbia and the principal investigator of its Sea Around Us Project.
I'm having salt cod today. The cod fishery here ain't what it used to be.
Hey Boomer, can you still get wild Atlantic salmon? When I lived in New Brunswick in the late '60s it was still plentiful.
Oops... I misread your post.
There are a few places on the Quebec coast where one can catch wild Atlantic salmon, but I don't think it's in great numbers. I think, like the cod stocks, it is in decline.
I think a CBC news piece of a month or two ago warned people to eat less of the larger fish, like Sword, and any Tuna with light to white meat. Like no more than once a week at the very most and probably every couple of weeks to a month for healthy adults of us. Apparently larger fish are more prone to accumulating more mercury per size of them, as well as other toxins stored in their bodies. I've been buying canned herring and sardines and not eating those too often. I do like to eat Cod and Haddock. For me that's a premium fish. No good though if theyre threatened.
Well we don't learn do we, The east coast fishery collapsed many years ago now, and now the west coast seems to be doing the same, instead of reducing quotas with the lessons of the east in mind we just kept on until we got to the inevitable. The europeans seem to be even worse than we are where conservation is concerned, though that may just be how its played over here.
call to action by A Morton:
Peter Julian, Member of Parliament - New Westminster has just launched a petition for a Judicial Inquiry into the Fraser sockeye crash.
CONSIDER THIS: If there had been a Judicial Inquiry into the declining North Atlantic cod, we would have rebuilt that fish stock by now because we would have discovered that the critical research by Dr. Ransom Myers of DFO was being suppressed by DFO (Department of Fisheries and Oceans).
Here we are again. DFO is completely silent, they have not even acknowledged that the Fraser sockeye crash pattern is extremely specific and provided the media with misinformation.
A judicial inquiry will place people under oath so they can be heard over the politics.
Please go to Peter Julian's website: http://peterjulian.ndp.ca/node/864
And download the petition document, and sign: http://peterjulian.ndp.ca/sites/default/files/Petition_A%20call%20for%20...
This has to be a paper copy, there can be 1 signature on a page, or a full page of signatures, the address is on the document and postage to the federal government is free.
You cannot say you care about wild salmon if you don't make this effort.
This will make a very big difference in the future of BC and the eastern pacific.
I think a CBC news piece of a month or two ago warned people to eat less of the larger fish, like Sword, and any Tuna with light to white meat. Like no more than once a week at the very most and probably every couple of weeks to a month for healthy adults of us. Apparently larger fish are more prone to accumulating more mercury per size of them, as well as other toxins stored in their bodies. I've been buying canned herring and sardines and not eating those too often. I do like to eat Cod and Haddock. For me that's a premium fish. No good though if theyre threatened.
Yup, the fish that are higher in the food chain have more toxins. The FDA rules say that one pound of fish cannot have more than 470mcg of mercury or it is not fit for consumption; by comparison, the flu vaccine for H1N1 will have 25mcg of mercury in it [so it is safer to get the shot than to eat fish!!] I am not sure what FORM the mercury in fish is though - the vaccine's mercury is "ethylmercury", the dangerous form.
No, the more dangerous form is methylmercury - the kind found in fish!
Intersting read, Oh, my "Northern Haddock" is screaming to get out of my oven!
Losing Nemo: Ocean acidification may endanger clown fish
The researchers say that their study shows that fish larvae "might exhibit a fatal attraction to predators at CO2 and pH levels that could occur in our oceans by 2100 on a business-as-usual scenario of greenhouse gas emissions".
The salmon sold here (frozen) is High Liner Wild Pacific Salmon. Amazing - because we are very close to the east coast.
Look closely at the packaging to see if it says "Product of China" If so it is open ocean driftnet caught.
Son of a gun! It indeed says "Product of China" on the back.
From Morton's desk......
"The Fisheries Act does apply!
Hello All
We are one step closer to applying the laws of Canada to salmon farming! It was a pivotal day in court. Although it is only one more step towards enforcing the laws of Canada on fish farmers, it was essential if we are to bring reason to this situation.
In September I laid charges against Marine Harvest for illegal possession of juvenile wild salmon. This came after months of correspondence with Fisheries and Oceans, asking them to uphold the Fisheries Act and lay a charge themselves.
Today was our third court appearance. The first two were simply to set dates, and then extend those dates so that the Department of Justice could review the details of the case. Today's appearance was a "process hearing" with a judge to lay out the charge and our evidence. The judge could either have refused to issue a summons, or approve the charge.
Today in Port Hardy, the judge approved the charge and a summons will be issued to Marine Harvest to appear in court and the trial could proceed.
There are several directions this could take from this point:
1. The Department of Justice could take the case over and run the case. My lawyer, Jeff Jones and I are hoping this will occur as this is truly David against Goliath, a tiny North Island law firm working Pro Bono to date, against a multi billion dollar international corporation. A round of applause for Jeffery and Marianne Jones they have done so much already!
2. If the Department of Justice takes the case, they could proceed to trial where all evidence can be heard, and a Judge will rule on the merit of the case. Or, the Department of Justice can stay the charges and the case is closed without a trial.
3. Jeff Jones and I might have to run the trial ourselves. While this seems a good idea, the reality is a tidal wave of paperwork that could overwhelm his firm, even though this appears to be an extremely straightforward charge which many fishermen have faced. However, well funded corporate defendants can stretch a trial out for days if not weeks, making it extremely costly for a private citizen to enforce the Fisheries Act.
In any case we are setting precedence. Canada cannot manage its fisheries in a sustainable way unless the laws about how many fish are caught are enforced. Over-fishing is a global problem, it is not sound management to allow salmon farmers unlimited access to BC wild fish.
Thanks to all of you for all your support. If you know anyone who would like to join us in signing the letter to the Minister of Fisheries to PLEASE ENFORCE THE FISHERIES ACT, the letter is still on our website www.adopt-a-fry.org. <http://www.adopt-a-fry.org.> Until the Federal government is
willing to uphold the laws of Canada we will continue to do what we can to fill the void.
My deepest thanks to all of you, we face tough stretch ahead, but once again the courts have agreed with our position.
A remarkable film will be released next week on the Global impact of salmon farming, here is the trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eggrGn0V0fg
No individual can right the wrongs we have wreaked on our planet. Thank you all for being with me on this.
alexandra"
news from Morton's desk......
Minister Gail Shea
Ottawa, Canada
Dear Minister Shea:
Twenty thousand, two hundred forty-three (20,243) people have now signed the letter on my website www.adopt-a-fry.org <http://www.adopt-a-fry.org> insisting that you apply the Fisheries Act to "farming" salmon.
But the Norwegian salmon farming industry is now so far out of alignment with common sense and the spirit of Canadian law that the road to compliance is not simple. As you prepare to assume control of this industry as per the BC Supreme Court decision we, the public, are doing your job in your absence laying charges against this industry and removing the firewalls to protect our fish.
Twenty years ago the business of raising salmon was wrongly categorized as "farming" and assigned to the Province to manage. The Province is not responsible for wild fish and the feds were not responsible for fish farms, so no one has been responsible for impact of salmon "farms" on wild fish.
This Provincial regulatory scheme was recognized as unlawful and struck down by Judge Hinkson, February 2009. He gave government 1 year to sort this out and it remains uncertain if ownership of salmon (farmed or not) is even legal in the ocean.
At first it was assumed the Provincial government would somehow continue to run the industry, but shortly after the August 2009 sockeye crash, the Province backed away leaving Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) scrambling to design a regulatory regime. As a result a delay is being negotiated during which the Province expects to continue expanding the industry!
Expansion is crucial to Norwegian fish farmers because they have lost money for 3 years now and their share prices can only rise if they put more fish in the water. However, we just lost 10 million sockeye that passed through heavily fish farmed waters and Judge Cohen has "aquaculture" 3rd on his list to investigate with his Judicial Inquiry. It would be immoral to expand the industry during this moment of regulatory restructuring and investigation.
When you peel back the layers of the Fisheries Act the conflicting rules make no sense, except as firewalls. On the one hand the Pacific (Fishery) Regulations (1993) exempts Provincially licenced aquaculture from all fishing regulations appearing to give them unrestricted access to all the wild fish drawn into their pens by the lights and food. These fish are Atlantic salmon fodder and highly valuable sablefish, salmon and herring.
Then as if someone recognized the preposterous enormity of this the Access to Wild Aquatic Resources 2004 was produced to licence fish farmers for by-catch, if the amount was deemed insignificant to wild stocks.
This was a good idea, but no one seems to have these licences. And how could they? The wild pink salmon Marine Harvest admitted to having in their boat last June 16 were from an age-class and stock so endangered millions of public dollars were spent to protect them. However, this is lost in DFO's regulatory labyrinth. If Marine Harvest has no licence to possess by-catch, does that mean that the 1993 regulations come into effect to exempt them from all fishing rules including possession of an endangered wild fish stock? I hope we get to find out. Judge Saunderson issued a summons to Marine Harvest to appear in court for possessing these pink salmon. The Department of Justice could halt this case, but it would seem in the public interest for a court to hear this.
In October 2009 Marine Harvest also admitted to catching herring in the Broughton Archipelago and composting them with no reporting or licence. Was this legal or illegal? Does anyone know? If they had no licence for tons of herring by-catch are they exempt?
Herring fishing has been closed in Broughton for twenty years because the stocks are not rebuilding. Now we find out Norwegian "farmers" are killing them despite the closure with no apparent ramifications, no quota nor reporting. These fish farmers are out-fishing BC fishermen! Over-fishing is a global scourge. Minister Shea this is not right.
Nothing is straightforward. When 40,000 Atlantics escaped from Marine Harvest's farm October 21, 2009, we were told they were worth a million dollars and everything had been done to recover them. But now we hear farm fish are worthless once they escape and only 1,200 were recovered because Marine Harvest was "confused" about the licence DFO granted them specifically for this situation. Does profit - starved Marine Harvest really want the expense of disposing of 40,000 fish? They did not do everything they could have to recapture their fish and section 55 of the Fishery (General Regulations) states no person shall release live fish into fish habitat. They must be charged and heavily fined to inspire compliance. This is the tool your Ministry uses on other fishermen.
It is disturbing that someone lobbied Parliament to disguise the industry as Provincial farms even though this must have raised legal red flags and then someone specifically exempted "provincial aquaculture" from the fishing regulations. This is Salmongate.
We are hosting guests who are pulling the tablecloth into their laps dragging the silverware, the food, the water everything out of our reach. Thankfully, Judges Hinkson, Slade, Cohen and Saunderson have nailed the tablecloth to the table.
However it is not up to the courts to manage fish. Fisheries and Oceans Canada is touring the National Aquaculture Strategic Action Plan Initiative to get feedback, calling aquaculture a legitimate user of Canadian marine waters.
http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/aquaculture/lib-bib/nasapi-insapa/nasapi-inpasa...
It is indeed time the fish farmers became "legitimate." It is time to remove their regulatory firewalls, open the farms to public scrutiny and silence decades of political interference that have given foreign corporations greater access to Canadian fish than Canadians. All this and these corporations are still loosing money.
Minister Shea there is one job we cannot do for you. You must close the border to import of salmon eggs from the Atlantic to prevent introduction of ISA virus to the eastern Pacific. If you don't you will see this issue go before the courts. ISAV strains are highly traceable. You say there is no "strong evidence" that it travels in eggs (3-11-2009) scientists say we are "guaranteed" to get the virus if we keep importing eggs.
Others and myself will continue to lay charges under the Fisheries Act with the help of lawyers who are working Pro Bono, and at reduced rates and thousands of people whose small donations are making this possible. The Fisheries Act specifically encourages the public to lay charges in the face of government "inertia."
At the very least I ask that you do not stand in our way.
Alexandra Morton
www.adopt-a-fry.org <http://www.adopt-a-fry.org>
http://alexandramorton.typepad.com/
I saw "A Sea Change" at the Planet in Focus festival last month which looks at acidification of the oceans due to increased levels of CO2 and the impact that this will have on fish stocks due to the dissolving of the shells of the tiny little fish which form the bottom of the food chain. Check out the trailer.
I also read "Bottom Feeder" by Canadian Taras Gresco who looks at fish from a number of different angles and concludes that while we can still eat fish, we've got to become a lot more selective and start asking a lot more questions - e.g. where it's from, how it was caught, etc.
Action needed
Hello
You have an opportunity to tell DFO how you want fish farms to be run. As a result of our win in BC Supreme Court DFO has been given an official mandate to develop new regulations for aquaculture in BC. A series of meetings are being planned to discuss and gather input from all
potentially impacted stakeholders, which is lives in Canada or comes here to see salmon and their predators.
The next meeting is December 10th and 11th, 2009 in Campbell River, BC at the Campbell River Lodge. You can confirm your attendance by responding to Mandy Mielke (amanda.mielke@dfo-mpo.gc.ca or (613-949-3129) by Friday November 27th, 2009 or contact Trevor Swerdfager Director General, Aquaculture Management 613-949-4919. Cc your MP on any emails to Swerdfager.
Also I have been receiving the updates below from Norway the past few days. First the ISA epidemic killing 70% of their fish in Chile, now the Norwegian government threatening to slaughter entire fish farms.
This is your opportunity to be heard.
Alexandra Morton
Www.adopt-a-fry.org
Sea lice are out of control in Norway
Norway's state broadcaster NRK reported on Monday:
"In the past year, the amount of sea lice in Norwegian fish farms exploded. The industry has been on the hump of the environmental movement in the wake of illness boom. This is because the salmon lice infect the wild salmon, and thereby threaten wild salmon stocks.":
http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/distrikt/hordaland/1.6888215
The Green Warriors of Norway said in a press release - "Sea Lice Situation is Out of Control" - issued yesterday:
"The sea lice situation is now out of control along the entire coast of Nordland and south. Green Warriors of Norway requires complete slaughter of all salmon biomass with multi-resistance against lice medicines":
http://www.nmf.no/default.aspx?pageId=121&articleId=2354&news=1 <http://www.nmf.no/default.aspx?pageId=121&articleId=2354&news=1>
The Norwegian Hunters and Fishers (NJFF), Norwegian Salmon Rivers Owners (Norsk Lakseelver) and WWF Norway called on the Fisheries Minister to take the sea lice problem more seriously. NJFF reported yesterday under the headline "A Lot of Talk - Little Action":
"......life-threatening situation for our wild salmon along the coast is informed by a disaster. The trend of increasing resistance to the main treatment methods are cause for great concern. The organizations ask that the Minister immediately initiated after a standstill for further growth in the industry......We will increase the pressure in this case. The battle is now":
http://www.njff.no/portal/page/portal/njff/nyhet?element_id=57753689&dis... <http://www.njff.no/portal/page/portal/njff/nyhet?element_id=57753689&displaypage=TRUE>
The Norwegian Salmon Association reported last week under the headline "Norway is managing the extinction of wild salmon!":
"The Director of The Directorate for Nature Management, Janne Sollie, says today that Norway is not managing the farmed salmon business, but the extinction of wild salmon! She says this due to the fact of record high and disastrous levels of sea-lice in the farmed salmon farms. If this is allowed to keep on, all wild salmon will be history!
The Directorate for Nature Management is the national governmental body for preserving Norway's natural environment. The directorate serves as an advisory and executive agency under the Norwegian Ministry of Environment. The Government do not listen to their warning! It's shameful how Norway's officials are promoting and protecting the business of farmed salmon! An unsustainable business ruining wild life!": http://norwegian-salmon.com/salmon/extended-en.php?recID=262
[Sea lice data for Norwegian salmon farms can be accessed online via: www.lusedata.no <http://www.lusedata.no> ]
3) The Green Warriors of Norway (led by Kurt Oddekalv) revealed that "Norwegian commercial fish farms are once more using these [diflubenzuron and teflubenzuron] controversial chemicals to get rid of salmon lice". NMF reported today:
"The use of these chemicals was stopped after the agreement was signed in February 1999, and fish farmers have used other drugs instead. However, since the salmon louse has developed resistance against the drugs used, these controversial chemicals are again being thrown into Norwegian salmon cages. The industry respected the agreement until now, and we claim the minister of fisheries to be responsible for breaking the agreement":
http://nmf.no/default.aspx?pageId=42&articleId=2361&news=1 <http://nmf.no/default.aspx?pageId=42&articleId=2361&news=1>
The Norwegian media reported this extensively today via NRK, Dagbladet, Adresseavisen and other media outlets:
"Truer med å sverte norsk laks: Miljøkriger Kurt Oddekalv mener regjeringen har brutt avtale, og vurderer derfor internasjonal aksjon" (NRK, 2nd December):
http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/distrikt/hordaland/1.6891582 <http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/distrikt/hordaland/1.6891582>
"Slik presset Oddekalv regjeringen - Miljøaktivisten truet Bondevik-regjeringen til å minimalisere bruken av to omstridte lusemiddel. Nå er avtalen brutt, mener Oddekalv, som på nytt truer med internasjonal kampanjer mot norsk laks i utlandet" (Adresseavisen, 2nd December): http://www.adressa.no/nyheter/innenriks/article1417790.ece
"Regjeringen inngikk avtale med Kurt Oddekalv: Hvis laksenæringen kuttet på bruken av to omstridte lusemidler, skulle Miljøvernforbundet avstå fra planlagte aksjoner" (Dagbladet, 2nd December):
http://www.dagbladet.no/2009/12/02/nyheter/innenriks/miljo/politikk/regj...
Details in English via: "The deal is broken by the Minister" (NMF, 2nd December):
http://nmf.no/default.aspx?pageId=42&articleId=2361&news=1 <http://nmf.no/default.aspx?pageId=42&articleId=2361&news=1>
Update which is very interesting, given that the DOJ appears co-opted
This ppdate on Court Proceedings can be found on the fishermentalist website but is a copy from an email...
Jan. 5, 2010 was the latest court date in the charges I laid under the Fisheries Act against Marine Harvest Canada for unlawful possession of wild salmon by-catch. Generally, when a member of the public witnesses a potential violation of the Fisheries Act, they simply report it to the federal fisheries (DFO) who does the investigation and lays a charge if they have the evidence. DFO asks the public to help under their Observe, Record, Report campaign. Many people have stepped forward over the years to help DFO successfully enforce the Fisheries Act and conserve our wild fish. I did report the wild salmon that were in the Marine Harvest vessel, Orca Warrior to DFO, they indicated they were investigating, but they never said whether they would lay a charge. So I did to protect the juvenile wild salmon of the Broughton.
At our last court date, a month ago in Port Hardy, the Department of Justice (DOJ - who is next in line after DFO to run this trial indicated they needed more time to investigate the charge. My lawyer, Jeffery Jones and I hope the DOJ will assume conduct and run the prosecution as that is what DOJ's mandate is, and they have the better resources and expertise to do this.
But on Jan. 5, the Department of Justice (DOJ) sent an agent, as did Marine Harvest. But my lawyer and I were disappointed to hear that DOJ has refused to make a decision as to whether or not to prosecute. This means that we still don't know if we should conduct the trial ourselves and remain in limbo. It creates uncertainty in the trial process if at any time DOJ can suddenly step in and take over...or not.
However, Judge Saunderson clarified the matter and ordered the DOJ to make a decision within 30 days.
Jeffery Jones, who is working pro bono, also asked for disclosure from DFO and DOJ, because if we are to continue in the government's role as the prosecutor we need the government files on their investigation. Presumably, Marine Harvest would want disclosure from DFO and DOJ as well.
Judge Saunderson adjourned our application for disclosure until after he hears what the DOJ's intention is.
Alexandra Morton
More good news.....
On the matter pursued by Marine Harvest at the Court of Appeal and sent back to Justice Hinkson to reconsider (that is whether the fish in the farms are privately owned by the companies and whether the Farm Practices Protection Act (FPPA) is still in force), Hinkson confirmed that the FPPA, will no longer apply to finfish aquaculture and thus no longer protect farms from nuisance claims.
On the question, does Marine Harvest own the fish in their pens? Justice Hinkson found that this was not the place for this decision. Marine Harvest will have to bring this before the courts themselves. For now, we know that the aquaculture fish are now part of the fisheries of Canada.
Today's decision is met by the unrelated announcement by US box store chain "Target" that they have eliminated all farmed salmon from its fresh, frozen, and smoked seafood offerings in its stores across the United States, because of farm salmon environmental impact on native salmon.
There is an enormous amount of work ahead to translate any of this into better survival of our wild salmon, but the courts seem consistently interested in bringing reason, the constitution and the law to bear on the Norwegian fish farm industry in British Columbia.
While I am truly sorry that jobs will be lost in ocean fish farming, bear in mind the industry is in deep trouble with mother nature herself in the fish farming strongholds of Chile and Norway. Trying to hold this nomadic fish in pens is never going to work, because it causes epidemics, unnatural sea lice infestations and drug resistance. Salmon farming is not sustainable and ultimately we are better served by our wild fish.
From the desk of Alexandra Morton @ fishermentalist
Www.adopt-a-fry.org
Well some people are listening and interested, to people who actually stand up and do things for the environment and its inhabitants....
And she didn't disappoint.
Inspired perhaps by the standing ovation in the Qualicum Beach facility before she even began, Morton delivered a strongly worded indictment of the effects fish farms are having on wild salmon stocks on the B.C. coast and the world over...
....She urged people to write their MPs relentlessly to oppose fish farms, which have depleted natural fish stocks in Norway, Ireland and Scotland as well as in Canada.
The event was organized and held by two groups, the Oceanside Coalition for Strong Communities and the Arrowsmith Parks and Land-use Council.
Trevor Wicks reported that about $9,000 was raised for Morton's research at the event.
The recent legal victory, which cost $100,000, is just another step on the way, Morton said.
"It's really now or never. This is not a dress rehearsal. These (wild) fish are going down," she said.
"But we can turn it around."
From the desk of Morton
"we had an open goal to save wild salmon but we missed the target,"...."If you want to protect wild salmon then you have to move salmon farms away from migration routes. "
I have posted his entire plea to Canada on my blog, see below for link.
I am working on a very serious incident in Nootka Sound/Esperanza Inlet where reports keep coming to me that sea lice are out of control on salmon farms. Neither the province nor DFO will act to stop this from spreading to eastern Vancouver Island, so we are doing the investigation for them. This problem is exactly what Rieber-Mohn is talking about.
http://www2.canada.com/courierislander/news/story.html?id=913af0e6-31ff-...
A group of us went to Nootka Island and found extremely high larval sea lice numbers. These farm salmon are being transported to Quadra Island for processing and a sample taken 90' down from the plant's effluent pipe found live lice eggs are pouring into Discovery Passage. Drug resistance in sea lice is causing serious problems in eastern Canada and Norway and means we stand to lose our ability to protect the Fraser sockeye. It is becoming increasingly apparent that wild salmon runs in BC, as in Norway, depend on de-lousing farm salmon that are on the migration routes. The Discovery Islands host 1/3 of all BC's wild salmon during migrations as well as millions of Norwegian farm salmon. If these Nootka lice attach to the farm salmon we stand to lose a generation of wild salmon and more drugs will be used on our coast, with the end result being the situation in Norway loss of BOTH wild and farm salmon. I have contacted the federal and provincial governments all the evidence with no action from them to contain this. This is a well-known catastrophe. You can follow it by checking on my blog.
Dr Larry Hammell from the University of Prince Edward Island speaks about "an eruption of the lice last summer", developing resistance to sea lice chemicals, "treatment failures" etc http://podcast.cbc.ca/mp3/maritimenoon_20100126_26452.mp3
Professor Tor Einar Horsberg at the Norwegian School of Veterinary Science who said: "The harsh treatment that is needed to reach lice limits will lead to more resistant and multi-resistant lice. There is a dramatic development, and I'm worried how this will end": http://www.vg.no/nyheter/utskriftsvennlig/?artId=588564
"The sea lice situation is now out of control along the entire coast of Nordland and south" : http://www.nmf.no/default.aspx?pageId=121&articleId=2354&news=1
I don't know why we refuse to avoid the situation Norway is facing. It is not even good for the fish farmers. The province of BC maintains there is "no evidence" of drug resistance, but there is evidence everywhere people are willing to look.
www.adopt-a-fry.org
hey ya'all in the GVA, who are not into the Olympics, why not go hear Alexandra Morton tonight in Ladner!
Latest from Morton
In this case, the federal government seems immobilized and the provincial government seems unconcerned, assuring me there is "no evidence of drug resistance", even though their own graphs indicate otherwise.
An remarkable group of local people decided to ground-truth the reports and we have been to Nootka and followed these farm fish as they are taken for processing. They dove down 90' to the plant outfall pipe, took a sample and sent it to me. The province insists these lice are not drug-resistant, are not surviving in the trucks carrying them across Vancouver Island and are not able to escape into Discovery Pass. We found otherwise and this is a threat to the Fraser sockeye.
If these lice are indeed drug-resistant it is too late to stop their spreading, but we will continue to track them.
The film of our investigation to date is on my blog http://alexandramorton.typepad.com/
Like every fish farm problem that arises in BC, drug-resistant sea lice are already a serious problem in Norway. Just last week the ex-Attorney General of Norway issued a warning to Canada about this, and strongly suggests we get Norwegian salmon farms off our wild salmon migration routes before it is too late. See my blog for this.
I will be speaking at the Ladner Community Center on Tuesday Feb 23 at 7 pm
The end of Filet-o-Fish!
The answer to the eternal mystery of what makes up a Filet-O-Fish sandwich turns out to involve an ugly creature from the sunless depths of the Pacific and a cautionary tale of diminishing returns.
This was a ground-breaking week with NBC News, CTV, Vancouver Sun and Globe and Mail reporting on problems with Norwegian industrial salmon farming and very disheartening news from DFO that we should not expect healthy wild salmon returns this year.
There was a significant legal decision and I received a graph which seems to portray the lice levels in the Grieg Seafood fish farm that we filmed in Nootka.
Next week the Federal Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans is formed. If we don't get impact of salmon farming on their agenda the Norwegian fish farm industry will be successful again in degrading the Canadian Fisheries Act, to protect Norwegian interests at expense of threatening our salmon. So stay in close touch with your MP about this. They are hearing from a very well-run Norwegian lobby. We don't have those kinds of funds, but we are much more numerous.
And if you have doubts about contacting your MP there is new research showing that the politically active are the happiest people!
http://alexandramorton.typepad.com/
Call to action please
There are several breaking issues that need to be dealt with swiftly such has the developing drug resistance in sea lice on both coasts and the new drugs that are being approved rapidly to try and deal with this. These drugs cannot remain in the pens and enter the ocean.
Every Atlantic salmon facility in British Columbia must be tested for the ISA virus in case it is here to prevent it from spreading to the North Pacific.
There are many issues that affect many people and I just want to let you know this opportunity exists and will close soon. I have heard the Norwegian companies are meeting with MPs to revamp the Fisheries Act to meet their needs.
The clerk is of this committee is Travis Ladoucer
Fax: 613-992-9069
E-mail: FOPO@parl.gc.ca
The MPs are:
Rodney Weston - Chair
Raynald Blais, Lawrence MacAuley - Vice Chair
Fin Donnelly Member
Randy Kamp Member
http://alexandramorton.typepad.com/
bump
Norwegian Farms Poison the Wild Run
http://www.dominionpaper.ca/articles/3273#comment_21908
"BC salmon stocks plunge: sea lice, salmon farms to blame.."
" The tide is turning" Weekly update March 28 by Alexandra Morton
Salmon farms were exempted from the fishing regulations of Canada in 1993 and these Norwegian companies are lobbying our Members of Parliament to continue these exemptions when they become federally regulated in December. If they succeed we can give up, they will once again be outside the law.
We cannot possibly manage Canada's wild fish sustainably, if one group is allowed unlimited by-catch of wild herring, wild salmon, rock cod, black cod and other species in their nets. We cannot have one set of rules that says no fishing with bright lights and then allow fish farms on every major migration route to use these lights, attracting millions of wild fish to their farms. Scientists studying sockeye don't know what is causing our Fraser sockeye to inexplicably crash, even when cutting back fishing to near zero has not helped. Only the south coast sockeye that migrate past 60 salmon farm sites vanished. These Norwegian fish farmers cannot be allowed to keep their disease outbreaks on the Fraser migration route secret any longer. Highly mechanized fish farms will never replace the wild salmon jobs in fishing and tourism, nor can they feed us as wild salmon do.
The tide is turning because of all of you. We will support the small communities we live in to build land-based aquaculture. Small independent businesses are much more stable than large foreign operators that come and go based on world markets. - please read the good news below and thank you.
http://alexandramorton.typepad.com/
The Get Out Migration is building. I am walking the length of Vancouver Island beginning on April 23 at the north end from Sointula. People are telling me they plan to walk too from their towns and along the same route and this is fantastic! If enough people do this, politicians might finally understand that wild salmon are much too valuable to risk in this way. Please know this is not an "event", it is simply individuals who feel it is time to take a stand for wild salmon in a visible way and if you decide to do this please know you must be self-sufficient.
http://www.salmonaresacred.org>
The Salmon & Trout Association of the United Kingdom, with Prince Charles as its patron and 100,000 members, made a stunning condemnation of salmon farming. It states that a review of the science:
"reveals a devastating catalogue of malpractice in the way salmon farming is impacting wild salmon, sea trout and the marine environment, and provides incontrovertible proof that it is a sword of Damocles suspended over some of Scotland's most iconic natural resources."
The report lists sea lice as one of the biggest problems and accuses the salmon farming industry in Scotland "of precipitating an environmental disaster" and calls on government for the immediate implementation of a survival plan to save wild stocks.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/calls-to-save-salmon-from-across-the-pond/article1515880/
Meanwhile, while visiting BC Norwegian CEO of Mainstream (Cermaq) Mr. Geir Isaksen said that there is "no validity" in the research on sea lice and that we should all work together. He does not suggest that Mainstream release disease information however.
"I feel some of the arguments they use are not really real... for instance it's been a long debate on sea lice and the impact of sea lice on the migrating smolts on this area.... And in my view it seems at least that some of the arguments used against fish farming are not verified in this research," Isaksen said.
http://www2.canada.com/westerly/story.html?id=d9ec075f-2f48-4e39-87ce-4b897a926551
Last week I attended a meeting on the Fraser River sockeye and saw a graph depicting productivity of the different sockeye runs within the Fraser. All but one started into accelerating decline in the early 1990s. During this time period the % taken by the commercial fishing has been steadily cut back. If fishing was the driving problem, fish numbers should have increased as fishing decreased. The one run that is producing more and more fish per spawner is the Harrison and a recent DFO study found that while most juvenile Fraser sockeye travel north past 60 fish farms, the Harrison go south around southern Vancouver Island and do not encounter salmon farms.
In Ottawa, Mr. Trevor Swerdfager, Director General for Aquaculture DFO is telling our Federal Standing Committee on Aquaculture is saying there is no evidence of fish farms negatively affecting wild salmon populations.
http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?DocId=4367913&Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=40&Ses=3#Int-3050053
The Union of BC Indian Chiefs rejected Mr. Swerdfager's Aquaculture Regulation Strategic Plan in an open letter to Minister of Fisheries Shea "because it does not meet Canada's legal and constitutional obligations to First Nations."
http://www.ubcic.bc.ca/News_Releases/UBCICNews03301001.htm
The Intertribal Treaty Organization put out a press release on March 11, 2010:
"During the March 9-10, 2010 inaugural AGA of the Intertribal Treaty Organization (ITO) held in Prince George, attending Chiefs voted unanimously to support Indigenous Nations of the Broughton Archipelago and Georgia Straits for the immediate removal of fish farms from their territories to support in the survival of Fraser River bound fish stocks."
The Town of Tahsis also wrote to the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans asking for the fish farms near them to be removed:
"In conclusion, Tahsis needs to protect not just the wild salmon but its own economic interests. After the closure of our sawmill and subsequent collapse of our local logging industry, we need to look after what we have left for our economic survival. With that in mind, we ask that the federal government close the open containment fish farms in Nootka Sound. While this may negatively impact the local fish farm industry, we have proposed to them that they relocate to Tahsis and build land-based, closed containment facilities here. We are willing to work with them to find a solution that is mutually beneficial to all."
I still have not receive any explanation from the provincial Ministry of Agriculture and Lands on why their own graphs and statements do not appear in agreement on the issue of drug-resistant sea lice in Nootka area.
March 22, 2010, Trevor Swerdfager told the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans:
"We have absolutely no evidence of that (Slice resistance) whatsoever in British Columbia. We know that this is one of the latest suggestions that has come forward. We have looked into that situation, which has been profiled frequently on the web. But it's not just that."
While Mr. Swerdfager says they looked into the situation it would be good to know what he found. These lice have now spread to the wild chum salmon heading to sea, picture:
All this and more at:
http://alexandramorton.typepad.com/
Overfishing Dramatically Depleting Ocean Stocks
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/12/05/bc-preda...
"BC study says supply in northern waters down 90% since 1950s..."
The DFO is actively discrediting their own scientists. They shun them, threaten them, etc if they do valid research into why pacific salmon are dieing off. http://thecanadian.org/k2/item/1222-kristi-miller-cohen-commission-salmo...
and here is more http://thecanadian.org/k2/item/978-email-cohen-commission-dfo-obstructio...
We the public need to fight back on their behalf.