A couple of clarifications are required;

- the species that escaped from the BC salmon farm are “salmo salar” and are not able to “breed with wild ones” as the Pacific salmon is a different genus and species. That is why raising Atlantic salmon in the Pacific ocean is considered “low risk” (Salmon Aquaculture Review 1997)

- sea lice are a naturally occurring parasite found on most fish in the ocean, so the risk of this “spread” is minimal to nothing.

- some perspective: Alaska, Japan and Russia intentionally release 5 billion (yes, billion, with a “B”) salmon into the ocean each year. It’s called salmon ranching and each salmon is, coincidentally called an “escape”. These ranched salmon can interbreed (same species) and do challenge wild salmon for food and space. This makes 40,000 escaped farmed salmon a non-issue. Or, on the flipside, if these 40,000 escaped farmed salmon does concern you, then you should be really, REALLY, concerned with salmon ranching.

Thanks,

Jenn

These salmon farms need to be taken onshore via pumped sea water tanks to isolate the salmon, lice and disease from the marine environment. Otherwise it is just a question of profit at all costs and to hell with the environment.

Dear Bob;

I would suggest that land based aquaculture is NOT better for environment? Pumping sea water will take vast amounts of energy, whereas net culture uses a green energy (tidal power) to move water in and out of the nets. You’ve traded local impacts of salmon farming (fish poop on the ocean floor) and traded for global impacts of energy production.

In addition, let’s not forget that there are literally billions of hatchery fish swimming loose in the ocean. If a few million (with an “m”) farmed fish contained in a net in the ocean is a concern to you, then a few billion (with a “b”) straying hatchery fish must scare you to death?? So, why aren’t we talking about hatchery fish?

Well, Jennifer, most of us with half a brain, knows the difference between hatchery, and farmed fish, and yes, sea lice is a natural occurrence in the ocean. On adult fish they pose NO threat, as adult fish have scales that protect them. Smolts do not have that protection, and running the gauntlet thru the fish farms,, the smolts don’t have a snowballs’ chance in hell of surviving.

Also, closed containment doesn’t need to be anything except energy efficient, hello,, tidal power, solar power,, wind,, they are very viable alternatives,, and they don’t bring slice into our marine environment to pollute and poison. Oh,, and lets not forget the marine mammal deaths caused by the nets??

Jennifer Husband, you are very mis-informed about the scientifically proven effects fish farms are having on wild Pacific salmon stocks. Lice may be naturally occurring, but before the farms, lice were not present 12 months a year in such abundance directly along the migration routes of wild salmon, a route that the tiny salmon smolt must take on their way to the sea. Wild salmon die after spawning and so they are not present with their lice afterwards. Fish farms have changed all that. They operate all year long, introducing lice into local waterways in such abundance as to be a threat to the baby salmon smolt which must swim past these farms on their way to the sea. These very small and young salmon are not equipped with scales for defense against the lice and are dying in large numbers, severely reducing the wild salmon stocks. Entire runs are being lost. This is well documented. So lice are not just a “minimal to nothing” risk, as you would have us believe, but are a documented threat to the survival of wild salmon stocks. And fish farms put a lot more than “fish poop” on the sea floor. Have you even read the articles on the dead zones around the farms due to the high levels of chemicals sprayed on nets, chemicals in the pellets the farmed fish are fed, and the piles of dead and decaying salmon thrown over which depletes the local oxygen supply? Have you heard the concerns of native peoples who used to collect shellfish in areas where the farms are now located who report the loss of those shellfish populations? A lot more than fish poop is being introduced into our waters by these farms.

And your comparison with intentionally released hatchery fish with the unintentional release, or escape of farmed fish really shows your ignorance on the subject. Hatchery fish are of the same species as wild salmon while farmed salmon are not. Farmed salmon have no place in Pacific waters. Period.

So, before you downplay the very real threats to our wild salmon stocks from open net fish farms, do your homework, become informed, and know what you’re talking about. Perhaps, then, you will see there is much to be concerned about when it comes to the very real threats from fish farms to wild salmon.

Thank you all for reading and for your comments. It’s important to get a healthy dialogue going on issues such as this one.

Dear Darlene and David Briggs;

You both seem quite angry in your posts. Well, unfortunately, my correction of your blatant omissions and errors is not going to settle you down much.

Darlene - You mention ‘gauntlet of farms’. There are about 70 operating farms in British Columbia taking up a total space less than 1 square mile. Hardly a ‘gauntlet’. By using a non-quantifiable word like ‘gauntlet’ you are trying to provide a picture that just isn’t real. Also, science has proven that small salmon DO have a ’snowballs chance in hell’ of surviving with lice on them. Small salmon have always had some level of sea lice on them without the presence of salmon farms, that is fact. The question then is; are farms adding to that natural level? Is the lice level on farmed salmon manageable during the important out-migration period? I believe it is manageable, and so does a scientific body of scientists (Pacific Salmon Report, 2009). The only peer reviewed paper on the mortality of pink salmon with sea lice found that any fish over the size of 0.5 grams can survive with 3-4 lice on it. Anything smaller than 0.5 grams could have up to 30% mortality. Anything larger than 1 gram does not die from any presence of lice.

David Briggs - Sea lice is a parasite that IS naturally present 12 months of the year. It is present on stickleback, over-wintering salmon and herring, just to name a few.

You say “entire runs or being lost”. This is incorrect. You may be referring to a study that predicted extinction of pink salmon, but as you know, pink salmon have had record returns all over the North West coast this year, especially in arease where farms operate.

You mention “dead salmon thrown over”? This is pure nonsense David, you got a bit carried away on that one.

My mention of salmon hatcheries as a comparative risk is very fair - perhaps I should have been clearer - I was talking about salmon ranching. But you are correct, ranched salmon are the same species as wild salmon, and there is plenty of science that suggests the interbreeding of hatchery with wild does decrease the performance of wild salmon. Farmed salmon, separated from wild and of a different species cannot interbreed with wild salmon. And considering, ranched salmon are more numerous (globally over 5 billion salmon are released into the wild) than farmed salmon, they do consume more fish meal in the ocean. These are risks and comparisons of two production scenarios for growing salmon that are good to discuss. Sorry, it may be you who is ignorant to these facts. As you (politely?) suggest, please do a little more homework before responding.

Jenn