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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~MarinE~Wire~~~~~~~~~~~~~~2/02/99~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Contents:
Item #1- Press Release
World's oceans can no longer handle netcages, GSA warns
Item #2- Backgrounder
Salmon Farming Backgrounder:
A compilation of recent news illustrating the risks of netcages
.........................................................................
ITEM #1
PRESS RELEASE FEBRUARY 2, 1999
World's oceans can no longer handle netcages, GSA warns
-------------------------------------------------------
(Nanaimo, B.C.)- Recent incidents from around the world have underscored the
dangers of netcage salmon farming to wild salmon and the marine environment
and the need to keep the moratorium on new fish farms, says the Georgia Strait
Alliance (GSA).
The BC government invoked a moratorium in 1995 on salmon aquaculture
development. "This was a good move", said Laurie MacBride, Executive Director
of GSA. "It slowed the ‘race for tenure’ and gave the government time to assess
the problems.
"Now, seeing the disastrous results of salmon farming worldwide, we hope the
Clark government will keep the moratorium and beef it up with regulations that
ensure ‘zero discharge - zero escapes - no net effect’". GSA has called for a
timely phase-in of escape-proof and disease-safe closed-loop systems for all
existing net cage operations.
BC government officials have said they will announce the fate of the moratorium
in mid-February.
"Nowhere in the world have wild salmon and fish farms been shown to co-exist
sustainably," said MacBride. "If we want wild salmon in our future, we must
keep the moratorium and convert BC's 100 existing netcage farms to fully
closed containment. The status quo is not an option," said MacBride.
-30-
For Information:
Howard Breen, 250-247-7467
GSA Office, 250-753-3459
GSA website <http://www.island.net/~gsa>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ITEM #2:
Salmon Farming Backgrounder February 2, 1999
A Compilation of Recent News Illustrating
the Risks of Netcages
------------------------------------------
· Norwegian authorities have just given permission for all life in 17 rivers
to be wiped out in a desperate attempt to kill off the parasite, Gyrodactylus
salaris (G. salaris), which has already ravaged the wild populations of salmon
and trout in dozens of Scandinavian rivers (The Scotsman 01/02/99).
· Scottish officials are considering whether the Norwegian model of large-scale
poisoning with rotenone - a powerful insecticide - would be followed if G.
salaris found its way to Scotland.
· Infectious Salmon Anemia (ISA) has already resulted in the destruction of
millions of farm fish in Norwegian, Scottish, and Atlantic Canadian fish farms,
along with associated job losses. Many fear a spread to the wild salmon and
trout populations in Europe, Australia, Atlantic Canada and in the Pacific
northwest. With consumer confidence at an all-time low following the Mad Cow
disease cover-up, four major British supermarket chains, including Marks and
Spencers, have banned Scottish farm fish because of the chance it may have ISA.
· The Canadian National Disaster Fund has used $13 million so far for an
industry bailout in New Brunswick following the spread of ISA there. This is
on top of a $10 million bailout to the industry by the New Brunswick
government.
· Scientists are concerned that a hastily introduced ISA vaccine will not
eradicate the pathogen because the vaccine may not reach the mucus covering
of the fish (where the disease can lodge) and the fish may therefore continue
to act as a disease carrier.
· Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) has failed to prohibit
Atlantic salmon egg importation ISA-stricken countries, or to prohibit
commercial importation of fishery products Atlantic Canada processors into
BC restaurants and fish markets - thereby risking an outbreak of the disease
in BC.
· South Australia's Conservation Council has just called for a moratorium on
all new aquaculture development.
· In January, Maine officials recommended a quarantine of the Pleasant River
salmon hatchery due to an outbreak of salmon swimbladder sarcoma virus,
suspected to have been caused by neighbouring fish farms. Pleasant River salmon
have had to be destroyed at three hatcheries and one additional facility has
been quarantined.
· The world's first successful spawning of Atlantic farm salmon outside its
native range was reported and confirmed in 1998, in BC's Tsitika River system.
Budget cuts have prevented either the federal or provincial governments from
increasing monitoring and eradication measures beyond the current 1% of BC
streams.
· The first feral Atlantic salmon to reach the Bering Sea (likely from a BC
fish farm) was reported in late 1998.
· The provincial Salmon Aquaculture Review's conclusion of "low environmental
risk" was partially based on the assumption that Atlantic salmon would not
successfully spawn in BC rivers. The Tsitika spawning puts this assumption
into question.
Other worldwide trends of concern include:
· "Antibiotic resistant" strains of human disease (exacerbated by abuse of
antibiotics in livestock) are on the increase. Farm salmon has the highest
level of antibiotic residues of any grocery commodity.
· A Scottish netcage trial of "transgenic salmon" was undertaken in 1998 with
Canadian expertise, despite industry and DFO assertions that there is little
interest in Canada in creating genetically modified salmon.
· The impact of climate change on farm fish is uncertain, but if it promotes
increased algae blooms or disease outbreaks (as many scientists believe), it
may necessitate further government subsidies and taxpayer bailouts to the
industry.
The production of feed for farmed salmon results in a net reduction in global
fish protein, as it requires from four to eight kg of feed made from other
fish to produce one kg of farmed salmon.
- 30 -
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