Victoria Times Colonist | January 09, 2008
By Lindsay KinesB.C. salmon farmers do a good job meeting provincial "standards of the day" for controlling sea lice infestations, ensuring fish health, and protecting the environment, Agriculture and Lands Minister Pat Bell said yesterday.
But with the fish farm industry under increasing scrutiny, Bell acknowledged those standards could look different a few months from now. "We are really confident that the industry is meeting the standards of the day," he said. "Those standards can, of course, change over time."
Bell said the B.C. government continues to work with First Nations, fish farmers and environmental organizations to try to reach a consensus on a provincial aquaculture plan. The plan, which was slated for release last fall, is now expected at the end of March and will stress the protection of wild salmon stocks, he said.
"What the standards will be in the new aquaculture plan, I am not going to presume," he said.
Bell made the comments yesterday as he released a pair of 2006 reports on fish farm inspections and the health of the farmed salmon. The reports generally showed fish farms complying with provincial regulations, and revealed sea lice numbers below the "accepted level" in most areas that year. Sea lice are parasites that attach to fish and suck their blood. B.C. permits up to three lice per fish before a farm is required to take actions such as harvesting the fish early or using medication to control the outbreak.
Bell said audits conducted during the critical out-migration of fish from April to July in 2006 found lice well below the accepted level of three lice per fish. "They are the highest standards (in the world) and they are being met today."
But environmentalists say such findings mean little, given the inherent risks that fish farming, and particularly sea lice outbreaks, pose to wild salmon stocks.
Catherine Stewart of the Living Oceans Society noted that a recent study in Science magazine warned that wild pink salmon could be extinct on B.C.'s central coast within four years as a result of sea lice infestations at fish farms in the area. "So saying that (fish farms) are complying with the regulations for net-cage aquaculture, when net-cage culture is fundamentally flawed and risky, doesn't give us much comfort," she said.
Stewart also questioned the reliability of studies that rely more on self-reporting by fish farmers than on surprise inspections. "In our mind, it means very little." Bell, however, said government audits have verified the accuracy of industry self-reporting.
The government says there were 11 fish escapes in 2006 resulting in a total loss of more than 19,000 farmed salmon. That compares to fish losses of 64 in 2005, 45,000 in 2004 and 40 in 2003. The nine-year high was 83,000 in 1998.
Bell called the results "favourable" and also noted there were no "unusual diseases" identified among farmed fish in 2006. In addition, he said the industry has reduced its reliance on antibiotics and other medications.
Mary Ellen Walling, executive director of the B.C. Salmon Farming Association, said the reports reflect the industry's commitment to "well-managed, well-run, well-cared-for farms and fish."
lkines@tc.canwest.com
