Victoria Times Colonist | January 13, 2008
By Judith LavoieA second Vancouver Island fish farm is struggling to understand how fish it was exporting to the U.S. could have become contaminated with the carcinogenic chemical malachite green.
Marine Harvest Canada of Campbell River was told Dec. 27 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had found traces of malachite green in fish tested at the border Dec. 4.
"We were completely stunned," said Clare Backman, Marine Harvest manager of environmental compliance.
Malachite green is not used in any part of the fish farm or in supplies and regular tests were done on the fish, which were raised at a site near Port McNeill, Backman said.
"The fish were tested before they left the hatchery for any trace of the chemical, we tested the food and we also tested the fish before they left the marine site," he said.
Adding to the puzzle, after being told of the contamination, the company sent samples of fish from the same farm for tests at the University of Guelph and those have failed to find any trace of the chemical, he said.
FDA tests of Marine Harvest fish entering the U.S. after Dec. 7 have also been clean.
The contamination was found the same day that fillets being exported by Creative Salmon of Tofino were found to have traces of malachite green.
"It's puzzling. It's certainly a coincidence," Backman said.
The company has asked the FDA to retest the same fish and has asked for a meeting to review the information, but has not yet received any answer, he said.
"We're trying to find out more, but the process seems very slow and not particularly communicative," he said.
Harvesting has been suspended at the Port McNeill site and additional testing is being done, Backman said.
The company is also contacting customers who received fish from the same site and asking them to return any fish they still have in stock.
Malachite green was formerly used to kill fungus on fish eggs, but was banned in food processing in 1992 after it was found to be a carcinogen.
It was also widely used in pulp and paper mills and traces of the chemical have been found in wild fish.
Catherine Stewart of the Living Oceans Society said it is a concern that the chemical is turning up in fish.
"It is very persistent in the environment and, considering the prevalence of pulp mills on the coast, the fish farming industry has to ask whether this is the best environment for rearing fish," she said.
"It's another argument against aquaculture on this coast."
It's also a reminder that pollution of the ocean affects everyone for years to come, Stewart said.
"There's no such thing as throwing something away. Somehow, it all ends up on our plate."