Our wild salmon are under pressure from a host of factors from habitat
loss to changing ocean conditions and climate impacts. On October 14th
(Canadian) and November 4th (American), voters will be heading to the
polls. You can take action to help wild salmon by calling your
candidates to find out where they stand on salmon farming issues in
Canada or offshore aquaculture in the US.
The numbers of wild pink salmon returning to the Broughton Archipelago’s Glendale River are also down, 70 per cent from the parent year in 2006. It is not coincidental that one of B.C.’s highest concentrations of open net-cage salmon farms is in the Broughton. The net-cage salmon farming industry is a key source of stress that research shows may deal the final blow to wild salmon already on the brink.
Years of peer-reviewed research has documented the impacts of sea lice from salmon farms on juvenile wild salmon migrating out to sea.
When surviving wild salmon return to spawn, they run the risk of escaped farmed Atlantic salmon competing for habitat.
Atlantics have been spotted in over 80 B.C. rivers and may be digging up wild Pacific salmon eggs in riverbeds, further threatening survival of the runs.
Make Your Vote Count: Get Governments to act!
Our governments must act now to reduce the threats to wild salmon that are readily within our control. With elections on the horizon, now is the time to ask all candidates when they will act to protect wild salmon by transitioning salmon farms to closed containment systems.
Help Say No to Organic Labels on Farmed Salmon
Members of the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) in the US have been hearing about the environmental impacts of open net-cage salmon farms ever since they began considering standards for aquaculture. Collectively, scientists, conservation groups, and consumers have submitted hundreds of comments that raise the alarm that allowing net-cage farms into the organic program will lead to the certification of operations responsible for marine mammal deaths, escapes, and the lethal infestation of wild fish with parasites and diseases. Open net-cages simply lack the control mechanisms needed to prevent these impacts – closed, contained systems are necessary.
On September 28th the NOSB released proposed organic aquaculture standards for net pens and feed including wild fish. It is clear that NOSB members have been listening to concerns about environmental impacts. Their feed proposal includes a sunset clause, which ratchets down the use of wild fish to zero over 12 years. The net cage proposal requires producers to justify the location of net pens and detail how the location will minimize environmental impacts. The standards also require net pens to be sited in a manner that avoids migratory routes of native species.
While these standards aim to protect wild fish from the known impacts of open net-cages it will be difficult, if not impossible, to maintain their intended integrity in practice. Even though ‘avoid’ seems concise we cannot count on all certifiers and producers to interpret ‘avoid’ the same way. Research published in Proceedings of the Royal SocietyB in 2007 shows that sea lice from a single salmon farm can raise the infection pressure up to 75 km away. Despite this research, the BC Ministry of Agriculture still uses criteria from 2000 that allows new salmon farms to be sited 1 km from the mouth of a salmon-bearing stream. This is considered adequate to ‘avoid’ juvenile wild salmon beginning their migration.
With the presence of 9,663 migrating salmon stocks on Canada’s Pacific coast siting a salmon farm that entirely ‘avoids’ wild salmon migratory routes should be impossible, but that depends on one’s definition of ‘avoid’.
Let the NOSB Know that You Support Strong Standards
The NOSB is listening to concerns about the impacts of open net-cage salmon farming, but they are also under pressure from the industry to allow these practices into the organic program. Please take a few minutes to submit your comments (using the easy online form) to the National Organic Standards Board on-line before the November 3rd deadline.
Focus on the Fraser River
Fraser River salmon are at risk from myriad challenges. It appears that fish farms in the northern Georgia Strait may be adding another to the list. Scientific evidence repeatedly shows that salmon farms breed sea lice that kill wild juvenile salmon. The latest research in the northern Georgia Strait shows that sea lice are also affecting juvenile sockeye.
Photo: Robert Koopmans
Since some Fraser River juveniles migrate near fish farms in this area, it raises the possibility that the sea lice may also be impacting Fraser River sockeye and other Fraser stocks. If this is occurring, the ecological havoc of fish farms is not just a local concern, but a province-wide problem. Open net-cage salmon farms may present a serious pressure to Fraser River salmon stocks, and CAAR is advocating a change to closed systems to address this threat.
This fall, CAAR will be working with Fraser River Basin communities to help take the pressure off wild salmon by demanding the transition of fish farms into closed containment. We will be asking communities for support towards our Provincial budget initiative of a minimum of $10 million Closed Containment Fund, and a concrete plan for the transition of the industry to closed containment.
Online Sea Lice Animation Goes Global
On September 22, CAAR Member group, Watershed Watch Salmon Society, released “Wild Salmon In Trouble,” an online video animation that explains the link between farmed salmon, sea lice, and wild salmon. Since its release, over 20 groups world-wide helped circulate the film.
In the first ten days, over 7,000 visitors from 67 countries watched the online film. Most visitors came from the USA, Canada, the United Kingdom, Norway and Sweden. Approximately 60 faxes were sent to BC's Ministers of Environment and Technology to request their support of closed containment to end the devastating impacts of open net-cages. Since its release, the animation was mentioned in over a dozen news websites including EU Aquaculture News and many blogs.
If you haven’t seen “Wild Salmon In Trouble” yet, you can still watch and share an abbreviated version on You-Tube, or watch the entire video.
