Projects and Series

Speaking for the Salmon (1998 - present)

Aquaculture and the Protection of Wild Salmon Follow-up to March 2000 Dialogue | October 13, 2000

Background information

In 1995, the Environmental Assessment Office of BC put in place a process to review salmon aquaculture. The SAR (Salmon Aquaculture Review) report was published in August 1997. This report put forth 49 recommendations regarding aquaculture in BC which are currently under active consideration by the BC Ministry of Fisheries.

"On October 19, 1999 the provincial Ministry of Fisheries announced that it will allow limited expansion of the salmon farming industry in BC. Ten new experimental fish farms will be created "to develop new technology" and environmental recommendations covering escaped fish and fish waste will be put in place. The moratorium on new farms will remain in place, however farmers with existing tenures in unproductive sites will be allowed to change location and push their farms into full production.

There are currently 121 fish farm tenures in the province, of which only 85 are in operation. If all 121 farms come into production, at today's average output, farmed salmon output will increase 42 percent.

The announcement was criticized as a "small step" by the industry representatives hoping for a complete lifting of the moratorium, and a "write-off" of wild stocks by environmental critics concerned about increased risks from interaction between wild Pacific and farmed Atlantic salmon, spurred on by the recent confirmation of escaped farm fish spawning in the wild. Westcoast Fisherman, November 1999.

"The provincial salmon aquaculture policy is geared towards bringing the industry into line with tough new environmental regulations while encouraging the development of new made-in-BC salmon farming technology," said Streifel (BC Minster of Fisheries). Press Release, October 29, 1999.

There is an urgent need for a meeting to address some of the scientific questions regarding interactions between farmed and wild salmon in British Columbia in view of recent changes to the finfish aquaculture policy in BC.

Invited speakers

Invited scientists include the following among others:

• Dr. Willie Davidson, Dean of Science, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia
  
• Dr. Robert Devlin, Research Scientist, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, West Vancouver Laboratory, West Vancouver, British Columbia
  
• Dr. Larry Dill, Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia
  
• Dr. Ian Fleming, Research Scientist, Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, Trondheim, Norway
  
• Dr. Paddy Gargan, Research Scientist, Central Fisheries Board, Dublin, Ireland
  
• Dr. Mart Gross, Professor, Department of Zoology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario
  
• Dr. Jeff Hard, Scientist, National Marine Fisheries Service, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, Conservation Biology Division, Seattle, Washington
  
• Dr. Anne Kapuscinski, Professor, Fisheries and Wildlife, University of Minnesota, and Director, Institute for Social, Economic and Ecological Sustainability, St. Paul, Minnesota
  
• Dr. Jarle Mork, Professor, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondhjelm, Norway
  
• Dr. Harald Rosenthal, Professor, Institut fur Meereskunde, University of Kiel, Germany
  
• Dr. Helgi Thorarensen, Professor and Head of Aquaculture, Holar Agricultural College, Holar, Iceland
  John Volpe, PhD candidate , University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia
  
• Dr. Fred Whoriskey, Research Scientist, Atlantic Salmon Federation, St. Andrew's, New Brunswick
  
• Dr. Malcolm Windsor, Secretary, NASCO (North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization), Edinburgh, Scotland

Questions to be discussed

1. Do genetic interactions occur between wild and farmed salmon and, if so, how are such interactions manifested in the gene pool of wild salmon?
   
2. Can farmed Atlantic salmon invade the ecological niches of wild salmon?
3. What is the evidence that disease spreads from farmed to wild salmon?
   
4. What are the dangers associated with farming of transgenics?
   
5. What steps should be taken to reduce the risk of aquaculture to wild salmon?

Resources

• Presentation to the Leggat Inquiry into Farmed Salmon in British Columbia
  Michael Berry, Alby Systems
• Lifetime success and interactions of farm salmon invading a native population. 2000.
  Ian A. Fleming, Kjetil Hindar, Ingrid B. Mjolnerod, Bror Jonsson, and others
• Behavioural and heart rate responses to predation risk in wild and domesticated Atlantic salmon. 2001Can. J. Fish. Aquat.Sci. 58, 788-794.
  Jorgen I. Johnsson, Johan Hejesjo, and Ian. A. Fleming.
• Presenation to the Leggat Inquiry into Salmon Farming in British Columbia.
  Ron MacCleod, Former Director General, Fisheries and Oceans Canada
• Salmon Aquaculture: Views from an Independent Scientist - Presentation to the Leggat Inquiry into Salmon Farming in British Columbia
  Rick Routledge, Statistics and Actuarial Sciences, Simon Fraser University
• Testing assumptions associated with farm-escaped Atlantic salmon in British Columbia - Presenation to the Leggat Inquiry into Salmon Farming in British Columbia
  John volpe, Assistant Professor, Biological Sciences, University of Alberta
• Regarding an infections salmon anemia (ISA) update, Maine went down to the disease this summer. 9-11 sites have the disease; over 6000,000 fish have been slaughtered in a control attempt.
  Fred Whorskey, Vice President, Research and Environment, Atlantic Salmon Federation
• North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization
  Malcolm Windsor, Secretary, NASCO

[ Back to top ]