alexandra morton

The Dawn of a New Era in Fisheries Management in Canada - Lets Make it Happen

 

Sign letter to Canadian Minister of Fisheries asking for the laws of Canada to be applied to fish farming (letter)

Two Meetings

On December 7, 2009, I joined a group of scientists to pool our knowledge and try to figure out what happened to the Fraser sockeye that did not return this fall. The group did not include DFO, the province or any industry representatives. It was not a stakeholder meeting and the difference became apparent as ideas flowed easily and uninterrupted by confounders.

The people tasked to forecast Fraser sockeye returns said there are new variable/s that have come into play in the past 10 years. Because they don't know what they are, they cannot factor them in and this is causing the enormous uncertainty in predicting how many Fraser sockeye will return. What we know is that fewer sockeye are surviving since a high in the early 1990s. We know the 2009 sockeye left the lakes in 2007 in very large numbers and that these smolts were exceptionally large. We know the ocean conditions that were measured were favourable for sockeye. Because the collapse was detected before commercial fishing was opened, the closure of commercial and sportfishing, was the right thing to do and this put enough sockeye on the spawning grounds that survival is possible, but only if we can figure this out and protect them from the same fate. We could see a better Adam River sockeye return but it is essential people realize this would not mean the Chilko, Quesnel or other stocks are fine, each has to be considered individually.

The remarkable pattern of collapse was considered as southcoast sockeye that did not enter the Strait of Georgia such as the Okanagan, Columbia, and Somass did exceptionally well. In addition, the Harrison rapids sockeye with a different "childhood" also did very well within the Fraser River. This information pulled our focus onto the area from the north tip of Vancouver Island to Chilko Lake as the probable zone of greatest impact.

While everyone recognized that Climate Change is a looming all important threat that absolutely must be reversed, there was no measurement that pointed to climate change as the primary impact on this run of sockeye. At this point we considered the 60 Atlantic salmon farms between the Fraser River and the Pacific Ocean, but we had no data to review. The companies raising salmon on the Fraser sockeye migration route are unwilling to reveal what diseases their fish have. If we had this information the forecasters could factor in the areas of infection and what we know about how wild salmon survive these diseases. Unfortunately we were left to guess.

When salmon enter the ocean there many things we have to guess about, but this is not one of them. The fish farmers know and since they are in public waters in an area of extremely large and negative public resource impact it seemed very clear this information must be released. The meeting highlighted many information gaps and we hope funding will be applied so that we can simply follow the young sockeye as they begin their migration along our coast. There are some remarkable techniques that could be used and in even one season I am sure we would know much more and be better able to reverse this decline.

However, we recognized that research was not enough and so we called for an experimental clearing of fish farms on the Fraser sockeye northern migration route. This would serve the dual purpose of teaching us about the impacts and also, if this is one of the problems this would give the fish immediate relief. Here is our Download FraserSockeyeThinkTankStatement

There was unanimous call to Act NOW. There was a clear message from some participants that Ottawa has lost interest in wild salmon, that they think their only value comes from commercial revenues. Since this is shrinking Ottawa is abandoning wild salmon.

Next I attended the National Aquaculture Strategic Action Plan Initiative meeting in Campbell River. I learned two very important things.

First, Grieg Seafood stated that they cannot release disease information because it could threaten the share value of their stocks. This simple revelation brings the entire conflict into focus. Privatization of our oceans means we lose our right to protect our fisheries. The Fraser River and U.S. Lake Washington sockeye collapsed while other southcoast sockeye, the Okanagan, Columbia, and Somass sockeye did much better than forecast. This means it was specifically the southcoast stocks that passed through Norwegian fish farm waters that failed. It is completely unacceptable that we are left to guess about potential impact of disease transfer from millions of Atlantic salmon simply to protect the interests of European shareholders.

Second at this meeting we heard repeatedly from the association of Canadian land-based salmon farmers website. In operation for 60, years this family run industry does not impact our wild salmon, does not dump its manure into public waters, creates jobs and is successful and yet they cannot even get a meeting with the provincial government!

Is this Canadian industry being suppressed by our provincial government because it makes the massive Norwegian net pen industry irrelevant? I realized I am not trying to protect wild salmon from aquaculture, I am trying to protect our coast from three Norwegian companies called Marine Harvest, Grieg and Cermaq (Mainstream).

Minister Steve Thompson MAL, your first commitment is to Canadians. Contact the Canadian salmon farmers, meet with them and given them a chance to resolve this issue. Otherwise, when you look at the entire situation, “corruption” is the word that comes to mind.

So at the closure of this turbulent year the task before us is very simple. If you want wild salmon, if you see their role in building the forests to protect us from climate change, their role in the 2 billion dollar BC wilderness tourism industry and their role in making us who we are, you must do everything you can to make Ottawa see this.

We have come a long way. Regulation of salmon farming is being entirely rewritten, we have a Canadian industry willing and able to respond to our concerns while benefiting the economy, we have a remarkable team of scientists prepared to do the detective work to find the cause of the Fraser collapse, we have the Judicial Inquiry to help us and we have you. 20,500 people have signed the letter at www.adopt-a-fry.org to the Minister of Fisheries. We are becoming a political force.

We need to really examine the Norwegian salmon farming industry. The ISA virus in Chile has destroyed their profit margin, now the resistant lice in Norway have caused the Norwegian government to consider culling the fish farms there. BC is the last area where mother nature has not closed the door in revolt at the unnatural practices of this industry. We all know we can't pour an unlimited number of salmon into the ocean, Nature will deal with this, but would be in our best interests to intervene before that point is crossed.

"Norway is not managing the farmed salmon business, but the extinction of wild salmon"

Has our species forgotten how to recognize food?

Click here for article

Sea lice are out of control in Norway

Norway's state broadcaster NRK reported on Monday:

"In the past year, the amount of sea lice in Norwegian fish farms exploded. The industry has been on the hump of the environmental movement in the wake of illness boom. This is because the salmon lice infect the wild salmon, and thereby threaten wild salmon stocks.": http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/distrikt/hordaland/1.6888215

The Green Warriors of Norway said in a press release - "Sea Lice Situation is Out of Control" - issued yesterday:

"The sea lice situation is now out of control along the entire coast of Nordland and south. Green Warriors of Norway requires complete slaughter of all salmon biomass with multi-resistance against lice medicines": http://www.nmf.no/default.aspx?pageId=121&articleId=2354&news=1

The Norwegian Hunters and Fishers (NJFF), Norwegian Salmon Rivers Owners (Norsk Lakseelver) and WWF Norway called on the Fisheries Minister to take the sea lice problem more seriously. NJFF reported yesterday under the headline "A Lot of Talk - Little Action":

"......life-threatening situation for our wild salmon along the coast is informed by a disaster. The trend of increasing resistance to the main treatment methods are cause for great concern. The organizations ask that the Minister immediately initiated after a standstill for further growth in the industry......We will increase the pressure in this case. The battle is now": http://www.njff.no/portal/page/portal/njff/nyhet?element_id=57753689&displaypage=TRUE

The Norwegian Salmon Association reported last week under the headline "Norway is managing the extinction of wild salmon!":

"The Director of The Directorate for Nature Management, Janne Sollie, says today that Norway is not managing the farmed salmon business, but the extinction of wild salmon! She says this due to the fact of record high and disastrous levels of sea-lice in the farmed salmon farms. If this is allowed to keep on, all wild salmon will be history!

The Directorate for Nature Management is the national governmental body for preserving Norway's natural environment. The directorate serves as an advisory and executive agency under the Norwegian Ministry of Environment. The Government do not listen to their warning! It's shameful how Norway's officials are promoting and protecting the business of farmed salmon! An unsustainable business ruining wild life!": http://norwegian-salmon.com/salmon/extended-en.php?recID=262

[Sea lice data for Norwegian salmon farms can be accessed online via: www.lusedata.no ]


3) The Green Warriors of Norway (led by Kurt Oddekalv) revealed that "Norwegian commercial fish farms are once more using these [diflubenzuron and teflubenzuron] controversial chemicals to get rid of salmon lice". NMF reported today:

"The use of these chemicals was stopped after the agreement was signed in February 1999, and fish farmers have used other drugs instead. However, since the salmon louse has developed resistance against the drugs used, these controversial chemicals are again being thrown into Norwegian salmon cages. The industry respected the agreement until now, and we claim the minister of fisheries to be responsible for breaking the agreement": http://nmf.no/default.aspx?pageId=42&articleId=2361&news=1

The Norwegian media reported this extensively today via NRK, Dagbladet, Adresseavisen and other media outlets:

"Truer med å sverte norsk laks: Miljøkriger Kurt Oddekalv mener regjeringen har brutt avtale, og vurderer derfor internasjonal aksjon" (NRK, 2nd December): http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/distrikt/hordaland/1.6891582

"Slik presset Oddekalv regjeringen - Miljøaktivisten truet Bondevik-regjeringen til å minimalisere bruken av to omstridte lusemiddel. Nå er avtalen brutt, mener Oddekalv, som på nytt truer med internasjonal kampanjer mot norsk laks i utlandet" (Adresseavisen, 2nd December): http://www.adressa.no/nyheter/innenriks/article1417790.ece

"Regjeringen inngikk avtale med Kurt Oddekalv: Hvis laksenæringen kuttet på bruken av to omstridte lusemidler, skulle Miljøvernforbundet avstå fra planlagte aksjoner" (Dagbladet, 2nd December): http://www.dagbladet.no/2009/12/02/nyheter/innenriks/miljo/politikk/regjeringen/9303659/


Details in English via: "The deal is broken by the Minister" (NMF, 2nd December): http://nmf.no/default.aspx?pageId=42&articleId=2361&news=1

20,000 Voices - Is this SALMONGATE?

November 30, 2009

Minister Gail Shea
Ottawa, Canada

Dear Minister Shea:

Twenty thousand, two hundred forty-three (20,243) people have now signed the letter on my website www.adopt-a-fry.org insisting that you apply the Fisheries Act to “farming” salmon.

But the Norwegian salmon farming industry is now so far out of alignment with common sense and the spirit of Canadian law that the road to compliance is not simple. As you prepare to assume control of this industry as per the BC Supreme Court decision we, the public, are doing your job in your absence laying charges against this industry, removing firewalls, to protect our fish.

Twenty years ago the business of raising salmon was wrongly categorized as “farming” and assigned to the Province to manage. The Province is not responsible for wild fish and the feds were not responsible for fish farms, so no one has been responsible for impact of salmon “farms” on wild fish.

This Provincial regulatory scheme was recognized as unlawful and struck down by Judge Hinkson, February 2009. He gave government 1 year to sort this out and it remains uncertain if ownership of salmon (farmed or not) is even legal in the ocean.

At first it was assumed the Provincial government would somehow continue to run the industry, but shortly after the August 2009 sockeye crash, the Province backed away leaving Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) scrambling to design a regulatory regime. As a result a delay is being negotiated during which the Province expects to continue expanding the industry!

Expansion is crucial to Norwegian fish farmers because they have lost money for 3 years now and their share prices will rise only if they put more fish in the water. However, we just lost 10 million sockeye that passed through heavily fish farmed waters and Judge Cohen has “aquaculture” 3rd on his list to investigate with his Judicial Inquiry. It would be immoral to expand the industry during this moment of regulatory restructuring and investigation.

When you peel back the layers of the Fisheries Act the conflicting rules make no sense, except as firewalls. On the one hand the Pacific (Fishery) Regulations (1993) exempts Provincially licenced aquaculture from all fishing regulations which appears to give them unrestricted access to all the wild fish drawn into their pens by the lights and food. These fish are Atlantic salmon fodder and highly valuable sablefish,rock cod, salmon and herring.

Then as if someone recognized the preposterous enormity of this the Access to Wild Aquatic Resources 2004 was produced to licence fish farmers for by-catch, if the amount was deemed insignificant to wild stocks.

This was a good idea, but no one seems to have these licences. And how could they? The wild pink salmon Marine Harvest admitted to having in their boat last June 16 were from an age-class and stock so endangered millions of public dollars were spent to protect them. However, this is lost in DFO’s regulatory labyrinth. If Marine Harvest has no licence to possess by-catch, does that mean that the 1993 regulations come into effect to exempt them from all fishing rules including possession of an endangered wild fish stock? I hope we get to find out. Judge Saunderson issued a summons to Marine Harvest to appear in court for possessing these pink salmon. The Department of Justice could halt this case, but it would seem in the public interest for a court to hear this.

In October 2009 Marine Harvest also admitted to catching herring in the Broughton Archipelago and composting them with no reporting or licence. Was this legal or illegal? Does anyone know? If they had no licence for tons of herring by-catch are they exempt?

Herring fishing has been closed in Broughton for twenty years because the stocks are not rebuilding. Now we find out Norwegian “farmers” are killing them despite the closure with no apparent ramifications, no quota nor reporting. These fish farmers are out-fishing BC fishermen! Over-fishing is a global scourge. Minister Shea this is not right.

Nothing is straightforward. When 40,000 Atlantics escaped from Marine Harvest’s farm October 21, 2009, we were told they were worth a million dollars and everything had been done to recover them. But now we hear farm fish are worthless once they escape and only 1,200 were recovered because Marine Harvest was “confused” about the licence DFO granted them specifically for this situation. Does profit - starved Marine Harvest really want the expense of disposing of 40,000 fish? They did not do everything they could have to recapture their fish and section 55 of the Fishery (General Regulations) states no person shall release live fish into fish habitat. They must be charged and heavily fined to inspire compliance. This is the tool your Ministry uses on other fishermen.

It is disturbing that someone lobbied Parliament to disguise the industry as Provincial farms even though this must have raised legal red flags and then someone specifically exempted “provincial aquaculture” from the fishing regulations. This is Salmongate.

We are hosting guests who are pulling the tablecloth into their laps dragging the silverware, the food, the water everything out of our reach. Thankfully, Judges Hinkson, Slade, Cohen and Saunderson have nailed the tablecloth to the table.

However it is not up to the courts to manage fish. Fisheries and Oceans Canada is touring the National Aquaculture Strategic Action Plan Initiative to get feedback, calling aquaculture a legitimate user of Canadian marine waters.
http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/aquaculture/lib-bib/nasapi-insapa/nasapi-inpasa-eng.htm#intro

It is indeed time the fish farmers became “legitimate.” It is time to remove their regulatory firewalls, open the farms to public scrutiny and silence decades of political interference that have given foreign corporations greater access to Canadian fish than Canadians. All this and these corporations are still losing money.

Minister Shea there is one job we cannot do for you. You must close the border to import of salmon eggs from the Atlantic to prevent introduction of ISA virus to the eastern Pacific. If you don’t you will see this issue go before the courts. ISAV strains are highly traceable. You say there is no “strong evidence” that it travels in eggs (3-11-2009) scientists say we are “guaranteed” to get the virus if you keep allowing Atlantic salmon egg imports.

Others and myself will continue to lay charges under the Fisheries Act with the help of lawyers who are working Pro Bono, and at reduced rates and thousands of people whose small donations are making this possible. The Fisheries Act specifically encourages the public to lay charges in the face of government “inertia.”

At the very least I ask that you do not stand in our way.

Inquiry to fry biggest fish as it takes stock of sockeye decline; DFO faces intense scrutiny over farms, conflict of interest

PUBLICATION: The Province
DATE: 2009.11.08
EDITION: Final SECTION:
News PAGE: A15
COLUMN: The Fraser Valley
BYLINE: Brian Lewis

There's no doubt the Department of Fisheries and Oceans is going to be one of the biggest fish flopping nervously on the dissection table once Justice Bruce Cohen's federal judicial inquiry into the decline of Fraser River sockeye salmon begins early next year.
Formal announcement of the long-sought inquiry was announced in Vancouver on Friday by federal Trade Minister Stockwell Day, the Okanagan-Coquihalla MP who is also the lead minister in B.C. for Stephen Harper's government.
The key point here is that unlike previous inquiries into the decline of Fraser River sockeye stocks, this one has real teeth.
The terms of reference assigned to Cohen by Ottawa are the broadest possible and include powers of subpoena, which means witnesses will be ordered to appear and must testify under oath.
Given the high level of politics that has played havoc for years with federal fisheries management on both coasts, a full commission of inquiry is the only sensible way we'll ever have a hope of learning why the Fraser's sockeye are disappearing.
And full marks to the Prime Minister for having the fortitude to order such an inquiry. In all likelihood, it will uncover some very nasty-looking warts in one of his government's departments.
Politics aside, the real beneficiary should be the fish. The cause of their demise -- this past summer only 600,000 sockeye returned from a forecast 8.7 million fish in the midsummer run alone -- is long and complex. But management by DFO here on B.C.'s coast has long been cited as one of the primary contributing factors, because neighbouring sockeye jurisdictions in Alaska and Washington have not experienced similar drastic declines.
If some unknown environmental factors are killing Fraser River sockeye out in the Pacific, why aren't they impacting the same species to the north and south of us?
Another key focus in this inquiry will be the salmon farms on our coast and their suspected impacton wild stocks through sea-lice infestations. There's a connection here with DFO as well.
"We think DFO has conflicting mandates to promote salmon farming and wild-salmon stocks at the same time," says Craig Orr, executive director of the nonprofit Watershed Watch Salmon Society.
"In fact, the auditor-general has twice cited DFO for being in this conflict of interest, but this inquiry also has to look at all the potential causes and factors, as well as the science surrounding the sockeye disappearance."
Adds John Cummins, the Conservative MP (Delta-Richmond East) and a former commercial fisherman who was instrumental in launching this inquiry: "The consensus is that DFO is dysfunctional and that it's time to turn the spotlight on what it's been doing."
He says Cohen's recommendations may have a broader influence on an overhaul of the Fisheries Act that is being planned.
Cummins says Vancouver-born Cohen was chosen to head the inquiry because he "has an ability to think outside the box."
Cohen will submit an interim report on or before Aug. 1, 2010. The final report is due by May 1, 2011.
 
 
 

Prime Minister Stephen Harper Calls for Judicial Inquiry into DFO's Handling of the Fraser Sockeye Crash!!!!

Thank you to all of you for your letters and calls to your Members of Parliament and the Prime Minister we now have Judicial Inquiry into how Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) is managing the Fraser sockeye.

After months of silence and highly conflicting and confusing information coming from DFO the Prime Minister has taken a very significant step by announcing this Inquiry. The 2009 Fraser sockeye salmon collapse pattern is remarkably specific with some stocks failing by over 90% and others returning at 4 times what was predicted.

When an animal demonstrates a pattern this bold (the fish migrating north disappeared, while the fish moving south flourished), it is possible to decipher the cause. However, DFO has thwarted progress with a torrent of highly contradictory and confusing misinformation.

The purpose of a Judicial Inquiry is to reveal the facts and then make recommendations to government. It is run by a judge and testimony is given under oath. Our sockeye are at the moment of no return. If there had been a Judicial Inquiry into DFO’s management of our North Atlantic cod stocks, certain DFO scientists would have been allowed to speak earlier and we would still have those fish stocks.

I feel cautiously optimistic. Our salmon are dying of conflicted, tangled politics which we now have the opportunity to sort out.

There have been many people behind this, but most important is all of you.

I will keep you posted as I learn more

DFO - Call me for the data

Dear Fisheries Minister Shea:

I have a few questions/concerns about the Atlantic salmon escapes in general and specifically from the Marine Harvest Port Elizabeth site.

I received reports that when this farm salmon escape occurred there was a seine boat, Kristin Joye, present at the farm and that it had a seine net onboard. The report says as the fish left the pen, they were visible around the boat in large numbers under the vessel lights. I have been told the vessel phoned DFO for permission to set on the fish to recapture them and was denied permission while the fish were still tightly schooled because it was not on the list of designated Atlantic salmon capture vessels. As I understand it, by the time either permission was granted or the right boat ended up on site many if not most of the Atlantics were dispersed.

Fishermen who caught these Atlantic salmon tried to include them in their hales to Archipelago and were told they were not allowed to have the fish. The person collecting the numbers had no column to mark down the Atlantics. The fishermen did not know if they were in violation of their licenses having the Atlantics onboard. How is DFO going to have any idea how many Atlantic salmon are out there if there is no systematic way of counting them? Fishermen gave their Atlantics to me to examine and I found wild food in them. How is DFO going to learn about the behaviour and threat posed by escaped farm salmon if no one is counting or collecting them?

Fishermen who are concerned have gone to the DFO Atlantic salmon watch website where it says to report the fish and that you will be asked where and when the fish was caught, and to keep the fish because you will be asked to donate it for study. People who have called this program to say they had an Atlantic, have waited 2 years with no response. No one took the data on where, or when and no one took the farm fish to study.

You cannot claim to have an effective recapture plan in place, under these circumstances. Atlantics began hitting gillnets 40 km away from Port Elizabeth 2 days later. They could easily now be spread over hundreds of kilometers. If DFO knew fishermen were capturing them DFO could have tasked fishermen to track the Atlantics with nets that were unlikely to intercept by-catch, but instead there appears to have been no response to the large Atlantic salmon catches being made by the fishermen. No one even checked to see if these were the Atlantics from Port Elizabeth. Someone should have been doing DNA samples.

Furthermore, DFO has no idea how many escaped Atlantic salmon are swimming around in the Pacific, what their condition is, what they are eating and what kind of threat they are posing to wild stocks, if you don’t even pick up your phone messages from the fishermen who took the time and effort to phone your Atlantic Salmon toll-free ASWP Reporting Number. If you want the data you can call me!

I am exasperated with DFO. We are doing your work for you! Picking up these Atlantics, measuring, weighing and sampling them and recording what they are eating. I am dealing with all the reports about illegal herring, rock cod, black cod and salmon in the fish farms and their boats. I am laying the charges under the Fisheries Act that you should be laying to protect the wild fish you are mandated to protect, using YOUR Fisheries Act to do it.

DFO is a disgrace that needs to be completely renovated top to bottom, deconstructed and reassembled! It is my opinion you have no right to manage fish in Canadian waters any longer, far too much is at stake. The ocean and the wild fish in it are an essential planetary resource that DFO clearly has no business touching. If someone doesn’t deal with this mess soon we will all be held responsible by future generations!

Alexandra Morton R.P. Bio

Federal Member of Parliament launches Petition for a Judicial Inquiry!

Hello All

Good News Finally! Peter Julian, Member of Parliament – New Westminster has just launched a petition for a Judicial Inquiry into the Fraser sockeye crash.

CONSIDER THIS: If there had been a Judicial Inquiry into the declining North Atlantic cod, we would have rebuilt that fish stock by now because we would have discovered that the critical research by Dr. Ransom Myers of DFO was being suppressed by DFO (Department of Fisheries and Oceans).

Here we are again. DFO is completely silent, they have not even acknowledged that the Fraser sockeye crash pattern is extremely specific and provided the media with misinformation.

A judicial inquiry will place people under oath so they can be heard over the politics.

Please go to Peter Julian’s website: http://peterjulian.ndp.ca/node/864

And download the petition document, and sign: http://peterjulian.ndp.ca/sites/default/files/Petition_A%20call%20for%20an%20independent%20judicial%20inquiry%20on%20salmon%20crisis_October%202009.ENG_.pdf

This has to be a paper copy, there can be 1 signature on a page, or a full page of signatures, the address is on the document and postage to the federal government is free.

You cannot say you care about wild salmon if you don’t make this effort. This will make a very big difference in the future of BC and the eastern pacific.

Alexandra Morton
Www.adopt-a-fry.org

Escaped Atlantics caught by gill-netters 40 km away

According to a Marine Harvest press release 40,000 Atlantic salmon escaped from their pens in Port Elizabeth in Knight Inlet on Oct. 21. Two days later commercial fishermen were catching them 40 km away.

I examined 20 Atlantics caught on the north shore of Malcolm Island and one had a salmon smolt in it's stomach. There are not many salmon smolts in the area at this time of year so it was surprising this Atlantic managed to find and consume one in only two days out of the farm. This picture shows the partly digested salmon smolt from this male 8 pound Atlantic salmon

When 1,000s of wild salmon, herring and blackcod juveniles get lured into fish farms by the lights and food, it is hard to imagine the farm salmon don't eat them.