The apocalyptic scale of events in Japan has heightened my sense that the people running things have let matters get out of control. This has renewed my resolve to prevent loss of what I see as an essential food and ecological resource to BC. Given all that is going on on both sides of our planet does anyone really want to rely on fish in pens that depend on generators and food shipped from Chile? I am asking DFO to simply examine the health of farm salmon straight from the veterinarian records, or tell us that this is not possible.
Dear Dr. Laura Richards
In preparation for your appearance at the Cohen Inquiry on March 17, I am asking that you inform yourself by reading the salmon farm veterinarian reports.
Hutchings et al (1997) analysed DFO’s response to the plummeting North Atlantic cod stocks, which were one of humanity’s greatest natural food supplies. They report a DFO scientist had identified the problem and how to mitigate it, but was silenced. They conclude, “Government-administered science in Canada, and its potential for bureaucratic and political interference, merits examination in the wake of the biological and socioeconomic catastrophes associated with recent fishery collapses.”
Here in BC, beginning in the early 1990s, an epidemic of Salmon Leukemia swept up the BC coast in salmon farms. At exactly this time the Fraser sockeye began declining, behaving strangely, some runs dying by the millions in the river just before spawning. Today, when DFO scientist, Dr. Miller, reported Salmon Leukemia may be in these dying sockeye she was not allowed to speak to the media. Why?
If Salmon Leukemia is a factor in the millions of dying sockeye, it appears lethal enough that it should have extinquished itself. A 18-year sustained epidemic would require a reservoir source of infection.
Dr. Scott Hinch, a co-researcher on this project stated at the Cohen Inquiry last week that he does not know if farm salmon have been examined as a potential ongoing source of the purported virus. If salmon farms are a reserviour for this retrovirus the public needs to know, so they can decide which fish they want wild or farmed.
Dr. Richards, as the top Pacific Region DFO administrator of science, the public is paying you and relying on you to have all available facts when you take the stand on March 17 at the Cohen Inquiry to answer questions regarding a leaked ministerial briefing note on an emerging disease and the 2009 sockeye collapse.
Furthermore, Minister Gail Shea’s judgment is weak on the subject of ISA virus. In the face of the global ISA virus epidemic, she should have closed the BC border to Atlantic eggs and nets that may have been used to contain ISA infected salmon. The World Health Organization’s Animal Health division the (OIE) reports suspect cases of ISAV in Canada in 2008 - 2010. I am asking you to find out where these suspect cases occurred. You must realize the avirulent form appears to travel in eggs and then it is simply a matter of mutation before it goes viral. If that happens no one will ever be able to recall it from the North Pacific. The only time to stop it is now.
In discussions with colleagues throughout Canada, none have ever suggested that the DFO political interference identified as a significant factor in the collapse of the North Atlantic cod has ever been remedied.
Dr. Richards please contact the OIE to learn if BC is a suspect area for ISA and read the salmon farm disease records before you take the stand at the Cohen Inquiry on March 17. Please let us know if DFO does not have access to these records, so the public can assess the strength of your testimony when you speak about Salmon Leukemia, ISV virus and the Fraser sockeye.
Thank you,
Alexandra Morton
