December 9, 2011
Dear Fisheries and Oceans Canada Minister Ashfield:
Your response to the ISA virus is not serving British Columbians and so we are intervening on our behalf.
Only government can’t find ISA virus in BC salmon. You cannot pretend Fraser sockeye, Chinook, chum and coho are not testing positive for ISA virus.
You write “…there are stringent federal regulations in place to protect Canada’s aquatic species (farmed and wild) from disease,” (letter, Nov. 23, 2011) but I can’t find them. Every possible line of defense against ISA virus has been removed or never existed.
1. When DFO waived the Canadian Fish Health Protection Regulations, 8 million Atlantic salmon eggs entered BC that do not meet “federal regulations,” and we lost our 1st first line of defense against ISA virus.
2. ISA virus does not appear on the egg import certificate, our 2nd line of defense.
3. When ISA virus went epidemic in 2007 in Chile, DFO did not even make it reportable in Canada, our 3rd line of defense.
4. DFO ignored ≈2,000 reports of “classic” ISAv lesions in farm salmon.
5. You are ignoring lab tests coming up positive for ISA virus.
6. It is meaningless to state 5,000 government tests didn’t find ISA virus without reference to the RNA segment, assay, probe or primers.
7. Most critical, you refuse to acknowledge the HPR0 strain of ISA because it cannot be cultured. HPR0 appears to travel with Atlantic salmon eggs, then mutate to higher virulence. When you refuse to recognize HPR0 you remove BC’s final line of defense against ISA virus.
There has been no response from DFO Pacific Region to ISA. All communications have come from your office - unprecedented in the troubled history of BC salmon farms.
Mr. Ashfield I keep trying to tell you, we are not fools. Your failure to respond to the early virus warnings echoes what happened to Chile. This has unacceptable biological, economic, international and market implications. So we have stepped into the void you created. We are tracking ISA virus, we will form a plan when all our results are in and we will give you direction in the New Year. Whether ISAv has always been here, arrived 100 years ago, or recently, there are specific steps available to benefit salmon.
Salmon diseases are no longer a federal secret. We will protect our fish. We are not going to beg help from you any longer.
Alexandra Morton
