In April 2011, Creative Salmon which is farming Chinook salmon, in Tofino, Tla-o-qui-aht territory turned to DFO scientist, Dr. Kristi Miller because they had a problem. Their Chinooks were turning yellow, the gills were pale and anemic. They were dying. Their vets could not figure out the cause of this ongoing problem over the past 7 years and so they went to Dr. Kristi Miller head of DFO's fish Genomics Lab at the Pacific Biological Station in Nanaimo.
Miller describes the project in a Cohen Commission exhibit Genomic characterization of jaundice mortality events in cultured Chinook salmon Download Exh 1527 - DFO550188 Creative salmon proposal
Five years later, an internal report released under the Freedom of Information Act refers to this "Jaundice Study." On page 5 Dr. Miller reports that jaundice condition in the farmed Chinook salmon was infectious and appeared to be caused by piscine reovirus (PRV). Then she makes an alarming statement:
Unfortunately this was the first reported detection of PRV in BC, and the histopathologist from the province convinced the industry not to sign off on the report (after many iterations) if PRV was to be included in the analyses. July 2016 Download report
While she does not mention any names, Dr. Gary Marty, the BC provincial histopathologist in charge of farm salmon health, also found that PRV was causing disease in BC, this time in Atlantic salmon and he too never reported it, although he went on to publish two scientific papers with Marine Harvest reporting PRV was not causing disease in BC. Briefing to Chief Scientist
Now we learn from Dr. Miller's group that PRV enters Chinook salmon red blood cells, takes control of the cell machinery and uses it to replicate itself. When the cells become too full of virus they rupture "en masse". This causes toxic response in the organs, loss of cells to transport oxygen to their muscles and death. PRV appears more lethal to Pacific salmon than Atlantic salmon which is not surprising as it is Norwegian and so co-evolved with salmon from the Atlantic not the Pacific.
The same yellowing around the eyes and along the belly has been seen in sockeye salmon. Is piscine reovirus part of the reason the Fraser sockeye salmon, which are migrating past millions of PRV infected farm salmon, are collapsing? Would DFO tell us if they knew?
All this suppression has allowed the virus to spread as the industry says 80% of BC farm salmon are infected.
I have been fighting the minister of fisheries in court for 5 years to stop him from putting piscine reovirus infected fish in fish farms on the BC coast, because it is against the law. I won and he refuses to obey the court. He has been co-opted by the salmon farming industry. All this time as he argued that the virus is harmless to wild salmon populations, scientists in his own department were not allowed to go public with the opposite results. They knew he was wrong. Was Minister Dominic LeBlanc aware that PRV was causing Chinook salmon blood cells to pop like water balloons? Or did bureaucrats in his department hide the truth from him? Either way he is a complete fail in protecting wild salmon.
Piscine reovirus has the potential to destroy the wild salmon runs of southern BC because it is so infectious and they are migrating past salmon farms that are heavily infected. Indeed these salmon are vanishing and as a consequence extinction is underway for the southern resident orca. 69% of southern resident whale pregnancies are aborted because the mothers are starving for Chinook salmon. Meanwhile the minister in charge of these whales is in court fighting me and the Namgis Nation to allow four Norwegian/Japanese companies release a virus that causes Chinook salmon blood cells to explode.
This is exactly how our planet is being destroyed. Weak governments, pliable bureaucrats, aggressive companies with deep pockets. Textbook case here, so what are we going to do about it?
The virus is spreading...
Racing a Virus - Short Film from Alexandra Morton on Vimeo.
Meanwhile, where no one was looking Minister Dominic LeBlanc is letting sea lice from salmon farms eat wild salmon to death.
Clayoquot Sea Lice May 2018 video from Alexandra Morton on Vimeo.
OK full stop. It is beyond clear that Minister of Fisheries Dominic LeBlanc is on the same path as his predecessors, who ignored government scientists and destroyed one of earth's greatest sources of protein, the North Atlantic cod. He works for the fish farm industry. Are going to let him take wild salmon away from us too?
I have documented this unfolding tragedy since the beginning 30 years ago, because the industry moved into the archipelago where I was studying whales feeding on abundant salmon. Those salmon are gone, those whales (northern residents) have abandoned the region. The local indigenous community are at war with the industry, former head of the one of BC's biggest newspapers, Fabien Dawson, is suddenly and viciously slandering all of us. Whales are starving, indigenous communities are reeling from the loss of their most important food resource, both sides are in court, the industry has 9' fences and injunctions to stop people from looking at them and yet they released billions of infectious viral particles into public waters while you read this.
The Minister of Fisheries is lost to us.
However, Premier John Horgan is the industry's landlord and he will decide on June 20th whether to perpetuate this nightmare and issue tenure renewals for 1/4 of the industry as their licences expire.
I am not sure what else you need to know to take action with us.
Tell Horgan he must not renew salmon farm tenures in Musgamagw, Namgis territories, the Broughton Archipelago
Premier Horgan's contact info:
250-387-1715
PO BOX 9041, STN PROV GOVT, VICTORIA, BC V8W 9E1
Namgis Nation has sued Marine Harvest to stop infected farm salmon entering their territory and have occupied Marine Harvest's facilities for 160 days, since August 23 2017. On May 6, Marine Harvest tried to evict them and they refuse to go.