Dr. Simon Jones:
Jan 24, 2023, the BC Salmon Farmers Association released the Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat Science Response (CSAS) titled Sea lice on Atlantic Salmon farms and wild Pacific Salmon in British Columbia. This report communicated that sea lice on salmon farms are an insignificant risk to young wild salmon
The advisory’s conclusion states:
“No statistically significant association was observed between infestation pressure attributable to Atlantic salmon farms and the probability of L. salmonis [salmon louse] infestations on wild juvenile Chum and Pink salmon in Clayoquot Sound, Quatsino Sound, Discovery Islands and Broughton Archipelago.” P-23
Issues aside with the clumsy design ignoring the proven unreliability of fish farm industry data* and whether the young wild salmon examined had even been exposed to salmon farms, your name appears on an earlier version of this paper which states the opposite result.
March 9, 2022 a draft paper was attached to an internal DFO email sent to you titled “Modeling The Association of Sea Louse Infections Between Farmed Atlantic Salmon and Juvenile Pacific Salmon in Coastal British Columbia”. It states:
“The models suggested that in Clayoquot Sound between 2016 and 2021, both the occurrence and prevalence of L. salmonis infection on wild migrating juvenile chum salmon is influenced by sufficiently high copepodid [larval stage lice] infection pressures derived from farmed Atlantic salmon.”
May 19, 2022 another draft paper with the same title was sent to you with edits, including edits by you and Jay Parsons, where all reference to impact by salmon farms is removed to read:
“The analysis suggests that the occurrence of L. salmonis infection on wild migrating juvenile pink and chum salmon could not be explained by infection pressure of farm-sourced copepodids.
You claim in your comment that you do not understand the following sentence:
“is influenced by sufficiently high copepodid infection pressure derived from farmed Atlantic salmon…”
And someone crossed out this sentence giving the paper the opposite conclusion that salmon farms are not responsible for the devastating sea lice outbreaks reported on by major Canadian universities, BC research stations and in my own publications.
Senior DFO official, Jay Parsons, also provided comment on this edited manuscript making it clear he understood the original results - that high lice infection in salmon farms were linked to lice infection in wild salmon. He asks:
“Do we want to say anything about management implications… these findings support efforts to reduce sea lice numbers during the outmigration period to minimise risk to wild salmon”
I also found the table sent to you with highly significant p-values indicating a significant link exists between farm and wild sea louse infections. This means the phrase No statistically significant association which appears in the CSAS released by the BC Salmon Farmers cannot be true.
And yet you, Jay Parsons and senior DFO Aquaculture Management and “Regulatory Science” staff signed off on both versions under the authority of the Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat.
The public version of this work, done in your lab, shields the salmon farming industry from responsibility for the infection and harm done to young wild salmon that are exposed to salmon farms.
I have attached the March 9 and the May 19 versions, the final CSAS version can be found on the BC Salmon Farmers Association website: https://bcsalmonfarmers.ca/news/government-of-canada-science-report-confirms-no-statistically-relevant-association-regarding-sea-lice-and-the-production-of-farmed-salmon/
I view the edits to this CSAS as scientific misconduct and breach of scientific ethics of the highest order.
Alexandra Morton