by WCWC Media

Thursday March 08, 2007 at 11:24 AM

New industry data shows that 97% crash in returning wild salmon linked to sea lice infestation from Salmon Farms

Wednesday, March 7, 2007, Vancouver, BC – At a lunch hour rally outside the Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) office today at the corner of Burrard and Pender streets, the Wilderness Committee highlighted the DFOs continued inaction to safeguard wild Pacific salmon by having a person in a fish farm costume handing out mock sea lice to members of the public.

Marine Harvest, a Norwegian company involved in open-net-cage salmon farming in BC recently shared their data with scientists. The data, analyzed by the Watershed Watch Salmon Society, resulted in yet more strong evidence linking sea lice from BC fish farms with soaring infection rates in wild salmon.

The data showed a 97% reduction in returning wild pink salmon in several runs in the Broughton Archipelago. The reduction has been positively linked to sea lice infestations emanating from salmon farms. The data also showed that there was a 42-fold reduction in sea lice infections when farmed salmon were harvested early. The early harvest allowed the March migration of wild juvenile salmon to pass by the salmon farms with far less of an infection rate from salmon farm sea lice.

Like the giant oil companies, Exxon and Mobile, denying the science of climate change until just recently, the DFOs failure to close salmon farms is indicative of their denial of science and weakness of leadership.

Complicating DFOs continuing denial of science is a new proposed Federal Fisheries Act, Bill C-45, that lets short-term economics override conservation and does not require DFO bureaucrats and politicians to listen to science over ocean management. Bill C-45 will only entrench DFOs mismanagement of oceans, and further their systematic lack of action to control sea lice epidemics from salmon farms. The tragedy of Bill C-45 is further highlighted by the fact that fishers, scientists, and the public were denied their usual right to comment on the proposed legislation, which will be going to second reading in the House of Commons.

Wilderness Committee Director of Research, Geoff Senichenko, said “The only way DFO will do their job to protect our oceans is through public pressure. We intend to keep the pressure up on DFO until they commit to properly manage and protect our invaluable wild salmon and ocean resources. We also call on the federal government to scrap Bill C-45.”

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For further information contact Geoff Senichenko @ 604-683-8220.