I thought some of you may be interested in this video on youtube about the effects of fish farms on Pink and chum Salmon. These things are incredibly harmfull to native salmon. Only in the last year has DFO realized that fish farms may be causing the sealice problem that kills juvenile salmon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BcRBwCh6BA

I was shocked when I saw a program about that on the boob tube. Im not in touch with the GR committee of cca, but I bet it will get discussed. If you look up the newsletter on the ccapnw site, you should be able to send an email to the GR committee chairman. Most of the time, they list an email address at the end of the article. Send one to WA and ore chairman.

What in the holy hell do net pens and sea lice infestation in canada have ANYTHING to do with the CCA in washington and oregon??

Very interesting piece. I think a lot of us were hoping the fish farms would eventually take the harvest pressure off the wild and hatchery stocks and be the savior of sportsfishing. It looks like I need to re-evaluate my position on fish farming. To bad science seldom leads the charge. Thanks for the post.

There are fish farms in Washinton.

If I am not mistakin I think they are trying to expand fish farms in this state. Definately bad news for wild salmon.

Here's a pic of fish from the same area that the video was done in.

yada yada yada........fish farms ARE the future. You can't feed the world on wild fish, wild corn, wild cattle, wild oats (oops, Sol's territory) or wild anything else. Someone will figure out an answer to the sea lice problem......their livlihood depends on it. And when another problem arises, then they'll deal with that. Maybe someone REAL smart will find a way to teach sea lice to eat sea lions.....now you're talking!

Washington fish pass thru Canada and Alaska. The fish pass by the farms and pick up the parasites. All politics is local. CCA is capable of pressuring our politicians to find a solution. CCA reaches far beyond American waters. It works with other groups on similar issues that affect ocean habitat and fish in other parts the world.

Sardines are being sold to Austrailian Tuna hatcheries, because the Tuna have been overharvested. The sardines are required for their high oil content to raise the Tuna.

Last year, National Geographic did a very large article on the health of the Oceans. At this point the library is the best source for the article.

Fish Farms are just another instance where big business has come in and put there little spin on things and tell people how good they are for wild salmon when actually it is the opposite. This is purely about money to a point that DFO has stuck there head in the sand for years. We are doing the same hear in washington. Farmed fish will never replace Wild Salmon for the average seafood consumer. They have prooven that they will pay extremely high prices in recent years to have the real thing. Fish farms are an experiment gone bad and need to be curtailed. They should be treated like the plauge.

Jo Jo....seen a lot of fish farms going broke? Some folks....again....some....can afford to be picky. Most, and most is where the money is.....can't. Two bins of salmon in the grocery store. One is filled with $8/lb farmed salmon, the other $20/lb "wild caught" salmon. Want to bet which bin empties first?

Look, I'm not contesting the quality.....only the practicality. Fish farms feed folks, wild is wonderful and soon only for the wealthy. My 2

Wild salmon can't support the world-wide demand for salmon to eat. Just the same as with the other meats we eat. That said, raising the fish has to be done better than we see in BC. As has been alluded to, it is all about money. It is cheaper to grow fish in net pens becuase you don't need to pump water, build raceways, etc. We get what we are willing to pay for, whether it is politicians or fish runs.

Never see me eating that stuff. Studies found traces of the toxin that is used to kill sea lice still in the fish at market. When canadian government found that out instead of fixing problem and notifying the public they changed there policy and allow this highly toxic drug to remain in fish up to 50 part per billion. 95% of which ends up in the US.

Oh really now?

Here's a list of common pesticides used for sea lice control that I found while researching this topic on the web:

Organophosphates (Dichlorvos, Azamethiphos)
Pyrethrin/pyrethroids (Cypermethrin)
Hydrogen Peroxide
Ivermectin, Avermectin (SLICE™)
Insect Growth and Molt Regulators

These are not exactly nice agents. I remember learning about organophosphate poisoning in medical toxicology many years ago. Deadly stuff for humans. Pyrethrins are a common ester-based insecticide. I also recognize ivermectin as an anti-worm drug from medical parasitology.

HMMM makes you hungry for farmed salmon, eh!?

I'm curious to know what the answer is here... Tell the world to stop eating salmon altogether?? Don't think so guys...

Do away with the farms... do away with the hatchery programs... Do away with commercial fishing over wild stocks... If everyone gets their wish, well... No one is eating fish except those that can catch it themselves... NOT GONNA HAPPEN...

T-Bird,

Absolutely fish farms should be gone. There far more of a hinderance than good. If you take them away the people that are eating them now will do without unless they are willing to pay for the healthier wild salmon. I think most would choose to do without if they new what was in them. No doubt people were hoping they would take the preasure off wild salmon but the science is proving that they are hurting more than helping. Would be interesting to find out whether Puget Sound steelhead swim through Georgia Strait and whether they are effected by farms there.

Here's some more info.

B.C. sea lice infest juvenile sockeye and herring: report

The latest scientific report on sea lice off the British Columbia coast says an infestation near Campbell River fish farms has spread beyond pink and chum salmon to juvenile sockeye and herring.

The study, published online in the North American Journal of Fisheries Management, said the spread of lice will have devastating implications for these other marine species.

Researcher Alexandra Morton said the results were discovered during testing of 47,000 young wild salmon in 2005 and 2006.

When initial results showed lice infestations among sockeye and herring, Morton checked live fish populations, she said.

Older herring are prone to lice but this is the first documentation of lice on herring that have not yet formed scales, leaving the juveniles highly vulnerable, said Morton.

The sockeye in the study were not specifically identified as species from the Fraser River, but fish from those runs pass through the same waters, said Morton.

The study suggests lice may be able to account for last year's low sockeye returns on the Fraser River, she said.

Sea lice are small parasites that attach themselves to various marine animals. Two species are known to attach themselves to salmon.

They are known to affect farmed salmon populations and various studies in recent years have linked them to a decline in wild salmon populations.

They should just farm fish in ponds. Trout and catfish are fine.....

... or in CLOSED containments of other sorts.

Which seems awfully likely before too long, IMHO.

Here's a clip from an article showing locations of farms. My guess is that at least a few washington fish swim past these area's.

Didn't BC have a moratorium on licensing new farms? Seems like it expired recently.