Salmon farmers release fish health data
Since 2002, salmon farmers belonging to the B.C. Salmon Farmers Association (BCSFA)-which is the overwhelming majority of farms in B.C.- have provided detailed information about the health of their fish to a BCSFA- owned database, containing information about mortalities and causes, therapeutant usage, stocking and harvesting information and other data that could be of use to the industry itself and also provide information required to be reported to authorities. The information contained in the database has been subject to audits by provincial regulators, who in turn have been providing the Canadian public with results in an aggregate format, ensuring the confidentiality of individual farmers and their respective veterinarians.
Needless to say, many of the numerous environmental groups who are trying to get rid of the existing salmon farming industry in B.C. have for years been trying to get hold of this information in order to use any of it that could be useful in their fight against the industry. Much of their interest stems from the relentless campaign over the sea lice issue, where fingers have been pointed to the interaction between sea lice from farmed salmon and their impact on juvenile, wild salmon. Using these arguments, the Cohen inquiry into the plight of wild sockeye salmon that failed to show up in the Fraser River in 2009 was convinced to ask the industry for these data.
In the meantime, the largest run of sockeye salmon to the Fraser River in a hundred years show up, and a report by three independent scientists (one from Alaska, one from B.C. and one from California) provides evidence that there has been no relationship between the amount of sea lice on farms in the contentious Broughton Archipelago and the return of wild salmon to that area. Today’s release from the BCSFA makes one wonder why this information was not made available to the public much earlier;
Reams of data released to the Cohen Inquiry on the Fraser River Sockeye show good health and honest reporting on salmon farms in the province. On Friday, the BC Salmon Farmers Association released fish health data on 120 farms over a 10-year period, as per Justice Bruce Cohen’s ruling made in December as part of his Inquiry into the Decline of Sockeye Salmon in the Fraser River. “Bringing together this extensive amount of information has been a challenge – but it tells a good story about the good health of our fish and the strong management practices on our farms,” said Mary Ellen Walling, Executive Director of the BC Salmon Farmers Association. “We hope it will help Justice Cohen with the complex inquiry process that is underway.”
The information was ordered by the commission in early December 2010. Since then, the BC Salmon Farmers Association has been pulling together the data out of its Fish Health Database, which was established in mid-2002. Companies have been collecting available information from 2000 to that time. The data supports what has been reported publicly through the provincial government since the fish health database was established: that fish health standards on farms are very high, mortality rates are very low and there are no findings of exotic disease. “The precedent of this information release is certainly notable – the data within it clearly shows that the fish health plans are succeeding at protecting farmed fish, and by extension wild species, from significant health challenges,” said Walling.
