September 29,  2020

No risk to wild stocks despite presence of Atlantic salmon farms off British Columbia, Canada

Atlantic salmon farms in the Discovery Islands off British Columbia, Canada, are of no significant threat to the health of wild stocks migrating through the area, a study has found.

This is the ninth report on the risk of pathogen transfer to Sockeye salmon from salmon farms in the Discovery Islands, which was released on September 28 amidst an activist campaign to eject fish farms from British Columbia oceans.

Eight previous studies also concluded that aquaculture farms pose no more than minimal risk of serious harm to the health of migrating Sockeye salmon, said Canada's Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

The latest study concluded that it is extremely unlikely that juvenile and adult Fraser River Sockeye salmon would become infected with VHSV  (viral haemorrhagic septicaemia virus Iva) released from farmed Atlantic salmon in the Discovery Islands area as Sockeye Salmon are not susceptible to VHSV.

"The magnitude of consequences to the abundance and diversity of Fraser River Sockeye Salmon are both estimated as negligible," stated the Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat (CSAS).

The government will now begin consultations with the Holmalco, Klahoose, Komoks, Kwiakah, Tla'amin, We Wai Kai (Cape Mudge) and Wei Wai Kum (Campbell River) First Nations about the aquaculture sites in the Discovery Islands. The information exchanged will inform the government's decision on whether or not to renew aquaculture licenses in the area, prior to the December 2020 deadline, DFO said in a statement.

"This government is committed to an area-based management approach to aquaculture, and we recognise the concerns raised by partners that these particular farms may not be the best fit for this location nor for the adjacent communities. We will be consulting with each First Nation within the Discovery Islands area, and the information and views they provide will inform my decision on whether or not to renew licences for these farms this December, and in the future," said Bernadette Jordan, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, in a statement.

Twenty British Columbia First Nations have partnership agreements for farming salmon in their territories resulting in 80% of all salmon farmed in British Columbia falling under a beneficial partnership with a First Nation.

Farmed Atlantic salmon is British Columbia's top international food export at $562 million playing a key role in the local and sustainable food supply, while supporting about 7,000 full-time, year-round jobs near rural and remote Vancouver Island, Central Coast and Sunshine Coast communities.

- SeaWestNews