Page 40 THE QUODDY TIDES 10 April, 20t5
SALMON ISA AND ESCAPE REPORTS CAUSE CONCERN (from page 1)
cent ISA incident has occurred in New
Brunswick, one that is suspected to be
deadly to salmon.
"The CFIA website posting is inade-
quate, leaving many questions unan-
swered which could lead to further
speculation, whether warranted or not,"
says Jonathan Carr, ASF's executive di-
rector of Research and Environment. "Vir-
ulent forms of ISA can spread quickly in
the dense populations among salmon held
in great numbers in open-net pens. It can
spread in surrounding waters and can af-
fect not only wild Atlantic salmon but oth-
er species as well." In Maine, ISA
outbreaks in,the past had led to the state
ordering the removal of 1.5 million salm-
on in Cobscook Bay in January 2002 to
control the disease. Following the estab-
lishment of ISA management measures,
an infectious case of ISA has not been
detected at Maine fish farms since 2006.
Concerning the ASF's charges, Pamela
Parker, executive director of the Atlantic
Canada Fish Farmers Association, re-
sponds, "As far as I am concerned, the
Atlantic Salmon Federation is crying wolf
-- a tactic they use far too often." She
states, "Both the suspected case of ISA
and the escape event were reported pub-
licly, as per the regulations. I'm not exact-
ly sure how ASF thinks that anyone is
keeping people in the dark."
Parker says that the February update on
the CFIA website clearly states that the
virus strain is non-pathogenic ISA. "This
is actually quite common. Fish health vets
routinely monitor for ISA and report their
findings to the provincial veterinarian and
to our regulators, and CFIA publicly re-
ports on all testing results -- that's trans-
parency."
According to Parker, in March one cage
of fish was proactively removed when a
preliminary diagnosis indicated a positive
diagnosis for ISA. The company did not
wait for confirmation of a final diagnosis.
This case was reported to both levels of
government, and the removal was carried
out following approved standards of prac-
tice. "Aggressive testing continues on that
farm, and all tests are coming back nega-
tive," she says, adding thatCFIA and the
province continue to provide oversight.
CFIA will post information on this case as
soon as their testing is complete.
The New Brunswick Department of
Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fisheries
confirms that in the March ISA case the
farm voluntarily removed a cage of fish,
which were market-sized salmon. For the
February 15 ISA case, no further actions
were required due to the fact that this
strain of ISA did not cause infection or
mortality. The department's response
notes that it is not permitted to identify the
farms or the locations, in accordance with
privacy regulations. However, other fish
farmers were informed about the detec-
tion of ISA.
According to the department, the aviru-
lent form of ISA that does not cause fish
mortality has been detected from time to
time since 2007; however, the department
has not seen a case of virulent ISA since
2007. Concerning the risk to other fish
farms, the department states that the farm
with the potentially virulent form of ISA
is under quarantine and strict biosecurity
measures have been in place to mitigate
any potential risks.
Parker points out that farmed salmon
go into the water disease free; ISA is car-
ried by wild fish in this region. It is up to
the farmer to monitor the health of their
stock and to take action when they are
sick. "That's what happened," she says.
"The system worked, and it was all pub-
licly reported."
Concerning the escape of over 51,000
farmed.salmon from a pen site off Grand
Manan, which was discovered on January
28 and was Caused by the extreme weath-
er, Carr states, "I have been informed that
the farmed salmon were stocked in 2013,
which means that they were near market
size and over six kilograms when they
escaped. If they do survive and make it
into the rivers this year to spawn, there is
a high risk of genetic introgression, which
scientific studies have proven weakens the
gene pool and could compromise the fu-
ture survival of wild Atlantic salmon. This
is information that the public needs to be
made aware of."
According to Carr, escapee salmon
have been detected annually over the past
23 years in the Magaguadavic River, and
99% of those fish could not be linked to
any reported net-pen breach of contain-
ment events, so he believes that few es-
cape events have been reported. Escapees
have outnumbered wild salmon in all but
four years.
The Department of Agriculture, Aquac-
ulture and Fisheries, though, states that it
has provided support to groups like the
Atlantic Salmon Federation to help with
their river monitoring program to ensure
any potential breaches are collected at the
fish ladder and sent to the Department of
Fisheries and Oceans for disease screen-
ing. The department has also engaged the
ASF and other groups on improvements
to the governance structure for breaches
of containment.
Parker points out that preventing es-
capes "is a top priority for Atlantic salm-
on farmers. Salmon farmers do not want
to lose a single fish. Their fish are their
livelihood. The recent escape event was
the result of extreme weather and was re-
ported immediately."
"Mr. Carr and the ASF are well aware
that current regulation requires the report-
ing of fish escapes of more than 100 fish.
Our farmers are in fact going above and
beyond that. In 2014, we changed our
code of containment, and our farmers are
now voluntarily reporting all escapes or
suspected escapes from our farms. Con-
firmed escapes arethen communicated by
the regulator to several non-government
organizations, including the ASF."
The Department of Agriculture, Aquac-
ulture and Fisheries confirms that stake-
holders including the ASF as well as the
Department of Fisheries and Oceans, St.
Croix International Waterway and. the
State of Maine were informed of the
breach on February 2. However, the de-
partment is not permitted to identify to the
public the name of the farm or the loca-
tion.
Carr maintains, "There needs to be
more transparency and accountability
within the government and salmon aquac-
ulture industry. Code of containment prac-
tices must be improved to minimize risk
of fish escape and incidents of disease,
and these codes need to be put into legis-
lation and enforced. As long as salmon
are grown in sea cages there will always
be escapes, and diseases such as ISA and
parasites such as sea lice will continue to
be an issue because it's impossible to con-
trol the surrounding environment. The ob-
vious solution is the transition of the
aquaculture industry to land-based closed
containment operations, where escapes
and sea lice cannot occur and any disease
outbreak can be contained."
But Parker responds, "The regulations
overseeing salmon farming are rigorous.
They are being followed. The system is
working. There is more transparency in
salmon farming than any other food pro-
ducing sector. Mr. Carr is simply attempt-
ing to create an issue where one does not
exist."
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