Fish farm news

[rides bike to work]

On May 6, 2015 The Honourable Mr. Justice Rennie handed down the decision that DFO has been unlawfully allowing the salmon farming industry to transfer farmed salmon into marine net pens that are carrying diseases with the potential to 'severely impact' the wild fishery at an international level [72].


He ruled that DFO is abdicating its legal responsibility to protect and conserve wild fish by handing off decisions about transferring fish with diseases to the salmon farming industry [83].


Most BC farmed salmon are infected with piscine reovirus. Many scientists in Norway have published research showing that piscine reovirus causes the disease, HSMI, which is known to damage salmon hearts to the point that fish can barely move.




- See more at: http://alexandramorton.typepad.com/alexandra_morton/2015/05/we-won.html#sthash.oAKGWpVk.dpuf

The problem for the BC salmon farming industry is that most of the fish in their pens are infected with this virus. It is critical to them to be allowed to use piscine reovirus infected fish, because they don't have enough uninfected fish to be profitable.


However, since these infected farm fish are being placed on our wild salmon migration routes, by the millions the potential impact of this virus on wild salmon is critical to Canadians.


In my view government has tried to perpetuate a dangerous myth that this disease is no threat to BC's wild salmon.


The Honourable Justice Rennie on piscine reovirus


Justice Rennie made it clear that it is not really up to the courts to arbitrate on science, however, since the issue of whether pisine reovirus causes the disease HSMI was raised in this case that it had to be considered.


While it would seem a simple matter to just do the science to test this, let me just say it is not. It could be simple, but it is not.


Justice Rennie informs us that in his view, the science is convincing that PRV causes a disease that may be harmful to wild salmon and that it would be unreasonable not to expect that disease to follow the salmon farms industry into BC


...the weight of the expert evidence before this Court supports the view that PRV is the viral precursor to HSMI. [35]


...the evidence, suggests that the disease agent (PRV) may be harmful to the protection and conservation of fish, [45]


...it would be an unreasonable inference to draw from the evidence that it will not appear in farmed Atlantic salmon on the Pacific Coast. [57]


The evidence, suggests that the disease agent (PRV) may be harmful to the protection and conservation of fish, and therefore a “lack of full scientific certainty should not be used a reason for postponing measures to prevent environmental degradation” [45]


These are welcome words as we stand in a world facing critical degradation by ill-thought out human activity.


The judge had strong words for DFO:





The Minister of Fisheries pleaded that she was "guided by expert advisors" and that the licence conditions were based on "scientific criteria," but Justice Rennie noted that the Minister had said nothing about the science and furthermore he said:


The Minister sheltered behind Marine Harvest's evidence [37]


The point is that assertions made in order to bolster the reasonableness of the Minister’s exercise of discretion cannot be made without evidence. [38]


What the Minister cannot do is make unsupported statements of science.[39]


What a powerful statement that is. Not just an "unsupported statement", but an "unsupported statement of science." What is science that has no supporting material? The very definition of science is a systematically organized body of knowledge. Science without supporting evidence is junk, it is not science.





What does all this mean?


Because the weight of evidence suggests PRV causes disease [35], and because “there is no question that (HSMI) is a threat to aquaculture operations” [33], that the law prohibits such transfers.


This would mean the salmon farming industry has to either find disease-free fish or has to stop transferring the diseased farmed salmon into ocean net pens.


What actually happens next is anybody's guess, hopefully it will not mean that we are not allowed to know if farmed salmon are diseased or not. The Province of BC already considered passing a Bill with this power. How far will our federal and provincial governments go to protect this industry instead of Canadians? We have a ringside seat.


- See more at: http://alexandramorton.typepad.com/alexandra_morton/2015/05/we-won.html#sthash.oAKGWpVk.dpuf

[Spy]

Awesome news for our wild salmon ! They have 4 months to fix it, sadly its now that all the juvenile's are leaving the rivers, it should have been implemented immediately !

[fuzzybiscuit]

http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/showthread.php?117523-Courts-agree-the-wolf-shouldn-t-be-guarding-the-chickens&highlight=marine+harvest

There's a thread going on this already.

[wideopenthrottle]

"What actually happens next is anybody's guess, hopefully it will not mean that we are not allowed to know if farmed salmon are diseased or not. The Province of BC already considered passing a Bill with this power. How far will our federal and provincial governments go to protect this industry instead of Canadians? We have a ringside seat."

yes if they just cut the budget to the dept doing the testing down to say"$0" then there would be no evidence of disease in the fish..<couple of hand wipes> and they will say "problem solved".....but of course that wouldn't happen would it....http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/food-safety-workers-among-hardest-hit-by-harper-budget-cuts/article4099513/

[bigdogeh]

https://youtu.be/3scxcIDuEOo


this is a very good and informative video. I hope many here will watch it.
it's very sad that our government and these corporations won't even allow the public to sample these fish. If they were healthy they would have less to be concerned about. but it's pretty obvious they are trying to hide their complete mismanagement of our natural resources. shame on them. the public will eventually find out and the industry will hopefully die. hopefully before it's not too late for our wild salmon. Is there no-one higher up in our government involved with fisheries and farmed salmon with more than half a brain cell?
thxs alex and twyla and others that are helping spread the word of what's happening around our sacred coastal waters.

[Ozone]

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7Se7iswAanA/S73Ran5ODmI/AAAAAAAALI4/H6YCKIhgFbo/s400/TinFoilHatArea.jpg

[REMINGTON JIM]

DFO corruption :confused: who would of thought ? :frown: RJ

[Big Lew]

As has been witnessed so many times before, either this government will find a
loophole, tie everything up in delays and courts, or they will make new legistration
so they can continue assisting and protecting big business at the expense of us
and our future generations. In my opinion, a cow will jump over a blue moon before
they will willingly consider the environment or likely impacts their policies might
have for the future.

[DBM]

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7Se7iswAanA/S73Ran5ODmI/AAAAAAAALI4/H6YCKIhgFbo/s400/TinFoilHatArea.jpg

Lol. I used to be a fish farmer, I hear ya

[squeeze]

I'll throw on my tinfoil hat and wear it with pride! I'm still with the judge on this one! If the DFO needs court oversight to responsibly discharge its duty in protecting our wild stocks, then so be it! AND, by the way: Justice Cohen noted, in his report, the DFO's dual and conflicting roles of promoting aquaculture and conserving wild stocks was questionable, and likely incompatible.

Right on Alex M & Ecojustice!! Keep up the fight!!! Industry needs some stop signs.

[BigfishCanada]

Big Doeh, Im not saying your video is, but from what I have seen from Suzuki , videos seem to be always one sided and paints a darker picture in certain areas to get more impact out to the public.

I dont agree with fish farming, i think the country should invest in stream keepers and use our creeks and rivers to grow our fish, farm the creeks and you will see a larger return that pen fish.

I also dont know how detailed this court thing is but if I was the minister, i wouldnt be able to sleep at night if I knew farmed fish were dangerous to our system? I wonder if she knows wrong, turns a blind eye, or just believes what shes told?

[adriaticum]

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7Se7iswAanA/S73Ran5ODmI/AAAAAAAALI4/H6YCKIhgFbo/s400/TinFoilHatArea.jpg

Perhaps it's time you took yours off.

[Ozone]

Perhaps it's time you took yours off.
Actually today, I'm wearing the classic :)
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh127/SVTreasure/20150517_082730_zpsrkjyw12w.jpg (http://s255.photobucket.com/user/SVTreasure/media/20150517_082730_zpsrkjyw12w.jpg.html)

[lorneparker1]

So proud of his industry he wont even show his face!

lol

[Spy]

So proud of his industry he wont even show his face!

lol
Ha Ha lol :-)

[303savage]

The problem for the BC salmon farming industry is that most of the fish in their pens are infected with this virus. It is critical to them to be allowed to use piscine reovirus infected fish, because they don't have enough uninfected fish to be profitable

Whether an industry an industry is profitable or not shouldn't be up to the DFO.
Their mandate should be 'is it a hundred percent safe or harmless to the enviroment

[adriaticum]

Whether an industry an industry is profitable or not shouldn't be up to the DFO.
Their mandate should be 'is it a hundred percent safe or harmless to the enviroment

That should apply to every industry/business. But as we all know those who understand government want to buy more of it.

[bigdogeh]

the fact is they aren't even profitable without being subsidized by, you guessed it, BC taxpayers. it's almost criminal really. nor wonder they're such a fine fit with the lieberal gov...they make more profit by having diseased fish. read this please.

http://commonsensecanadian.ca/canadian-taxpayers-bail-norwegian-fish-farms-diseased-fish/

[adriaticum]

So we allow fish farming industry to bring atlantic salmon and raise it in the pacific nets and we don't allow the Chinese to bring northern snakeheads and carp for their aquariums and restaurants.
I guess they are invasive species, eh?
Who knew.
I can see a human rights case brewing.

[wideopenthrottle]

I'll throw on my tinfoil hat and wear it with pride! I'm still with the judge on this one! If the DFO needs court oversight to responsibly discharge its duty in protecting our wild stocks, then so be it! AND, by the way: Justice Cohen noted, in his report, the DFO's dual and conflicting roles of promoting aquaculture and conserving wild stocks was questionable, and likely incompatible.

Right on Alex M & Ecojustice!! Keep up the fight!!! Industry needs some stop signs.

keep the farms out of the migration routes of the wild salmon and better yet put them on land with a proper wastewater treatment system and there will be no conflicts...I think I read somewhere recently that we now consume more farmed fish than wild. http://www.earth-policy.org/plan_b_updates/2013/update114
wide

[Ozone]

Wow, the amount of bullshit in this thread astounds me. The stuff some of you believe is amazing.

[Mulehahn]

Wow, the amount of bullshit in this thread astounds me. The stuff some of you believe is amazing.

What BS in this thread are you referring to? I agree that most fish farm threads are questionable at best, but this one is pretty decent.

Do fish farm companies not pay huge amounts to government?
Do they not attempt to control the information about the diseases these fish have?

Yes, every company does this but does that make it right?

Are Atlantic Salmon not an invasive species here?

The DFO Mandate:
"To advance sustainable aquatic ecosystems and support safe and secure Canadian waters while fostering economic prosperity across maritime sectors and fisheries."

Their one vision places habitat above economic prosperity. If salmon farms are detrimental to native salmon the DFO is obligated to oppose them. How can a system be based on the police being beholden to those they are investigating?

[bigdogeh]

Wow, the amount of bullshit in this thread astounds me. The stuff some of you believe is amazing.


lol,
so far you've show a pic of a guy with a tinfoil hat and a pic of your hbc hat while you're standing on a fishfarm dock and you've made this comment. really informative. I learned something from that. guess I'll start supporting fish farms now...

[Ozone]

Bigdogeh,
I find there are many tinfoil hat people when it comes to salmon farming and believe all sorts of things from people that when they talk of grizzlies they don't believe them. Someone said I should take my tinfoil hat off and I found it funny that I was wearing my HBC hat at the time. If people really want, I could probably find a pic of my face, just let me know.

Here is a little report for your reading

http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/science/species-especes/aq-health-sante/prv-rp-eng.html
Piscine Reo-virus (PRV)Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) has received a number of inquiries regarding the presence of Piscine Reo-virus (PRV) on the Pacific Coast.
The Government of Canada has an internationally-recognized Aquatic Animal Health Program that focuses on the study of diseases and the identification of disease-causing agents. This program includes monitoring for the detection and treatment of known and emerging disease agents, and surveillance of pathogens reportable under the Health of Animals Act and Regulations (http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/h-3.3/). As the primary regulator for aquaculture in British Columbia (BC), DFO works closely with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (responsible for delivery of the National Aquatic Animal Health (http://www.inspection.gc.ca/animals/aquatic-animals/eng/1299155892122/1320536294234) Program) as well as with the aquaculture industry and other partners to identify and manage potential risks to the health of wild and farmed salmon.
A significant amount of research and science work has been and is continuing to be conducted regarding PRV. As a science-based Department, DFO draws both on existing scientific knowledge and conducts its own research and partners with others (such as Genome BC’s Strategic Salmon Health Initiative (http://www.genomebc.ca/research-programs/projects/fisheries-aquaculture/strategic-salmon-health-initiative/)) in researching reportable and emerging aquatic animal diseases.
The following summarizes DFO’s current scientific understanding related to PRV and Heart and Skeletal Muscle Inflammation (HSMI). This information, as well as new and emerging science, will continue to inform our approach to the management of both wild fisheries and aquaculture in BC.
Piscine Reo-virus (PRV) in Norway and InternationallyPiscine Reo-virus (PRV) is a double stranded ribonucleic acid (RNA) virus related to the Reoviridae group. This virus was first identified through sequencing of heart tissue obtained from Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar) farmed in Norway that displayed signs of two similar heart diseases, that is to say, Heart and Skeletal Muscle Inflammation (HSMI) and Cardiomyopathy Syndrome (CMS) (Palacios et al. 2010; Lovoll et al. 2010). While it has been demonstrated that fish with HSMI generally carry higher loads of PRV, clinically healthy wild and farmed Atlantic Salmon collected from fresh and saltwater in Norway can also contain high loads of PRV (Lovoll et al. 2012; Garseth et al. 2013). Although PRV is associated with HSMI in Atlantic Salmon farmed in Norway, PRV as a causative agent of HSMI or other disease conditions in those fish is still under investigation.
The disease HSMI was first observed by histology in 1999 in Atlantic Salmon farmed in Norway (Kongtorp et al., 2004). In Norway, the diagnosis of HSMI often occurs after fish have experienced a stressful event (Lovoll et al., 2012). The role of co-infection with other microbes and stress in the development of HSMI is not understood (Garseth et al., 2013). Injection of Norwegian Atlantic Salmon with tissue homogenates from fish diagnosed with HSMI has, across multiple studies (Biering and Garseth 2012), resulted in the formation of heart lesions associated with HSMI; however, a cause and effect relationship between PRV and HSMI in Atlantic Salmon farmed in Norway has not been established. Outside of Atlantic Salmon farmed in Norway, HSMI has only been reported in Atlantic Salmon farmed in Scotland (Ferguson et al., 2005). Histopathological examination of hundreds of fish has found no evidence to date of HSMI in wild or farmed fish on the West Coast of North America.
PRV has, to date, not been cultured in cells and its presence in tissues can be detected only by molecular methods (e.g. RT-PCR; Palacios et al., 2010) or by immunohistochemistry (Finstad et al. 2012). As PRV can be observed at high levels in Atlantic Salmon returning to spawn in freshwater, without any signs of disease, the detection of PRV by either of these methods cannot be alone used as a diagnosis for the disease HSMI (Garseth et al. 2013). The diagnosis of HSMI requires histological examination of changes in heart and skeletal muscle. (Refer to Eirik Biering and Åse Helen Garseth’s Heart and skeletal muscle inflammation (HSMI) of farmed Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) and the associated Piscine reovirus (PRV)).
PRV is known to be present in Norway, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Chile, the United States and Canada (Biering and Garseth 2012, Kibenge et al. 2013). This virus has been found in a variety of species of salmonid and non-salmonid fish. In North Atlantic waters these include farmed and wild Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar), wild Sea-Trout (Salmo trutta), wild Great Silver Smelt (Argentina silus), wild Atlantic Horse Mackerel (Trachurus trachurus), wild Atlantic Herring (Clupea harengus) and wild Capelin (Mallotus villosus) (Wiik-Nielson et al. 2012; Garseth et al. 2013).
Piscine Reo-virus (PRV) on the West Coast of North AmericaPRV was first detected on the West Coast of North America through RT-PCR tests from farmed Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) collected in British Columbia (K.M. Miller [Aquaculture Collaborative Research and Development Program project “Genomic characterization of jaundice-associated mortality events in cultured Chinook Salmon” conducted from 2011-2012]). Since that time, additional survey work through various labs and agencies in Canada and the United States has expanded the known host range of PRV to include: wild Cutthroat Trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii), wild Chinook Salmon, wild Sockeye Salmon (O. nerka), wild Steelhead Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), wild Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch), wild Chum Salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) and farmed Atlantic Salmon. These species have all tested positive for PRV through molecular testing.
Genomic sequencing of PRV from British Columbia revealed some genetic differences when compared to PRV from the North Atlantic and Chile (Kibenge et al. 2013). Based on an analysis of these genetic differences, these authors proposed that PRV first arrived in British Columbia from Norway in 2007, give or take one year. However, recent testing of archived samples held by DFO’s Aquatic Animal Health Section has revealed that PRV has been present in salmonids on the Pacific Coast of North America for a much longer time than reported in that paper (archival material from 1988 through to 1994 was found to be positive for PRV through molecular screening).
As the role of PRV in the aquatic ecosystem is not well understood, DFO scientists, along with provincial and international colleagues, are conducting investigations to better understand the biology of PRV in wild and farmed salmon on the West Coast of North America. Examples include studies assessing the association between PRV infection and spawning success of Sockeye Salmon in the Fraser River and the potential association of PRV with disease in Pacific salmon.
As mentioned above, HSMI has only been reported in Atlantic Salmon farmed in Norway and Scotland, and while there is agreement in the scientific literature that PRV is found in association with HSMI in Norwegian farmed Atlantic Salmon, a cause and effect relationship has not been established. Histopathological examination of hundreds of fish has found no evidence to date of HSMI in wild or farmed fish on the West Coast of North America. Accordingly, while PRV has been identified on the West Coast of North America in both wild Pacific and farmed Atlantic and Pacific salmonids, there are no indications that PRV is associated with or causative of HSMI on the West Coast of North America.

[Ozone]

and the references (because the first post was to long)

ReferencesBiering E, Garseth AH. 2012. Heart and Skeletal Muscle Inflammation (HSMI) of Farmed Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar L.) and the Associated Piscine Reovirus (PRV). In: Feist S, editor. ICES Identification Leaflets for Diseases and Parasites of Fish and Shellfish. Copenhagen: International Council for the Exploration of the Sea; p. 6.
Finstad, OW, Falk K, Lovoll M, Evensen O, and Rimstad R. 2012. Immunohistochemical Detection of Piscine Reovirus (PRV) in Hearts of Atlantic Salmon Coincides with the Course of Heart and Skeletal Muscle Inflammation (HSMI). Veterinary Research. 43: 27.
Ferguson HW, Kongtorp RT, Taksdal T, Graham D, and Falk K. 2005. An Outbreak of Disease Resembling Health and Skeletal Muscle Inflammation in Scottish Farmed Salmon, Salmo salar L., with Observations on Myocardial Regeneration. Journal of Fish Diseases 28:119-123.
Garseth AH, Fritsvold C, Opheim M, Skjerve E and Biering E. 2013. Piscine Reovirus (PRV) in Wild Atlantic Salmon, Salmo salar L., and Sea-Trout, Salmo trutta L., in Norway. Journal of Fish Diseases 36,483-493.
Kibenge MJT, Iwamoto T, Wang Y, Morton A, Godoy MG and Kibenge F. 2013. Whole-Genome Analysis of Piscine Reovirus (PRV) Shows PRV Represents a New Genus in Family Reoviridae and its Genome Segment S1 Sequences Group it into Two Separate Sub-Genotypes. Virology Journal 10:230.
Kongtorp RT, Taksdal T, Lyngøy A. 2004. Pathology of Heart and Skeletal Muscle Inflammation (HSMI) in Farmed Atlantic salmon Salmo salar. Diseases of Aquatic Organisms 59:217-224.
Løvoll M, Wiik-Nelson J, Grove S, Wiik-Nelson C, Kristoffersen AB, Faller R, Poppe T, Jung J, Pedamallu CS, Nederbragt AJ, Meyerson M, Rimstad E and Tengs T. 2010. A Novel Totivirus and Piscine Reovirus (PRV) in Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar) with Cardiomyopathy Syndrome (CMS). Virology Journal 7:309.
Løvoll M, Allercon M, Jensen BB, Taksdal AB, Kristoffersen AB, and Tengs T. 2012. Quantification of Piscine Reovirus (PRV) at different stages of Atlantic salmon Salmo salar production. Diseases of Aquatic Organisms 99:7-12.
Palacios G, Lovoll M, Tengs T, et al. 2010. Heart and Skeletal Muscle Inflammation of Farmed Salmon is Associated with Infection With a Novel Reovirus. PLOS One 5(7): e11487.
Wiik-Nielsen CR, Løvoll M, Sandlund N, et al. 2012. First Detection of Piscine Reovirus (PRV) in Marine Fish Species. Diseases of Aquatic Organisms. 97:255-258.

[Red arch]

So we allow fish farming industry to bring atlantic salmon and raise it in the pacific nets and we don't allow the Chinese to bring northern snakeheads and carp for their aquariums and restaurants.
I guess they are invasive species, eh?
Who knew.
I can see a human rights case brewing.

Atlantic Salmon are poor competitors to Pacific Salmon, want proof of this take a look at the stocking records from 1905. 3 Waterbodies in the LML all of which had access to the ocean. (Harrison, Stave, Coquitlam). Not a single one has an Atlantic salmon in it today.

http://www.gofishbc.com/fish-stocking-reports/archive-reports/ReportOutputResult.aspx?StockSpecies=Atlantic%20Sa lmon&StockStrains=all&StockGenotypes=all&FishStages=all&Region=LOWER%20MAINLAND&Town=all&Waterbody=all&&YearFrom=1896&YearTo=1905

As for the others, Snakeheads are able to thrive in low oxygen scenarios, and are extremely predacious. This could have implications on non-sport fish and amphibians. As for the carp, look at the Mississippi river. These are more a threat then the odd escaped atlantic salmon on the Invasive side of things.

[Ozone]

More reading for you

http://www.marineharvest.ca/globalassets/canada/pdf/other-pdfs/piscine-reovirus-prv-information-sheet_gary-marty_2013.pdf
1
Piscine Reovirus Information Sheet
By Gary D. Marty, D.V.M., Ph.D.
Fish Pathologist Animal Health Centre, BC Ministry of Agriculture 1767 Angus Campbell Rd. Abbotsford, BC, V3G 2M3 604-556-3123
August 6, 2013
Bullets:

Heart and Skeletal Muscle Inflammation (HSMI) is a disease that affects farmed Atlantic salmon in Europe. Research is ongoing, but the cause of HSMI remains unknown.

Some scientists think that piscine reovirus (PRV) might be the cause of HSMI, but this hypothesis has not been confirmed.

In Europe, the virus PRV is common in wild and farmed Atlantic salmon that have no evidence of the disease HSMI.

In BC, PRV is common in farmed Atlantic salmon and farmed Pacific salmon, but HSMI does not occur in BC.

A PCR-positive test result for piscine reovirus does not mean that the fish have the disease HSMI; it only means that a segment of the virus (PRV) was detected in the fish.

Diagnosing the disease HSMI requires histopathology.

In 2010 the BC Ministry of Agriculture developed two PCR tests for PRV. Test validation revealed that piscine reovirus occurred in about 80% of farmed Atlantic salmon with and without unexplained heart disease. This is evidence that PRV is not the cause of unexplained heart disease.

In all of our validation testing, the samples with the most abundant PRV were from live fish sampled and submitted as "No visible lesions; pre-move fish health check"; histopathology confirmed that these fish had no heart lesions of concern.

When viruses do not cause disease, they are not a threat to wild salmon.

Published scientific study of 200 wild juvenile pink salmon in BC (sampled in 2008) found no evidence of PRV or HSMI (Saksida et al. 2012).

Published scientific study of wild Atlantic salmon in Norway found abundant PRV in some fish, but no HSMI by histopathology (Garseth et al. 2013).

Published scientific study of BC salmonids did not report evidence of disease in any of the fish that tested positive for piscine reovirus; the study reported PRV sequences from 10 farmed Atlantic salmon, one farmed steelhead, two wild cutthroat trout, and one wild chum salmon smolt (Kibenge et al. 2013).

[Ozone]

2
　

PRV commonly infects farmed Chinook salmon in BC, including fish that have jaundice syndrome. When tissues from farmed Chinook salmon with jaundice syndrome were injected into fish that did not have PRV, the recipients did not develop jaundice syndrome (Garver et al. 2013). This is good evidence that PRV is not the cause of jaundice syndrome in Chinook salmon.

Consistent farm fish production levels in BC for the past several years are good evidence that BC farmed salmon have no serious new diseases.
Background:
When piscine reovirus was first associated with HSMI in farmed Atlantic salmon in Norway (Palacios et al. 2010), I was intrigued but skeptical. Reoviruses got their name because many are "
respiratory and enteric orphans". They are called "orphans" because many are viruses without a disease. For example, according to recently retired BC Animal Health Centre veterinary virologist, Dr. John Robinson, 80 - 100% of healthy Fraser Valley broilers (chickens) at the processing plant would be positive for intestinal reovirus (similar to but different from PRV): the reovirus is very common in chickens but it is not associated with disease.
In farmed salmon, scientists concluded that "PRV is almost ubiquitously present in Atlantic salmon marine farms, and
detection of PRV alone does not establish an HSMI diagnosis" [emphasis mine] (Finstad et al. 2012). That means that without evidence of disease, the fact that fish have PRV cannot be used to prove anything about the risk to farmed or wild salmon.
The same thing seems to be occurring in farmed salmon in BC. The virus is common, but it is not associated with any disease.
The first piscine reovirus paper was published on July 9, 2010 (Palacios et al. 2010), and just 40 days later the BC Animal Health Centre had two qPCR tests for piscine reovirus ready for validation. By October 25, 2010, we had tested 146 pooled samples from 539 farmed Atlantic salmon. The samples were from 76 government audits of recently dead fish (n = 402) on the salmon farms and 137 fish that had been submitted directly from farm veterinarians, most of which were for health screening before transfer. The PRV prevalence was about 80% in all three groups of interest: audits with fish that died of unexplained heart disease (4 of 5 audits), audits with no fish that died of unexplained heart disease (56 of 71 audits), and direct submissions from salmon farms, none of which died of unexplained heart disease. We concluded that PRV is common among farmed Atlantic salmon in British Columbia, but PRV is not associated with any cause of mortality, including unexplained heart disease (Marty and Bidulka 2013).
As part of my work as the fish pathologist for the BC Ministry of Agriculture, I examine hundreds of salmon that die on the fish farms every year. I am very interested in finding new diseases (that’s one reason I was hired), but so far we don’t seem to have HSMI in BC. 3
Annual farm fish production in BC has been very consistent for the past several years. This is good evidence that we have no serious new disease in BC farmed salmon:
http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/omfd/fishstats/graphs-tables/farmed-salmon.html
Literature Cited:
Finstad, O.W., Falk, K., Lovoll, M., Evensen, O., and E. Rimstad. 2012. Immunohistochemical detection of piscine reovirus (PRV) in hearts of Atlantic salmon coincide with the course of heart and skeletal muscle inflammation (HSMI). Veterinary Research 2012, 43:27.
Garseth, Å. H., Fritsvold, C., Opheim, M., Skjerve, E., and E. Biering. 2013. Piscine reovirus (PRV) in wild Atlantic salmon,
Salmo salar L., and sea-trout, Salmo trutta L., in Norway. Journal of Fish Diseases 36: 483–493.
Garver, K.A., J. Richard, B. Bennett, L. Hawley, S. Cockburn, S. Saksida, G.D. Marty, and M.J. Higgins. 2013. Transmission studies with yellow jaundice syndrome fish and associated findings of piscine reovirus (PRV) in Chinook salmon from the west coast of British Columbia. Annual Meeting of the Fish Health Section of the American Fisheries Society. Port Townsend, Washington, USA. June 2013. Abstract.
Kibenge, M.J.T., T. Iwamoto, Y. Wang, A. Morton, M.G. Godoy, and F.S.B. Kibenge. 2013. Whole-genome analysis of piscine reovirus (PRV) shows PRV represents a new genus in family Reoviridae and its genome segment S1 sequences group it into two separate sub-genotypes. Virology Journal 10:230.
Marty, G.D., and J. Bidulka. 2013. Piscine reovirus (PRV) is common but unrelated to disease among farmed Atlantic salmon in British Columbia. Annual Meeting of the Fish Health Section of the American Fisheries Society. Port Townsend, Washington, USA. June 2013. Abstract.
Palacios, G., Lovoll, M., Tengs, T., Hornig, M., Hutchison, S., Hui, J., Kongtorp, R.T., Savji, N., Bussetti, A.V., Solovyov, A., Kristoffersen, A.B., Celone, C., Street, C., Trifonov, V., Hirschberg, D.L., Rabadan, R., Egholm, M., Rimstad, E. and Lipkin, W.I. 2010. Heart and skeletal muscle inflammation of farmed salmon is associated with infection with a novel reovirus. PloS One 5(7), e11487.
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[bigdogeh]

that's much better ozone. I knew if I pushed you a bit you could come up with something a bit better than a tinfoil hat pic...
the jist of your argument seems to be that it hasn't been proven that one disease causes the other... so because it hasn't been proven, therefore it must be safe to have smolts migrate through infected fish... but you do agree that many and in some cases most atlantic salmon being farmed on our coast carry disease.
here are some cut and pastes directly from your argument.


"Although PRV is associated with HSMI in Atlantic Salmon farmed in Norway, PRV as a causative agent of HSMI or other disease conditions in those fish is STILL UNDER INVESTIGATION."

"As the role of PRV in the aquatic ecosystem is NOT WELL UNDERSTOOD, DFO scientists, along with provincial and international colleagues, are conducting investigations to better understand the biology of PRV in wild and farmed salmon on the West Coast of North America. Examples include studies assessing the association between PRV infection and spawning success of Sockeye Salmon in the Fraser River and the potential association of PRV with disease in Pacific salmon."

"Heart and Skeletal Muscle Inflammation (HSMI) is a disease that affects farmed Atlantic salmon in Europe. Research is ongoing, but the cause of HSMI REMAINS UNKNOWN."



so we have diseases in these fish that according to your argument are "still under investigation", "remains unknown" and "not well understood"



basically we have DFO (government) in support of fish farms and fish farm scientists (marine harvest) saying that these diseases are nothing to worry about and most independent scientists saying the opposite.



thankfully the judge was able to cut through the BS

"...the weight of the expert evidence before this Court supports the view that PRV is the viral precursor to HSMI. [35]
...the evidence, suggests that the disease agent (PRV) may be harmful to the protection and conservation of fish, [45]
...it would be an unreasonable inference to draw from the evidence that it will not appear in farmed Atlantic salmon on the Pacific Coast. [57]
The evidence, suggests that the disease agent (PRV) may be harmful to the protection and conservation of fish, and therefore a “lack of full scientific certainty should not be used a reason for postponing measures to prevent environmental degradation” [45]
The Minister sheltered behind Marine Harvest's evidence [37]
The point is that assertions made in order to bolster the reasonableness of the Minister’s exercise of discretion cannot be made without evidence. [38]
What the Minister cannot do is make unsupported statements of science.[39]"




the risk of having fish farms on our coast and especially on our salmon spawning migration routes should never have been taken in the first place.


go back to the first post in this thread and show me something that is in your words BS if you can. just curious as it seems fairly straightforward to me... but I'm not supported by the fish farm industry... although my tax dollars seem to be doing a pretty good job propping it up....

[adriaticum]

Atlantic Salmon are poor competitors to Pacific Salmon, want proof of this take a look at the stocking records from 1905. 3 Waterbodies in the LML all of which had access to the ocean. (Harrison, Stave, Coquitlam). Not a single one has an Atlantic salmon in it today.

http://www.gofishbc.com/fish-stocking-reports/archive-reports/ReportOutputResult.aspx?StockSpecies=Atlantic%20Sa lmon&StockStrains=all&StockGenotypes=all&FishStages=all&Region=LOWER%20MAINLAND&Town=all&Waterbody=all&&YearFrom=1896&YearTo=1905

As for the others, Snakeheads are able to thrive in low oxygen scenarios, and are extremely predacious. This could have implications on non-sport fish and amphibians. As for the carp, look at the Mississippi river. These are more a threat then the odd escaped atlantic salmon on the Invasive side of things.

Is that why the DFO wants all Atlantic salmon in the pacific killed?
Because they are poor competitor?