Broughton Archipelago research study is vital part of process for the salmon fishery

A three million dollar research program currently in its second year will hopefully provide stakeholders in the BC Pacific Salmon Forum with a better understanding of the sea lice controversy currently raging within the farmed and wild salmon industries.

The Daily News outlined the steps that the Forum is taking in the final year of its program to try and bridge the gap between the two sides of the sometimes acrimonious debate.

The story was the front page item in Friday’s paper.

RESEARCHERS PLAN TO PUT SEA LICE UNDER MICROSCOPE IN '08
BC Pacific Salmon Forum says it will set up a special sea lice study centre
By Kris Schumacher
The Daily News
Friday, February 29, 2008
Pages one and three

In the midst of a media blitz by both conservationists and fish farm industry supporters, the BC Pacific Salmon Forum insists it is remaining neutral, and says the second year of its Broughton Archipelago research program is necessary to address further knowledge gaps and approaches in managing wild and farmed salmon.

The forum released plans for the final year of the two-year program, expected to be near $3 million in total, with efforts building collaboration between researchers and a range of funding partners.

Three broad categories of research identified in 2007 will be followed in 2008, which are quantifying fish and sea lice dynamics during the wild juvenile salmon out-migration period, further study of the impacts of sea lice on individual juvenile salmon and population dynamics of pink and chum salmon stocks.

"The first two years of Forum research showed that if we want to ensure the sustainability of wild salmon where salmon farming occurs, we need a better understanding of the complex working of coastal ecosystems," said Dr. Jon O'Riordan, research director with the BC Pacific Salmon Forum. "Our goal this year is to address some of the still unanswered key research questions that have emerged from our research to date, and build more sophisticated ecosystem-based models that will support improved approaches to sustainable salmon management."

Within their studies of sea lice, forum researchers will look at ocean patterns, larval sea lice behavior and development, as well as the effect of SLICE in reducing sea lice intensities on salmon farms and whether such reductions affect infestations on wild pink and chum salmon in the vicinity of fish farms. The biological effects of SLICE will also be studied. The forum says such studies will improve the understanding of sea lice population dynamics throughout the course of the juvenile salmon migration period and identify the sources of lice that infect wild juvenile salmon populations.

They will also be funding the establishment of a centre for sea lice identification at the Fisheries and Oceans Canada Biological Research Station in Nanaimo.

Through studies they hope to determine the levels at which sea lice will compromise the survival of individual juvenile salmon, both through laboratory work and field studies. Data from 2007 will be combined with 2008 to give an overview on the health status of out-migrating wild juveniles and better determine links between health and sea lice levels in those regions. The third group of studies will characterize the dynamics of pink and chum salmon populations in the Broughton and compare them to similar data from Bella Bella, and give a better overall understanding of both fresh and marine survival of some key Mainland Inlets systems for pink salmon.

"Because we are dealing with dynamic and complex ecosystems that include many factors, not simply sea lice, the forum will also bring together a broad range of researchers to develop a more complete analytical framework or model to incorporate the findings and emerging data of all investigators currently working in the region," said John Fraser, chair of the BC Salmon Forum.

"The forum believes this should result in a more robust modeling approach and provide a foundation for ecosystem based management in the Broughton Archipelago. This framework will also provide a basis for the incorporation of the data emerging from all of the forum-funded research since 2006."

A four year countdown to extinction for pink salmon in the Broughton Archipelago

They’re catching up on their reading in Victoria this week after a scathing report in Science magazine concluded that sea lice from salmon farms are putting pink salmon on the road to extinction in the Broughton Archipelago.

The report published last Friday, determines that if the sea lice infestation continues in that area of the coast, then 99 per cent of the pink salmon stocks will be gone within four years.

They call for immediate steps to stop open net cage salmon farming from harming the wild stocks and their concerns have been picked up by NDP opposition members and conservationists up and down the coast.

Science magazine offers the story up for members or those inclined to pay the ten dollars for their pay per view article, more info can be found by clicking on the link here.

The full story was found on the front page of Monday’s Daily News.

B. C. URGED TO ‘ACT NOW’ FOR THE GOOD OF OUR SALMON
Damning report in Science magazine links fish farms to collapse of stocks
By Kris Schumacher
The Daily News
Monday, December 17, 2007
Pages one and three

The provincial and federal governments need to respond immediately to a recent report that directly links fish farms to wild salmon extinction, say opposition members and conservationists.
The study was published in Friday’s edition of Science magazine and concludes that sea lice from salmon farms are responsible for the disappearing pink salmon populations in the Broughton Archipelago.

The report goes as far as to predict that 99 per cent of the wild pink stocks will be gone in four years if sea lice infestations continue.

North Coast MLA Gary Coons and Skeena MLA Robin Austin have been vocal about the dangers of open net cage farming since sitting on the Special Committee on Sustainable Aquaculture, which strongly recommended a complete move to closed containment systems.

“Salmon have disappeared at an alarming rate and this report puts the blame squarely on sea lice,” said Austin, NDP Fisheries Critic.

“The Campbell Liberals have turned a blind eye to previous research but it’s crucial they not ignore valid science any longer. We’re running out of time.

The peer-reviewed report states that 80 per cent of wild pink salmon stocks in the Broughton Archipelago have been wiped out during the last four years.

The team of biologists, fisheries scientists and mathematicians analyzed Fisheries and Oceans Canada data from 1970 to 2006 to determine the effect of sea lice infestations on wild pink populations returning to rivers on the central coast of British Columbia.

“In light of these results, it is clear that governments must take immediate precautionary action to stop open net-cage salmon farming from harming wild salmon,” said Jay Ritchlin, a David Suzuki Foundation marine conservation specialist.

“The evidence continues to be published in the most respected scientific journals, and the B. C. Legislature’s own Special Committee on Sustainable Aquaculture has called for a transition to closed systems. It is time to act.”

The study team from Dalhousie University and University of Alberta also reported that the impact of fish farms is far larger than that caused by commercial fisheries.

Previous studies have shown that wild juvenile salmon have almost no sea lice in areas without fish farms.

However, in the Broughton Archipelago, juvenile salmon must swim through an 80-kilometre stretch of fish farms on their migration route before they reach the ocean.

Even the use of chemical treatment has not been proved effective for protecting wild salmon, as shown by lice resistance to the chemicals in Europe and South America.

“Widespread use of chemical treatments just isn’t good environmental policy,” said Ritchlin. “The region needs to have the source of the lice infestations removed. We must get the toe open net-cage salmon farms out of the way of juvenile salmon and ultimately into closed tanks.”

Many residents and stakeholders on the North Coast have long been opposed to the introduction of fish farms in the region, and many see this report as further proof of the harm they pose to wild fish populations.

North Coast MLA Gary Coons says a ban on open net fish farms is needed not only for his constituency, but coast-wide in B. C.

“This government and the federal government must put resources into our wild salmon industry to protect it, not allow the destruction of migratory routes, spawning grounds and vital watersheds,” he said. “We need action now on the special committee recommendations to protect wild stocks, and move forward to make the aquaculture industry sustainable by a transition to ocean-based closed containment. We cannot delay any further.”