Sea Lice Counts High in Farms Again

April 30, 2004

Pink Salmon face Extinction in the Broughton

Don't miss Global TV's broadcast Saturday, May 1st, at 8:00 PM of the story of Alexandra Morton and her struggle to save the pink salmon in the Broughton Archipelago. Data that are slowly being released indicate the lice levels are too high in the salmon pens; as of April 29 counts for March are still not posted to the Ministry's site but they must be available. In response to Morton's warning that sea lice levels are worse than they were in 2001 when they led to the collapse of the pink salmon run, Fisheries Minister John Van Dongen said he was unaware of the problem but he'll look into her research. Van Dongen doesn't have to look any further than his ministry's website.

Government monitoring of fish "farms" show that for zone 3.3 (Broughton) on a salmon more than one year in seawater, the average number of adult female lice was 2.75 in October 2003, 2.42 in November 2003, 2.77 in December 2003, 4.57 in January 2004, and 1.7 in February 2004. It may look like a big improvement was made in February, but an average of 1.7 adult female lice per fish is more than three times higher than allowed by Norwegian regulations. Levels like that will wipe out the pink salmon run in the Broughton Archipelago. Of six zones where lice levels are monitored in February, only one had levels that were within the Norwegian standards. Most of the farms would face heavy fines if they were operating in Norway. In BC the danger is that the science will be denied while the wild runs are driven to extinction.

Also see http://www.raincoastresearch.org/home.htm

March 31, 2004

Lice Counts High in Farms Again!

On December 30th the Campbell government announced its sea lice strategy for 2004. It included mandatory monitoring of sea lice for all farms, not just those in the Broughton Archipelago. Results for that monitoring have finally been posted to the government's website; no news release accompanied the release of the information.

This year's report gives the number of adult female lice, but not the number of gravid lice. It can be assumed that all adult female lice are pregnant or about to be. Results for zone 3.3 (Broughton) shows that on a salmon more than one year in seawater, the average number of adult female lice was 2.75 in October 2003, 2.42 in November 2003, 2.77 in December 2003, and 4.57 in January 2004. On March 30th data for February had not been added to the website.

Since 1998 in Norway regulations provide consequences if the gravid count exceeds 0.5 gravid lice per fish during the sensitive spring session. No wonder the government quietly posted the lice count. The January 2004 numbers for zone 3.3 are 9 times higher than allowed in Norway. While zone 3.3 is the worst, the other zones also show levels that would not be tolerated in Norwegian waters.

The December news release said that the 2004 strategy would include "Scientific research and development into sea lice, including sea lice research programs under the auspices of the B.C. Aquaculture Research and Development Committee" and "Education and training in sea lice identification". On January 27 and 28, 33 people participated in a technical workshop on sea lice identification at North Island College Campbell River campus. Materials, including a 63.2 mb PowerPoint presentation, are available on the Ministry's website. The detailed 89 slides from Dr. Stewart Johnson included slide 63 that alleged "In general sea lice have not been a significant problem in British Columbia salmon culture." That slide also said that "Outbreaks of disease caused by sea lice have had significant economic impacts in rainbow trout and Atlantic salmon culture in Atlantic Canada - US$ 15 -18 million, 1994-95." Slide 80 spoke about the economic costs of sea lice for the farmed Atlantic salmon. It said that the Atlantics could suffer 0.5 to 1.0 kg of potential growth lost and result in treatment costs and less efficient "feed conversion".

It appears that the 2004 sea lice strategy focuses on managing the sea lice so as to minimize cost and maximize returns for the fish farms while ignoring the wild salmon. Someone needs to sound alarm bells over the number of adult female lice that are being found on salmon before the wild stocks take another hit from the concentrated reservoirs of lice known as fish farms.