And again. They say it's the seals. When will they get it.

Impacts of salmon farming probed
Published: April 14, 2009 3:00 PM

The regular monthly meeting of the Comox Valley Naturalists Society will be held April 19 at 7 p.m. at the Florence Filberg Centre in Courtenay.

Ruby Berry will give a presentation on impacts of salmon farming on wild sockeye populations. This presentation will precede the regular business meeting. The general public is welcome.

Fraser River sockeye face many lethal challenges on their journey to the sea. Sea lice from fish farms shouldn’t be one of them. The Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform presents a video and slide show describing the devastating impact open net salmon farms may be having on these sockeye.

Recent studies have indicated that anywhere there are salmon farms, there is an abundance of sea lice, and as juvenile salmon pass by on their out-migration to sea, they contract the sea lice and are killed.

Besides chum and pink fry, juvenile sockeye and herring have also been found to be heavily infected with lice. According to the timing of collections in the northern part of Georgia Strait, the juvenile sockeye are likely of Fraser River origin.

Preliminary research has indicated that at least one-third of the out-migrating Fraser River salmon travel through northern Georgia Strait on the east coast of Vancouver Island on their way to the open ocean.

For more information on this issue, see www.georgiastrait.org or www.farmedanddangerous.

Comox Valley-based Ruby Berry is the Salmon Aquaculture Program co-ordinator for the Georgia Strait Alliance and a member of the Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform. Berry has many years of experience in social change and community development work on a wide variety of fronts, including several decades of dealing with fisheries issues and the environment on the West Coast.

For more information on CVNS, visit www.comoxvalleynaturalist.bc.ca.

— Comox Valley Naturalists Society

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