North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization
(Please click on the red links to view the programmes: a real must.)
Peter,
I enjoyed your talked on the work NASCO does at the North Wales Fisheries Conference last Friday. It was good to hear that NASCO is considering the impact of salmon farming on wild fish stocks. I have watched the Alex Morton documentary on the effects of salmon fish farms in Canada (BC) and the subsequent Inquiry which was an eye opener on just how NGO’s suppress data and gag their own researchers, fortunately since Justin Trudeau has taken over as Prime Minster of Canada the block on researchers talking about their findings has been lifted, it will be interesting to see what the likes of Kristi Miller has to say now they are free to disclose their findings.
The lobbying by Alex Morton about the effects of fish farms finally seems to be getting the attention it deserves you can watch her documentary from this link (its 1 hour 10 min): www.youtube.com/watch?v=
There is a separate short video on a visit by Twyla Roscovich to Norway to talk to researchers: www.youtube.com/watch?v=
The films set out to paint a black picture of the effects on wild salmon from intensive fish farming and it has been severely criticised by the fish farming industry for inaccuracies. I have read the annual reports from Marine Harvest and noted that they have invested a considerable amount of money modifying the feed they use in an attempt to reduce disease in their fish, they would not have undertaken this major capital expenditure if all was well. I have also read some of the research papers on the effects of farmed salmon interbreeding with wild salmon, there are too many variables for any real conclusions on whether this is harmful or not.
I have an open mind on the salmon farming industry but the decline in wild salmon has accelerated as more salmon farms have been sited around the coast on the migration routes of salmon. Fish from Welsh rivers pass the West Coast Irish fish farms and may also pass close to some of the Scottish West Coast fish farms. The initial concerns on the effects from fish farms were all about sea lice infestations and the loss of sea trout in some Scottish Lochs, the focus now seems to have turned to pathogens/viruses emanating from fish farms. I am not in a position to make any informed opinion on the pathogens from fish farms and how these affect wild salmon but the theory seems to fit the effects we are seeing i.e. fewer salmon returning and many of those that do not surviving to spawn.
Year on year we are seeing more salmon dying before spawning, these are apparently healthy fish and do not appear to be showing signs of fungus. I have fished the Tweed at Tracquire for the last three days of the Tweed season for the past few years and have discussed why there are so many dead salmon with the Ghillie who said there are always fish which die before spawning but he is worried by the increasing numbers. Following a rise in water on the last Friday of the season several dead fish were washed past me and on Saturday morning I found what appeared to be a healthy cock fish being picked over by crows, this fish was in full spawning colours with no sign of fungus, if fish die before spawning catch and release will not help, I return all fish unless they are bleeding badly as a bleeding fish will not survive even if they swim away strongly, catch and release is not the answer. I have a week on the Scottish Dee in August and the reduction in the numbers of salmon over the past two years is worrying, this year there were no resident fish in the pools and the only fish we saw were grilse and summer salmon as they ran through the beat. We have been told by NRW/EA/SEPA that the only way to conserve salmon is to have compulsory catch and release; this merely treats the symptoms and not the cause, the Scottish Dee has been operating catch and release for 20 years and their fish stocks are declining at the same rate as other UK rivers.
In Wales NRW has forced the closure of their own and third party salmon and sea trout hatcheries despite there being no evidence of harm from well run mitigation hatcheries and in so doing have removed the most effective tool to mitigate for the decline in the recruitment of salmon.
It was interesting that you mention the problems associated with the Bay of Fundy so I have done some research – there are 96 salmon farms in the bay and this has, from what I have read, unbalanced the ecosystem in the bay, the effects are being seen in herring and sardines as well as salmon with some reports of lobsters also being affected.
Whether the fish farms are to blame is open to debate but they certainly don’t help!
We are likely to see a major expansion of salmon farms along the West Coast of Scotland as the Scottish Government see this as an industry they should support and yet according to the Marine Harvest 2014 Annual report the industry employs less than 500 FTE’s, this pales into insignificance when compared to the number of Ghillies on Scottish rivers and the revenue from anglers fishing for salmon and staying in hotels, wild salmon is far more valuable to the rural economy than farmed fish, most of which is exported.
I sincerely hope that NASCO can investigate the affect of fish farms on wild salmon populations and determine if they are the root cause of our declining Atlantic salmon stocks, fish farms may or may not be the cause but all the indicators point to them being a major contributor to the decline in wild fish stocks. Maybe fish farms should be forced to use closed containment and not open sea cages. Closed containment may be more costly than open sea cages but there are significant savings to be made from the reduction in the use of chemicals and antibiotics used at the moment, in one report it said that the loss of diseased salmon cost the industry circa $200M per year if closed containment prevents disease there is a saving to be made.
Regards
Chris White
On Behalf of the Campaign for the Protection of Welsh Fisheries (www.cpwf.co.uk )
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