BC farmed salmon generally healthy
According to Dr Gary Marty, the main “fish doctor” at the Abbotsford Animal Health Centre, less than one per cent of Atlantic salmon in BC farms die from diseases that might be infectious to wild Pacific salmon.
But in true BC fashion, Dr Marty’s report, “Information Regarding Concerns about Farmed Salmon – Wild Salmon Interactions”, drew criticism from certain institutions and individuals well known for their dislike of the salmon farming industry.
A recent article in the Vancouver Sun by journalist Larry Pynn quoted professor emeritus Lawrence Dill from the Simon Fraser University stating that “the cause of death of most fish in fish farms is not determined”. However, a quick search of the matter finds the following information from the government of BC:
The Province established a comprehensive health management program for salmon aquaculture in 2001 and the Ministry has been verifying compliance and assessing performance of the program since October 2002. The Province’s Fish Health Program has been reviewed by independent epidemiologists on two occasions in 2006 – once by the non-profit Centre for Coastal Health, and a second time by AusVet Animal Health Services, an epidemiology consulting group. The Centre for Coastal Health stated in its evaluation: “The data collected as part of the B.C. Fish Health Audit and Surveillance Program exceed international standards to demonstrate freedom of disease and the level of fish health monitoring in BC is more comprehensive than in other parts of Canada and other salmon producing regions of the world.”
The provincial audit and surveillance program is recognized nationally and internationally as important and vital to trade, biosecurity and seafood sustainability. The program provides regulators and the public with a comprehensive understanding and confidence in the health status of salmon stocks raised on marine salmon farms in BC. The Ministry remains concerned with the broader consequences of releasing farm level data. Release of farm level data goes against internationally recognized best practice for audit and surveillance activities.
Some of the data collected and reported are:
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Average mortality rate for each species in each sub zone
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Proportional mortality rate by cause
- Fish health events
Dr Marty told the Vancouver Sun journalist that ...his conclusions are based on more than two decades of diagnostic veterinary pathology on thousands of wild and farmed salmon and trout, and that his report contained “606 reasons that informed my conclusions”.
