Salmon-Killing Virus Found in BC

New York Times writers Cornelia Dean and Rachel Nuwer reported on Oct. 18, 2011 that “a lethal and highly contagious marine virus has been detected for the first time in wild salmon in the Pacific Northwest, researchers in British Columbia said on Monday, stirring concern that it could spread there as it has in Chile, Scotland and elsewhere.”

Called infectious salmon anemia (isa), the virus, which has its origin in Europe, has devastated fish net-pen farms in Chile, but until now it had never been detected on the West Coast of North America, despite the rapid growth of net-pen aquaculture in British Columbia and the importation of millions Atlantic salmon eggs by the aquaculture industry over the past 25 years, primarily from Scandinavia and Iceland. The virus was detected in two young sockeye in a study of juvenile sockeye salmon in Rivers Inlet, B.C., undertaken following a decline in young sockeye there. Richard Rutledge, an environmental scientists at Simon Fraser University who leads the study, said he believes the virus spread from the aquaculture industry and that it could have “a devastating impact” not just on the region’s farmed and wild salmon but on the many species that depend on them in the food web, like grizzly bears, killer whales and wolves. He said “No country has ever gotten rid of it once it arrives.” He said that no connection has been made between the imported salmon eggs and the two infected sockeye young (captured some 60 miles from the nearest net-pens) but the isa virus discovered in them was of the European strain.

Alexandra Morton, a research scientist and activist who has specialized in studies on the threatening impacts of net-pen aquaculture on native wild-salmon fisheries in British Columbia (Ross Purnell’s story in the Feb/March issue 2012 issue of Fly Fisherman) , and who collected the Rivers Inlet sockeye samples, called the isa discovery ”a cataclysmic threat” to both salmon and herring, which can also contract it. James Winton, leader of the health research group at the Western Fisheries Research Center in Seattle, an arm of USGS, described the isa discovery as a “disease emergency” and called for immediate research on how far the virus may have spread. According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention isa morphed from a benign form in nature into a “novel virulent strain” when salmon stocks entered Norway’s densely packed salmon farms. Rather than getting picked off by a predator, a sick fish would undergo a slow death in a crowded pen, shedding virus particles.

On March 27, 2008 The New York Times reported that isa had killed “millions of salmon cultivated for export by Chile’s salmon-farming industry.” The report said that since July, 2007 the Norwegian company Marine Harvest had closed 14 of its 60 Chilean fish-farming centers and laid off 1,200 workers. Isa has been found in farmed salmon from Puerto Montt south to Aysen Province. In an attempt to halt the spread of isa, Chilean fish farms have increased their use of antibiotics, in some cases to from 70 to 300 times the amounts used by Norwegian fish farmers to produce one ton of salmon. Fish farming in Chile has few regulations compared to Norway, where Atlantic salmon farming began in the 1970s in the 51,500 miles of coastal shoreline, and where science-based regulations have multiplied, including stiff licensing requirements that include a 97.5% swim area per netpen. Nevertheless, environmental critics point out that the spread of isa to North America likely came from Norway in eggs sold to fish-farms here. The virus has been found in fish farms from Norway to the Faeroe Islands and Ireland. Over 35 million salmon were being raised in fish farm nets in Chile by 2007 and the industry had a meteoric eightfold growth since 1990, employing as many as 50,000 perople

The reports and reactions by fish scientists have caused a firestorm of “I told you so” accusations from sports writers, environmentalists, scientists, and sport and commercial fishermen around the Northwest. The following links contain examples of the concern and opinions that the isa discovery has generated:

“Deadly salmon virus raises concerns in US, Canada” (Business
Week/Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 19th October): http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9QF0NBG0.htm and
http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Deadly-salmon-virus-raises-concerns-in-Wash-2224582.php

“Ottawa must close all open-pen salmon farms” (The
Daily News, 19th October): http://www.canada.com/Ottawa+must+close+open+salmon+farms/5572035/story.html

“Salmon farm installs netting to limit need to shoot invading animals”
(Vancouver Sun/Times Colonist, 19th October): http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Salmon+farm+installs+netting+limit+need+shoot+invading+animals/5572572/story.html

“Norwegian salmon banned from Russia” (Barents Observer, 19th October):
http://www.barentsobserver.com/norwegian-salmon-banned-from-russia.4974518-16175.html

“$500,000 for two nets at farm sites” (The Courier-Islander, 18th
October): http://www.vancouversun.com/business/nets+farm+sites/5572084/story.html

“Infectious Salmon Anaemia: hear from a researcher who found a new and
potentially devastating disease in Canadian salmon” (CBC, 18th October): http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/Radio/Local_Shows/Maritimes/Information_Morning_(NS)/2035075335/ID=2156340633

“Scientists to survey Northwest waters for alarming salmon virus” (NPR,
18th October): http://www.kplu.org/post/scientists-survey-northwest-waters-alarming-salmon-virus

“Des saumons du Pacifique infectés par un virus de souche européenne”
(CBC Radio Canada, 18th October): http://www.radio-canada.ca/nouvelles/science/2011/10/18/004-saumon-pacifique-virus.shtml

“Deadly Flu-Like Salmon Farm Disease Jumps to Wild: Lethal and
devastating disease detected in wild Pacific Northwest salmon for the first
time” (Take Part, 18th October): http://www.takepart.com/article/2011/10/18/deadly-flu-salmon-farm-disease-jumps-wild

“New
Democrats call for answers on salmon virus” (NDP, 18th October): http://www.bcndpcaucus.ca/en/new_democrats_call_for_answers_on_salmon_virus?mid=5080512

“Question Time: ‘ What is the government doing to investigate this
serious threat to our salmon fishery?’” (Hansard: Fin Donnelly MP in the House
of Commons in Canada, 18th October): http://www.findonnelly.ca/

“Deadly salmon virus
raises concerns in US, Canada” (ABC News/Associated Press/Washington Post/CBS,
18th October): http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/deadly-salmon-virus-raises-concerns-us-canada-14765021

“Aquaculture Follow: a second opinion on whether fish farms can be
linked to salmon diseases. B.C. fish pathologist Gary Marty clarifies his own
research” (CBC, 18th October): http://www.cbc.ca/informationmorningns/2011/10/18/acquaculture-follow/

“Wild
Fish Conservancy Response to ISAv Detection in B.C.” (Wild Fish Conservancy/Fly
Rod & Reel, 18th October): http://www.flyrodreel.com/blogs/tedwilliams/2011/october/conservancy-detection

“Deadly salmon virus raises concerns in Wash.”
(Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 18th October): http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Deadly-salmon-virus-raises-concerns-in-Wash-2224582.php

“Red flags raised over yellow salmon” (Chilliwack Progress, 18th
October): http://www.bclocalnews.com/news/132061188.html

“Is
the company behind GMO salmon the next Solyndra?” (Grist, 18th October): http://www.grist.org/food/2011-10-18-is-the-company-behind-ge-salmon-the-next-solyndra

“Senators Begich and Murkowski take action against ‘Frankenfish’”
(Alaska Native News, 18th October): http://alaska-native-news.com/article/Breaking_News/Breaking_News/Senators_Begich_and_Murkowski_Take_Action_Against_Frankenfish/23456

“Feinstein signs on to bill banning Frankenfish” (Indy Bay Media, 18th
October): http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2011/10/18/18694085.php

“Salmon poisoning case slips through the net” (The Shetland Times, 18th
October): http://www.shetnews.co.uk/news/1984-salmon-poisoning-case-slips-through-the-net.html

“Legal action against Shetland fish farm abandoned: Scottish Government
drops a legal claim against Hoganess Salmon after more than 20,000 fish died
suddenly” (STV, 18th October): http://news.stv.tv/scotland/highlands-islands/275189-legal-action-against-shetland-fish-farm-abandoned/

“Deadly
Human-Instigated Virus Now Found In Wild Salmon” (The Gothamist, 18th October):
http://gothamist.com/2011/10/18/deadly_human-instigated_virus_now_s.php

Including a parliamentary question in the House of Commons in
Canada yesterday from Fin Donnelly MP (NDP Fisheries Critic) to the Minister of
Fisheries Keith Ashfield:

“Mr. Speaker, infectious salmon anemia has
been diagnosed in sockeye smolts in the Pacific. This is the same virus that
infected and wiped out almost 70% of farmed salmon in Chile. We do not know the
long-term effects on wild salmon or how long this virus has been present in the
Pacific waters. What is the government doing to investigate this serious threat
to our salmon fishery?”

And the non-reply from the Minister of
Fisheries:

“Mr. Speaker, our government understands the importance of
salmon for British Columbia economically, historically and culturally. That is
why the Prime Minister established the Cohen Commission of Inquiry in 2009. I
encourage the member to support the work of Justice Cohen and the Cohen
Commission”

And from Wild Fish Conservancy in
Washington:

“Halt and fallow net pen aquaculture farms in British
Columbia until the testing results are known. Current fish production at sites
that test positive for ISAv should be humanely destroyed to prevent transfer of
the virus to other stocks and species of native fish”

Listen to
CBC with an interview with Professor Rick Routledge of Simon Fraser University:
http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/Radio/Local_Shows/Maritimes/Information_Morning_(NS)/2035075335/ID=2156340633

Listen to NPR radio featuring Dr. Jim Winton of the Western Fisheries
Research Center lab in Seattle: http://www.kplu.org/post/scientists-survey-northwest-waters-alarming-salmon-virus

For more background on the global spread of ISA read “ISA: Diary
of Disease Disaster” and “Fish Farmageddon: The Infectious Salmon Aquacalypse”:
http://www.wildsalmonfirst.org/fish-farmageddon-infectious-salmon-aquacalypse

The official report of ISA in British Columbia, by Dr. Fred Kibenge at
the OIE Reference Laboratory at Atlantic Veterinary College at the University of
Prince Edward Island, is now available online here <http://www.wildsalmonfirst.org/sites/default/files/files/OIE%20report%20by%20Kibenge(1).pdf>

Watch “Scotland’s Fishy Secrets” (in the UK
only so far): http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b016435r/BBC_Scotland_Investigates_2011_Scotlands_Fishy_Secrets/

Best
fishes,

Don

Business Week/Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 19th October
2011

Deadly salmon virus raises concerns in US,
Canada

By
PHUONG LE

<http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Deadly-salmon-virus-raises-concerns-in-Wash-2224582.php#next>

Scientist technician
Laurie Niewolny places kidney and spleen samples from a chinook salmon into a
centrifuge as she preps them to be tested for viruses at the Washington Dept. of
Fish and Wildlife virology and bacteriology lab Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2011, in
Olympia, Wash. Scientists in Washington state are concerned about a deadly,
contagious virus recently detected in wild salmon in British Columbia.
Researchers in British Columbia announced Monday they had found the influenza
virus in two juvenile sockeye salmon on the province’s central coast, the first
time in the Pacific Northwest. Photo: Elaine Thompson / AP: http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Deadly-salmon-virus-raises-concerns-in-US-Canada-2224582.php#ixzz1bEafXkVF
<http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Deadly-salmon-virus-raises-concerns-in-US-Canada-2224582.php#ixzz1bEafXkVF>

Seattle – Scientists in Washington state are working to improve
testing of a deadly, contagious marine virus as a precaution, after the virus
was detected in wild salmon for the first time on the West
Coast.

Researchers with Simon Fraser University in British
Columbia and elsewhere announced Monday they had found the influenza-like virus
in two juvenile sockeye salmon collected from the province’s central coast. The
virus, which doesn’t affect humans, has caused losses at fish farms in Chile and
other areas, and could have devastating impacts on wild salmon in the region and
other species that depend on them, the researchers said.

“This is potentially very big. It’s of big concern to
us,” said John Kerwin, who supervises the fish health unit at the Washington
state Department of Fish and Wildlife. Even though the virus was detected in
salmon collected hundreds of miles away, at Rivers Inlet in British Columbia,
the virus could pose a threat because “fish don’t have any boundaries in the
ocean … and salmon species stray,” he said.

The state tested about 56,000 hatchery and wild fish
last year and hasn’t found signs of the virus — infectious salmon anemia,
Kerwin said. But Monday’s news sent Kerwin scrambling on Tuesday to work with
other agencies to find ways to beef up current testing methods. If the virus is
ever detected in Washington, the state would follow containment plans that could
include killing fish, he said.

<http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Deadly-salmon-virus-raises-concerns-in-Wash-2224582.php#next>

Scientist technician
Laurie Niewolny adds macerated kidney and spleen samples from a chinook salmon
into a test tube as she preps it to be tested for viruses at the Washington
Dept. of Fish and Wildlife virology and bacteriology lab Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2011,
in Olympia, Wash. Scientists in Washington state are concerned about a deadly,
contagious virus recently detected in wild salmon in British Columbia.
Researchers in British Columbia announced Monday they had found the influenza
virus in two juvenile sockeye salmon on the province’s central coast, the first
time in the Pacific Northwest. Photo: Elaine Thompson / AP
“It’s a disease emergency,” said James
Winton, who directs the fish health section of the U.S. Geological Survey’s
Western Fisheries Research Center in Seattle. Officials on both side of the
border should increase surveillance and research to understand how broadly the
virus is distributed, in what species, how fish are infected, among other
questions, he said. “We don’t have enough information on what this strain will
do today and what it will do in the future,” he said. “We’re concerned. Should
it be introduced, it might be able to adapt to Pacific salmon,” added Winton,
who is not connected to the British Columbia study.

The virus was found in two of 48 juvenile sockeye salmon
collected as part of a long-term study of sockeye salmon led by Simon Fraser
University professor Rick Routledge. “It is certainly possible that this disease
may be benign for Pacific salmon, but I still don’t rest easy because it was
initially benign for Atlantic salmon and it mutated,” he said
Tuesday.

Researchers said Fred Kibenge of the Atlantic Veterinary
College at the University of Prince Edward Island, confirmed the presence of the
virus in two fish and noted it was a European strain of the
virus.

Routledge and biologist and wild-salmon activist
Alexandra Morton suggested Monday that the source of the virus is Atlantic
salmon farms in British Columbia, which has imported millions of salmon eggs
since 1986.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency was informed of the
suspect case over the weekend and will run its own tests and analysis at a
federal laboratory in New Brunswick, said Dr. Cornelius Kiley, a veterinarian
with the agency. It may be weeks before that’s complete, he said
Tuesday.

“It’s very important to ensure that the test was carried
out properly and done under the proper condition,” Kiley said. “If you can
repeat it, then your level of confidence will increase.”

Morton on Monday called for the removal of Atlantic
salmon from British Columbia salmon farms. And the Washington-based Wild Fish
Conservancy on Tuesday called for a halt to more net pen salmon aquaculture on
the West Coast. It also wanted widespread testing of wild and hatchery salmon
and a halt to fish farms in British Columbia until those results are
known.

But Kiley said, “We have no indication at this time that
there’s any involvement with the aquaculture industry.”

In
Washington state, Kerwin said one company raises Atlantic salmon in western
Washington and has not detected the virus.

John Kaufman, a fish biologist with the Oregon
Department of Fish and Wildlife, said he wasn’t as concerned, partly because the
virus seems to affect Atlantic salmon the most and Oregon does not raise
Atlantic salmon off its coast.

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9QF0NBG0.htm and
http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Deadly-salmon-virus-raises-concerns-in-Wash-2224582.php

This article also appeared in over 100 other newspapers
around the world including:

MSNBC: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44952384/ns/us_news-environment/
USA Today: http://yourlife.usatoday.com/fitness-food/safety/story/2011-10-18/Deadly-salmon-virus-raises-concerns-in-US-Canada/50819320/1
San Francisco Chronicle: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/10/18/national/a152833D43.DTL
CBS: http://moneywatch.bnet.com/economic-news/news/deadly-salmon-virus-raises-concerns-in-us-canada/6317101/
Las Vegas Sun: http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/oct/18/us-salmon-virus-washington/
Bellingham Herald: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2011/10/18/2233548/deadly-salmon-virus-raises-concerns.html
Winnipeg Free Press: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/breakingnews/washington-state-scientists-worried-about-salmon-killing-virus-found-in-british-columbia-132110048.html
Arizona Daily Sun: http://azdailysun.com/news/national/deadly-salmon-virus-raises-concerns-in-us-canada/article_77755228-ae71-5278-bdf9-7b45ff06951b.html
Anchorage Daily News: http://www.adn.com/2011/10/18/2126243/deadly-salmon-virus-raises-concerns.html
The Nation (Pakistan): http://nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Entertainment/19-Oct-2011/Lethal-European-fish-virus-found-in-Canada
Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/industries/washington-state-scientists-worried-about-salmon-killing-virus-found-in-british-columbia/2011/10/18/gIQApfjPvL_story.html

The Daily News, 19th October 2011

Ottawa must close all open-pen salmon
farms

Re: ‘Salmon test positive for “lethal” virus linked to
fish farms’ (Daily News, Oct. 17)

Surprise surprise – after years of rumours, infectious
salmon anaemia has finally been confirmed here in B.C. Despite the salmon
farming industry’s smoke and mirrors the smoking gun leads straight back to the
Norwegian-owned companies who control 92% of B.C.’s salmon farms.

The industry cannot ignore the fact that the ISA virus
detected in Pacific sockeye salmon is the European strain. Genetic testing will
soon be able to identify the company responsible for spreading ISA and the
floodgates to legal action will inevitably be opened.

ISA is a “listed” disease reportable to the World
Organization for Animal Health alongside other deadly diseases such as rabies,
BSE, foot and mouth, swine flu and avian influenza. How an exotic disease of
Atlantic was allowed to enter the Pacific and infect wild sockeye salmon is a
case study in negligence and malfeasance.

The government’s role in this sorry saga must come under
the microscope along with farmed salmon. A policy of allowing more 29 million
Atlantic salmon eggs to be imported into B.C. since 1985 – despite scientific
evidence showing ISA could be transmitted via infected eggs – is the antithesis
of the precautionary principle.

The government must immediately close the border and
close the net on open net pen salmon farms.

Don Staniford

Sointula

http://www.canada.com/Ottawa+must+close+open+salmon+farms/5572035/story.html

See
also “Fast action needed on salmon disease” (The Times Colonist, 19th October):
http://www.timescolonist.com/health/Fast+action+needed+salmon+disease/5572619/story.html

Vancouver Sun/Times Colonist, 19th October 2011

Salmon
farm installs netting to limit need to shoot invading
animals
<javascript:void(0);>

The largest salmon farming company in
B.C. is installing thick netting around its fish farms in an effort to reduce
the number of marine mammals killed.
Photograph by: Kristie M. Miller, Photo
Handout
VICTORIA — The largest
salmon farming company in B.C. is installing thick netting around its fish farms
in an effort to reduce the number of marine mammals killed.

Marine
Harvest Canada is using winter predator guards, made of high density
polyethylene with a stainless steel core, around farms in areas such as Quatsino
Sound, where the number of seals and sea lions killed jumped dramatically this
year.

The nets, which cost $250,000 each, will encircle entire
farms.

“While we need to prevent damage to our nets and the potential
risk of escapes, these unusually high lethal interactions with marine mammals
cannot continue,” said James Gaskill, MHC production director.

Shootings
and accidental drownings at fish farms were made public for the first time last
month by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Critics were shocked by the
numbers.

Marine Harvest killed 124 animals — including two Steller sea
lions — during the first three months of the year and 92 in the second
quarter.

Salmon farmers are allowed to shoot seals and sea lions that try
to get into net pens. The company says the figures represent a twofold increase
over last year and fourfold increase over 2009, probably because of an enormous
increase in the number of marine mammals in areas such as Quatsino
Sound.

A complaint by environmental activists from five countries, asking
the U.S. to ban imports of salmon from farms where marine mammals are killed, is
being reviewed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration.

“NOAA will respond to the organizations who wrote the
letter. It would not be appropriate to discuss the response before it has been
officially provided,” said spokeswoman Christine Patrick.

The U.S Marine
Mammal Protection Act prohibits the intentional killing of marine mammals in
commercial fishing operations, including fish farms.

Last year, NOAA
Fisheries said it was looking at establishing standards to determine which
commercial fish products comply with the act’s import provisions.

The
proposed rules are now being reviewed and will go for public comment before
being finalized.

Mary Ellen Walling, B.C. Salmon Farmers Association
executive director, said reducing the number of marine mammals killed is a high
priority for salmon farmers and the request to the NOAA from environmental
organizations does not look at the whole picture.

“While interaction
numbers for Canadian wild fisheries or other food producers aren’t reported
publicly, as they are for salmon farmers, they are (reported) in the U.S. and we
see they are facing similar challenges,” Walling said.

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Salmon+farm+installs+netting+limit+need+shoot+invading+animals/5572572/story.html

See
also:

“US urged to act over killing of marine mammals ” (Times
Colonist, 6th October 2011): http://www.timescolonist.com/business/urged+over+killing+marine+mammals/5511054/story.html

“Farmed Salmon in Firing Line: Complaint filed under U.S. Marine Mammal
Protection Act” (Wild Salmon First, 5th October 2011): http://www.wildsalmonfirst.org/boycott

Barents
Observer, 19th October 2011

Norwegian salmon banned from Russia

Article online in full via: http://www.barentsobserver.com/norwegian-salmon-banned-from-russia.4974518-16175.html

The Courier-Islander, 18th October 2011

$500,000 for two
nets at farm sites
Marine Harvest Canada says it will spend $500,000 at two
farm sites in the Quatsino area to ensure that lethal interactions with seals
and sea lions are drastically reduced, if not eliminated.
MHC said they
experienced higher than normal culls of seals and sea lions during the first two
quarters of 2011. MHC said one hundred and twenty four seals and/or sea lions
were killed in the first quarter, and 92 in the second quarter representing more
than a two-fold increase over the same period in 2010 and a four-fold increase
over 2009. This unusually high interaction with seals and sea lions was most
evident in Quatsino Sound, located on the Northwest tip of Vancouver Island,
which witnessed marine mammals move into the area at unprecedented numbers this
past winter.
Predator control authorization for salmon farms is included in
the Finfish Aquaculture License issued by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO). As
detailed in this license, a farmer may only take lethal action as a last resort
against a particularly aggressive and persistent individual marine predator if
it presents imminent danger to the facility or human life and only after all
reasonable measures have been exhausted (acoustic deterrents are
prohibited).
Although preliminary third quarter numbers are far lower at
about 5 lethal interactions, MHC is taking steps to address the
matter.
“While we need to prevent damage to our nets and the potential risk
of escapes, these unusually high lethal interactions with marine mammals cannot
continue,” said James Gaskill, MHC’s Production Director, “and in response we
have invested in additional protector netting at high risk farms that will
reduce or eliminate these interactions.”
The nets, referred to as winter
predator guards, encompass the entire farm and provide a first wall of defense
against marine predators. They are constructed of high density polyethylene and
include a stainless steel core and will cost $250,000 to outfit each farm site.
They will be in place prior to the winter season when seals and sea lions begin
to move into the area.
“Marine users such as commercial fisheries,
aquaculture, tourism and transport are all finding ways to accommodate this
increase in marine mammal interactions,” said Clare Backman, MHC’s
Sustainability Programs Director. “It’s imperative that we take all necessary
steps to eliminate lethal interactions.”
http://www.vancouversun.com/business/nets+farm+sites/5572084/story.html

CBC,
18th October 2011

Infectious Salmon Anaemia: hear from a researcher who
found a new and potentially devastating disease in Canadian
salmon

Listen to an interview with Professor Rick Routledge of Simon
Fraser Univerity: Hear from a researcher who found a new and potentially
devastating disease in Canadian salmon
http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/Radio/Local_Shows/Maritimes/Information_Morning_(NS)/2035075335/ID=2156340633

See
also a CBC radio interview with Dr Gary Marty and Dr Alexandra Morton: http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/Radio/Local_Shows/Maritimes/Information_Morning_(NS)/2035075335/ID=2155815690

NPR,
18th October 2011

Sockeye Salmon

Scientists to survey
Northwest waters for alarming salmon virus

By
Tom Banse <http://www.kplu.org/people/tom-banse>

<http://mediad.publicbroadcasting.net/p/kplu/files/201110/sockeyesalmon.jpg>

Sockeye salmon populations are facing a new
challenge.
·
Listen <http://pd.npr.org/anon.npr-mp3/148/ingest/2011/10/20111018_ingest_20431929.mp3?orgId=148&ft=3&f=141489677>

Federal fisheries scientists plan to survey
Pacific Northwest and Alaskan waters to determine if a harmful European fish
virus has spread here.
This week, scientists in British Columbia announced
they’ve found the fish-killing virus in wild Pacific salmon for the first
time.
The detection of the contagion in wild British Columbia sockeye comes
as a surprise. Infectious Salmon Anemia is not harmful to humans, but the virus
has previously inflicted heavy losses on Atlantic fish farms.
The big unknown
is how vulnerable wild Pacific salmon and herring are. The Western Fisheries
Research Center lab in Seattle plans to investigate quickly says microbiologist
Jim Winton.
“It could range from relatively severe to maybe not-so-severe
depending on the susceptibility of these stocks,” he says.
Some wild salmon
advocates strongly suspect the disease was introduced to the North Pacific via
farmed Atlantic salmon. They want saltwater salmon farms in Washington and
British Columbia shut down while the outbreak is investigated.
The B.C.
salmon farm industry insists tests on their fish have found no signs of
infection.
On the Web:
·
NY Times:
Salmon-Killing Virus Seen for First Time in the Wild on the Pacific Coast <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/18/science/18salmon.html>

· Vancouver Sun:
‘Lethal’ Atlantic salmon disease found in B.C. wild <http://www.vancouversun.com/Lethal+Atlantic+salmon+disease+found+wild/5565660/story.html#ixzz1bBT5Ke1l>

· USGS Western
Fisheries Research Center <http://wfrc.usgs.gov/index.html>

· Diagnosing
Infectious Salmon Anemia <http://www.crl-fish.eu/Diagnostic_Manuals/ISA.aspx>

http://www.kplu.org/post/scientists-survey-northwest-waters-alarming-salmon-virus

CBC Radio Canada, 18th October 2011

Des saumons du
Pacifique infectés par un virus de souche européenne

Une équipe de
chercheurs de l’Université Simon Fraser en Colombie-Britannique affirment que
des saumons du Pacifique ont contracté l’anémie infectieuse, un virus
extrêmement contagieux qui est une menace pour la population de saumons
sauvages.

L’équipe de chercheurs, dirigée par le Dr Richard Routledge, a
décelé l’anémie infectieuse sur deux saumons sauvages dans la région de Rivers
Inlet, sur la côte du Pacifique.

Le Dr Routledge affirme que la seule
raison plausible de la présence de cette maladie est l’importation d’oeufs de
saumons de l’Atlantique par les fermes d’élevage.

Cette découverte donne
des munitions à ceux qui s’opposent aux fermes d’élevage <http://www.radio-canada.ca/actualite/semaineverte/ColorSection/peche/030817/salmoniculture.shtml>
. La biologiste Alexandra Morton croit que la présence de ce virus de souche
européenne est une preuve irréfutable du danger des fermes d’élevage pour la
santé des saumons sauvages et que cela va obliger les propriétaires à cesser
leurs activités.

Les chercheurs demandent que des tests à grande échelle
soient faits dans toutes les fermes d’élevage, où le virus pourrait s’être
propagé, selon eux.

Alexandra Morton explique qu’à l’état sauvage, les
poissons infectés sont rapidement éliminés par la sélection naturelle. Elle
ajoute que dans les fermes, les agents pathogènes se transmettent rapidement
d’un poisson à l’autre, et les poissons malades ne sont pas mangés par leurs
prédateurs, ce qui facilite la contagion.

L’Association des fermes
d’élevage de saumons de la Colombie-Britannique prend cette nouvelle au sérieux,
mais elle maintient que ses poissons sont en bonne santé et qu’aucun d’entre eux
n’est infecté par ce virus. Elle précise également que les poissons infectés ont
été découverts dans une région loin des fermes d’élevage.

http://www.radio-canada.ca/nouvelles/science/2011/10/18/004-saumon-pacifique-virus.shtml

Take Part, 18th October 2011

Deadly Flu-Like Salmon Farm Disease Jumps to
Wild

Lethal and devastating disease detected in wild Pacific
Northwest salmon for the first time

By Max Follmer <http://www.takepart.com/author/max-follmer>

Sockeye salmon, also known as red salmon, migrating
upstream to go spawn. (Photo: Getty Images).

Infectious salmon anemia (ISA), a highly contagious
flu-like virus that can kill up to 70 percent of fish on infected farms, has
been found <http://www.sfu.ca/pamr/media-releases/2011/lethal-atlantic-virus-found-in-pacific-salmon.html>
in the wild off the West Coast of North America for the first time ever,
researchers in British Columbia announced on
Monday.

Already, experts are warning that the disease, if left
unchecked, could devastate Pacific salmon stocks, with one researcher
calling <http://www.sfu.ca/pamr/media-releases/2011/lethal-atlantic-virus-found-in-pacific-salmon.html>
ISA a “cataclysmic threat,” and a fisheries expert in Seattle warning <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/18/science/18salmon.html>
of a “disease emergency.”

ISA first emerged in Norway in 1984 when scientists
detected a new, more virulent strain of a disease that had long existed in
salmon. Experts link the emergence of the new strain to the rapid development of
aqualcuture—fish farming—because infected fish shed the virus in packed salmon
pens, rather than being consumed by predators in the wild.

“The potential impact of ISA cannot be taken lightly,”
said <http://www.sfu.ca/pamr/media-releases/2011/lethal-atlantic-virus-found-in-pacific-salmon.html>
Prof. Rick Routledge, whose lab at Simon Fraser University led the study that
discovered ISA in the wild. “There must be an immediate response to assess the
extent of the outbreak, determine its source, and to eliminate all controllable
sources of the virus–even though no country has ever eradicated it once it has
arrived.”

Experts suspect the
virus jumped to the Pacific Northwest when Atlantic salmon eggs were imported
from Europe to be used in the region’s salmon farms.

“The European strain of ISA virus can only have come
from the Atlantic salmon farms. European strain ISA infected Chile via Atlantic
salmon eggs in 2007,” said Alexandra Morton, another researcher who participated
in the study.

According to The New York Times <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/18/science/18salmon.html>
:

The only barrier between the salmon farms and wild fish
is a net… No vaccine or treatment exists for infectious salmon
anemia.

Researchers at Simon
Fraser found the virus on two of 48 wild sockeye salmon being studied as part of
ongoing research into the collapse of Rivers Inlet sockeye populations.

The team is calling on the Canadian government to halt
the flow of Atlantic salmon eggs to the Canadian salmon farms, and for greater
testing in the region to determine the extent of ISA infection. They point out
that ISA has cost the Chilean salmon industry more than $2 billion since it
began ravaging salmon in 2007.

And they note ominously at the end of their release
announcing the discovery that the virus is “prone to mutating into increasingly
virulent forms.”

http://www.takepart.com/article/2011/10/18/deadly-flu-salmon-farm-disease-jumps-wild

NDP,
18th October 2011

New Democrats call for answers on salmon
virus

VICTORIA— New Democrats are calling on the Liberal
government to release any and all information and reports they have received
about a virus that is threatening wild and farmed salmon in British Columbian
waters.
“If the Liberal
government received information describing classic infectious salmon anemia
(ISA) like lesions on salmon samples gathered in our waters, the public deserves
to know what steps were taken to investigate this grave threat to our wild
salmon and the ecosystems that depend on them,” said New Democrat environment
critic, Rob Fleming.

Fleming and New Democrat agriculture critic Lana
Popham have written to the Liberal minister of Agriculture, asking for the
government to come clean with British Columbians about any previous knowledge
they had of this threat to our wild and farmed salmon.

The virus, which
was detected by Canada’s ISA reference lab, is the European strain of ISA, the
same virus that devastated the Chilean fish farming industry, causing $2 billion
in losses, and ending more than 25,000 jobs.

“If we do have an outbreak
of infectious salmon anemia here in British Columbia we need to act quickly to
assess the spread of this disease and come up with strategies to contain it,”
said Popham. “Anything less than decisive action could spell disaster for wild
Pacific salmon.”

Fleming said that Adrian Dix and the New Democrats will
hold the government to account on its stewardship of the environment and
protection of wild salmon.

http://www.bcndpcaucus.ca/en/new_democrats_call_for_answers_on_salmon_virus?mid=5080512

Fin
Donnelly MP, 18th October 2011

New Democrat Fisheries Critic, Fin
Donnelly (New Westminster – Coquitlam) today challenged the Fisheries Minister
on the Government’s inaction on the serious problem of salmon anemia in BC’s
fish stocks. Donnelly also criticised the Government’s cuts to the Department
of Fisheries and Oceans and their silencing of departmental scientists.

Question Period – Tuesday, October 19, 2011

Mr.
Fin Donnelly (New Westminster—Coquitlam, NDP): Mr. Speaker, infectious
salmon anemia has been diagnosed in sockeye smolts in the Pacific.

This
is the same virus that infected and wiped out almost 70% of farmed salmon in
Chile. We do not know the long-term effects on wild salmon or how long this
virus has been present in the Pacific waters.

What is the government
doing to investigate this serious threat to our salmon
fishery?

Mr. Fin Donnelly (New Westminster—Coquitlam, NDP):
Mr. Speaker, the government’s silence on fisheries is deafening. Instead of
providing answers, there is no communication from the department and scientists
remain muzzled. Conservatives are gutting the DFO and cutting funding to
fisheries conservation councils. Their policy seems to be “hear no evil, see no
evil, speak no evil” and they hope these problems go away. They will
not.

When will the minister agree to a full and transparent
investigation of this serious issue and threat to our fisheries?

For
further information please contact:

Office of Fin Donnelly (New
Westminster-Coquitlam)
613-947-4456

http://www.findonnelly.ca/

Hansard, 18th October
2011

Fisheries and Oceans <http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=41&Ses=1&DocId=5176357#SOB-4379448>
<http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=41&Ses=1&DocId=5176357#SOB-4379390>

<http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=41&Ses=1&DocId=5176357#Int-4379411>
<http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=41&Ses=1&DocId=5176357#Int-4379405>
[Table
of Contents <javascript:void(0);> ]
Mr. Fin Donnelly (New Westminster—Coquitlam, NDP)
<http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/GetWebOptionsCallBack.aspx?SourceSystem=PRISM&ResourceType=Affiliation&ResourceID=170284&language=1&DisplayMode=2>
: <http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=41&Ses=1&DocId=5176357#Int-4379413>

Mr. Speaker, infectious
salmon anemia has been diagnosed in sockeye smolts in the Pacific. This is the
same virus that infected and wiped out almost 70% of farmed salmon in
Chile.
We do not know the long-term effects on wild salmon or how long this
virus has been present in the Pacific waters. What is the government doing to
investigate this serious threat to our salmon fishery?
<http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=41&Ses=1&DocId=5176357#Int-4379413>
<http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=41&Ses=1&DocId=5176357#Int-4379407>
[Table
of Contents <javascript:void(0);> ]
Hon. Keith Ashfield (Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and

Minister for the Atlantic Gateway, CPC) <http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/GetWebOptionsCallBack.aspx?SourceSystem=PRISM&ResourceType=Affiliation&ResourceID=170676&language=1&DisplayMode=2>
: <http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=41&Ses=1&DocId=5176357#Int-4379445>

Mr. Speaker, our
government understands the importance of salmon for British Columbia
economically, historically and culturally. That is why the Prime Minister <http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/GetWebOptionsCallBack.aspx?SourceSystem=PRISM&ResourceType=Affiliation&ResourceID=78738&language=1&DisplayMode=2>
established the Cohen Commission of Inquiry in 2009. I encourage the member to
support the work of Justice Cohen and the Cohen Commission.
<http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=41&Ses=1&DocId=5176357#Int-4379445>
<http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=41&Ses=1&DocId=5176357#Int-4379411>
[Table
of Contents <javascript:void(0);> ]
Mr. Fin Donnelly (New Westminster—Coquitlam, NDP)
<http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/GetWebOptionsCallBack.aspx?SourceSystem=PRISM&ResourceType=Affiliation&ResourceID=170284&language=1&DisplayMode=2>
: <http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=41&Ses=1&DocId=5176357#Int-4379407>

Mr. Speaker, the
government’s silence on fisheries is deafening. Instead of providing answers,
there is no communication from the department and scientists remain muzzled.
Conservatives are gutting the DFO and cutting funding to fisheries conservation
councils. Their policy seems to be “hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil”
and they hope these problems go away. They will not.
When will the minister
agree to a full and transparent investigation of this serious issue and threat
to our fisheries?
<http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=41&Ses=1&DocId=5176357#Int-4379447>
<http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=41&Ses=1&DocId=5176357#Int-4379413>
[Table
of Contents <javascript:void(0);> ]
Hon. Keith Ashfield (Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and
Minister for the Atlantic Gateway, CPC) <http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/GetWebOptionsCallBack.aspx?SourceSystem=PRISM&ResourceType=Affiliation&ResourceID=170676&language=1&DisplayMode=2>
: <http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=41&Ses=1&DocId=5176357#Int-4379411>

Mr. Speaker, a strategic
review was an opportunity for the department to assess performance of its
programs. It also allowed us to ensure that we were responding to the priorities
of Canadians. We have the responsibility to spend taxpayer money prudently and
where it will do the most good. We must ensure that government programs are
efficient, effective and achieving the expected results of Canadians.
DFO is
making steady progress in modernizing and improving our program and policy
approach to meet the needs of Canadians today and in the future.

* * *

http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=41&Ses=1&DocId=5176357#Int-4379407
<http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=41&Ses=1&DocId=5176357#Int-4379407>

ABC News/Associated Press/Washington Post/CBS 18th October 2011

Deadly salmon virus raises concerns in US, Canada

By
PHUONG LE Associated Press

Scientists in Washington state are working to improve
testing of a deadly, contagious marine virus as a precaution, after the virus
was detected in wild salmon for the first time on the West
Coast.

Researchers with Simon Fraser University in British
Columbia and elsewhere announced Monday they had found the influenza-like virus
in two juvenile sockeye salmon collected from the province’s central coast. The
virus, which doesn’t affect humans, has caused losses at fish farms in Chile and
other areas, and could have devastating impacts on wild salmon in the region and
other species that depend on them, the researchers said.

“This is potentially very big. It’s of big concern to
us,” said John Kerwin, who supervises the fish health unit at the Washington
state Department of Fish and Wildlife. Even though the virus was detected in
salmon collected hundreds of miles away, at Rivers Inlet in British Columbia,
the virus could pose a threat because “fish don’t have any boundaries in the
ocean … and salmon species stray,” he said.

The state tested about 56,000 hatchery and wild fish
last year and hasn’t found signs of the virus — infectious salmon anemia, Kerwin
said. But Monday’s news sent Kerwin scrambling on Tuesday to work with other
agencies to find ways to beef up current testing methods. If the virus is ever
detected in Washington, the state would follow containment plans that could
include killing fish, he said.

“It’s a disease emergency,” said James Winton, who
directs the fish health section of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Western
Fisheries Research Center in Seattle.

Officials on both side of the border should increase
surveillance and research to understand how broadly the virus is distributed, in
what species, how fish are infected, among other questions, he said. “We don’t
have enough information on what this strain will do today and what it will do in
the future,” he said.

“We’re concerned. Should it be introduced, it might be
able to adapt to Pacific salmon,” added Winton, who is not connected to the
British Columbia study.

The virus was found in two of 48 juvenile sockeye salmon
collected as part of a long-term study of sockeye salmon led by Simon Fraser
University professor Rick Routledge. “The potential impact of (the virus) cannot
be taken lightly,” he said in a statement Monday.

Researchers said Fred Kibenge of the Atlantic Veterinary
College at the University of Prince Edward Island, confirmed the presence of the
virus in two fish and noted it was a European strain of the
virus.

Routledge and biologist and wild-salmon activist
Alexandra Morton suggested Monday that the source of the virus is Atlantic
salmon farms in British Columbia, which has imported millions of salmon eggs
since 1986.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency was informed of the
suspect case over the weekend and will run its own tests and analysis at a
federal laboratory in New Brunswick, said Dr. Cornelius Kiley, a veterinarian
with the agency. It may be weeks before that’s complete, he said
Tuesday.

“It’s very important to ensure that the test was carried
out properly and done under the proper condition,” Kiley said. “If you can
repeat it, then your level of confidence will increase.”

Morton on Monday called for the removal of Atlantic
salmon from British Columbia salmon farms. And the Washington-based Wild Fish
Conservancy on Tuesday called for a halt to more net pen salmon aquaculture on
the West Coast. It also wanted widespread testing of wild and hatchery salmon
and a halt to fish farms in British Columbia until those results are
known.

But Kiley said, “We have no indication at this time that
there’s any involvement with the aquaculture industry.”

In
Washington state, Kerwin said one company raises Atlantic salmon in western
Washington and has not detected the virus.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/deadly-salmon-virus-raises-concerns-us-canada-14765021

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/industries/washington-state-scientists-worried-about-salmon-killing-virus-found-in-british-columbia/2011/10/18/gIQApfjPvL_story.html
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/10/18/ap/business/main20122243.shtml

CBC, 18th October 2011

Aquaculture follow

A
second opinion on whether fish farms can be linked to salmon diseases. B.C. fish
pathologist Gary Marty clarifies his own research.

Listen online (also
includes Alexandra Morton) via: http://www.cbc.ca/informationmorningns/2011/10/18/acquaculture-follow/

Wild Fish Conservancy, 18th October 2011

Wild Fish Conservancy Response to ISAv Detection in
B.C.

WILD FISH CONSERVANCY
PO Box 402 Duvall, WA 98019 ·
Tel 425-788-1167 · Fax 425-788-9634 ·

info@wildfishconservancy.org

Contact: Todd Sandell, Wild Fish Conservancy,
206-707-2979
Dr. James Winton, U.S. Geological Survey – Western Fisheries
Research Center, 206-526-6587
Dr. Fred Kibenge, Atlantic Veterinary College
- University of Prince Edward Island, 902-566-0967

For Immediate Release: Tuesday, October 18,
2011

News that Infectious Salmon Anemia Virus (ISAv) was
detected in coastal British Columbia sockeye salmon is greatly alarming. The
results were reported by the laboratory of Dr. Fred Kibenge at the Atlantic
Veterinary College, which serves as the World Organization for Animal Health’s
ISAv reference laboratory. The presence of this virus, never before detected in
the Pacific Northwest, poses a serious threat to native salmon species that are
already in decline or endangered. The discovery was referred to as a disease
emergency with “global implications” by Dr. James Winton, fish health section
chief of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Western Fisheries Research Center. The
virus is not infectious to humans.

Although previous research indicated that ISAv was not
as virulent for Pacific salmonids as for Atlantic salmon, the virus can readily
mutate and was recently implicated in widespread mortalities among farmed coho
salmon in Chile and is likely involved in the recent declines of sockeye salmon
in British Columbia. The strain of ISAv detected is of European origin,
suggesting that the virus was introduced to western Canada via the importation
of infected Atlantic salmon eggs by the salmon aquaculture
industry.

Assurances that these fish did not harbor ISAv, voiced
by both the source countries and the aquaculture industry, were inadequate and
misleading; given the findings of the recent Cohen commission, it also appears
that oversight of the aquaculture industry in B.C. has been compromised.
Immediate steps need to be taken by both Canadian and U.S. officials to ensure
that the spread of the virus is contained and to carefully investigate the
extent of the threat. The Wild Fish Conservancy recommends the following steps
be taken as soon as possible:

Points of Action:

1)
Immediately halt plans to allow additional net pen salmon aquaculture,
particularly for non-native salmonids, on the west coast of North America. As
stocking of non-native species can no longer be justified, production of
Atlantic salmon at hatcheries should also cease.

2)
Immediately test freshly-collected and frozen, archival samples for ISAv in
sockeye and other Pacific salmonids of wild, hatchery, and net pen origin, as
well as marine species that may act as a reservoir for the virus. As this issue
poses a threat to U.S. and Canadian salmon populations, the testing needs to be
conducted by impartial U.S. and Canadian labs, using accepted fish health
protocols. We recommend that Dr. James Winton be given oversight of this process
and an independent scientific advisory panel be established whose members are
not limited to governmental organizations. Emergency funding to conduct this
investigation needs to be set aside by both the Canadian and U.S.
government.

3)
Halt and fallow net pen aquaculture farms in British Columbia until the testing
results are known. Current fish production at sites that test positive for ISAv
should be humanely destroyed to prevent transfer of the virus to other stocks
and species of native fish.

4)
The Department of Fisheries And Oceans, which assumed oversight of aquaculture
operations in 2010, needs a mandate that focuses on the preservation of a public
resource (wild salmon) rather than one that focuses on developing the
aquaculture industry.

5)
Both the U.S. and Canadian governments need to develop and implement better
oversight of both land- and sea-based aquaculture, with a focus on pathogen
transfer and risks to native species.

6)
Future aquaculture operations should be land-based, where the escape of
non-native species can be successfully prevented and the effluent from such
operations (which can allow for the transfer of pathogens) can be sterilized if
great care is exercised. Although this will raise the cost of product, the
increase will reflect the true cost of doing business in an environmentally
responsible manner.

In
response to this news, the salmon aquaculture industry will herald that they
brought much needed jobs to rural British Columbia. While jobs are clearly
needed in such difficult economic times, it is important to recognize that the
net pen aquaculture of non-native species presents a threat to the survival of
wild salmon populations and the fishing-related jobs which have benefited the
region for generations. These corporations seek to extract a profit from
non-native salmon aquaculture while endangering a public resource and a way of
life for First Nations people. It is time that this practice is
stopped.

###

Wild Fish Conservancy is a non-profit organization
dedicated to the recovery and conservation of the Northwest region’s wild-fish
ecosystems, with over 2,500 members. Wild Fish Conservancy’s staff of over 20
professional scientists, advocates, and educators works to promote technically
and socially responsible habitat, hatchery, and harvest management to better
sustain the region’s wild fish heritage. For more information, visit us at
wildfishconservancy.org or follow us on Facebook at
facebook.com/wildfishconservancy.

http://www.flyrodreel.com/blogs/tedwilliams/2011/october/conservancy-detection

Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 18th October 2011

Deadly salmon virus raises concerns in Wash.

PHUONG LE,
Associated Press
SEATTLE (AP) —
Scientists in Washington state are concerned about a deadly, contagious virus
recently detected in wild salmon in British Columbia.

Researchers in
British Columbia announced Monday they had found the influenza virus in two
juvenile sockeye salmon on B.C.’s central coast, the first time in the Pacific
Northwest. The virus has caused devastating losses at fish farms in
Chile.

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s John Kerwin <http://www.seattlepi.com/?controllerName=search&action=search&channel=news&search=1&inlineLink=1&query=%22John+Kerwin%22>
on Tuesday said his agency wants to refine its testing methods to improve
detection of the virus. The state tested about 56,000 fish last year and so far
has not found signs of infectious salmon anemia.

U.S. Geological Survey
scientist James Winton <http://www.seattlepi.com/?controllerName=search&action=search&channel=news&search=1&inlineLink=1&query=%22James+Winton%22>
calls the news a disease emergency. He says officials on both side of the
border should step up research, surveillance and testing.

http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Deadly-salmon-virus-raises-concerns-in-Wash-2224582.php

Chilliwack
Progress, 18th October 2011

Red flags raised over yellow salmon

This yellow chinook raised the red flag for a local
angler.

SUBMITTED PHOTO

By Jennifer Feinberg – Chilliwack
Progress <mailto:jfeinberg@theprogress.com?subject=Chilliwack%20Progress%20-%20Red%20flags%20raised%20over%20yellow%20salmon>

Yellow-tinged salmon carcasses showing up in local rivers this fall
are raising red flags.
Longtime Chilliwack angler Chris Gadsden said he was
shocked to find a yellow coloured chinook salmon recently in the Vedder Canal <http://www.bclocalnews.com/news/132061188.html>
.
“I’d never seen one like that before, in my 30 plus years of fishing the
Vedder,” he said.
He was so concerned, he sent some samples to DFO by
Greyhound bus for analysis.
Gadsden, 68, has a growing number of questions
about what he found, especially in light of biologist Alexandra Morton’s
decision to sound the alarm on yellow salmon recently, suggesting they may be
suffering from a form of jaundice.
But the yellow colouring of the carcass
found in the Vedder is “not particularly” unusual, according to Lara Sloan, DFO
media spokesperson, in an e-mailed response to the Progress.
“Even live fall
or white Chinook have variation including gold and reddish colours,” she
said.
DFO technicicans regularly “assess and collect various biological
information” from Vedder River <http://www.bclocalnews.com/news/132061188.html>
chinook carcasses, from the hatchery to Keith Wilson Bridge. Included in those
details would be evidence of prespawn mortality.
“We will also collect
carcass condition, lengths, scales, otoliths and heads for CWT purposes,” Sloan
reported. “The crew just started on Tuesday and have seen very few
carcasses.
“There have has been no reports of anything unusual at this
time.
Gadsden said he started asking questions after hearing that Morton had
been in the Fraser Valley recently looking into reports of pre-spawn mortality
of sockeye and coho in Fraser River tributaries feeding into the Harrison River.
Dr. Morton reported on the yellow salmon she found on Oct 5.
“I am now
examining the brains of these dying salmon myself, because I have lost all
confidence in DFO,” wrote Dr. Morton on her blog last week. “On my trip up the
Fraser River two days ago I also found four yellow pink salmon.
Even the
cartilage inside the fish’s head was yellow.
Dr. Laura Richards, DFO’s
director general of science for the Pacific region, was asked some very specific
questions in an open letter by Morton to Fisheries and Oceans Canada, about
links between the dying salmon and a disease in farmed salmon caused by a type
of salmon leukemia.
“I want your report on these jaundice farm salmon and the
jaundice pink salmon that DFO must be aware of – why are they yellow, why are
there so many of them, is this the Chilean virus Dr. Marty notes and how would
such a virus get here?
“We know some of the fish farmers in B.C. also have
operations in Chile,” wrote Morton. “Funding provided by the public is currently
being used to study jaundice that is killing farm Chinook salmon. Please send a
progress report to us.”
Morton asserted that contrary to DFO’s reassurance,
that “there’s something very wrong here.”
“I am forwarding this letter to the
over 20,000 people on my mailing list and we want your report on what DFO is
doing and who is doing it.
“We want the diagnosis on the yellow salmon. We
want to know if we a getting a side order of brain tumour in the salmon we are
eating,” Morton added.
jfeinberg@theprogress.com

http://www.bclocalnews.com/news/132061188.html

Grist,
18th October 2011

Is the company behind GMO salmon the next
Solyndra?

by Tom Laskawy <http://www.grist.org/people/Tom+Laskawy>

</SPAN

Business Week/Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 19th October
2011

Deadly salmon virus raises concerns in US,
Canada

By
PHUONG LE

<http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Deadly-salmon-virus-raises-concerns-in-Wash-2224582.php#next>