Positive Awareness of Aquaculture (PAA) has described as “highly questionable” the findings of a study published in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The study, conducted off the coastline of British Columbia, claims sea lice from infected fish farms are responsible for the deaths of up to 95% of young wild salmon migrating out to sea.

Describing the study as “partially funded by opponents of the fish farming industry and conducted by anti-fish farm activists”, the organisation claims the report uses old data and a flawed methodology.

"It's the usual suspects just repackaging two year old data and a flawed methodology and falsely presenting it as something new," said Ian Roberts, President of the PAA.

"Both types of datasets used in the study are totally flawed," said Roberts. "The first uses anti-fish farm activist Alexandra Morton's dip net methodology for sampling fish which erroneously selects for already sick and dying fish that float to the surface.

"The second dataset uses sea lice-infested juvenile salmon raised in ocean enclosures even though the problems with using such a technique are widely known," said Roberts.

PAA says this technique has often been criticised by experts such as Frederick J. Whoriskey, who recently provided an analysis of Morton's work to a BC Special Prosecutor who determined BC salmon farms were meeting all required laws and regulations. Whoriskey noted in his report that such "enclosures most probably stressed the fish and affected their feeding behaviour, both of which could have aggravated mortality".

"The conclusions of the study are hardly surprising given it was conducted by career anti-fish farms activists like Alexandra Morton and John Volpe and sponsored by the David Suzuki Foundation, the Canadian Sablefish Association and the British Columbia Wilderness Tourism Association - all of whom have publicly expressed their rabid dislike of salmon farms," said Roberts.

"These activists are going beyond the pale by using bad science to create controversy that is endangering the livelihoods of thousands of hard working people in BC coastal and First Nations communities. There is absolutely no scientific evidence demonstrating fish farms are causing sea lice infestations of wild fish.

"The BC Special Committee on Aquaculture must recognise the biased data and flawed methodology of this report and consequently disregard its conclusions. The Committee needs to take a stand in favour of working people in BC and call these activists on their bluff," said Roberts.

Commenting on the study, Andrea Kavanagh, Director of the Pure Salmon Campaign said: "The science is in. It's clear that present salmon farming practices are devastating wild salmon populations.

"Since 95 per cent of the juveniles aren't making it beyond a parasite that eats through their thinly developed flesh, they don't mature and certainly don't make it back upstream to reproduce. This poses a severe impact on the survival of wild stocks.

"Getting salmon farms out of the ocean and into closed systems is the only way to avoid this detrimental effect on wild salmon."

www.fishupdate.com is published by Special Publications. Special Publications also publish FISHupdate magazine, Fish Farmer, the Fish Industry Yearbook, the Scottish Seafood Processors Federation Diary, the Fish Farmer Handbook and a range of wallplanners.

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