Wild Salmon Endangered by Sea Lice

British Columbia Commercial Fish Farms Imperil Natural Fish Stocks

Dec 24, 2007

Tour operators and fishermen are concerned with wild Pacific salmon stocks in British Columbia. Pink Salmon are being threatened by sea lice associated with fish farms.

Sea lice are naturally occurring parasites associated with Pacific salmon. In the natural environment, sea lice infestations have minimal effects on juvenile salmon. This dynamic is changed when young salmon are forced to migrate past commercial fish farms.

Problems Posed by Commercial Fish Farms - Atlantic salmon are raised in large, open net pens along the coast of British Columbia. Some fish farms are located next to major juvenile salmon migration routes leading to the interior of the Province. Salmon are carnivores and the concentrations of fish forced together by fish farming attract clouds numbering in billions of parasitic sea lice (Lepeophtheirus salmonis). In the wild, juvenile salmon rarely mingle with adult fish that carry the parasites. Young salmon swimming past fish farms can't help but come into contact with sea lice. It only takes one or two of these parasites to kill a juvenile salmon.

Concern Noted by Leading Scientists - Eighteen noted scientists and salmon researchers, including Doctors David Suzuki, Daniel Pauly, and Richard Routledge sent an open letter to Canada's Prime Minister Stephan Harper and Premier Gordon Campbell concerning the danger commercial fish farming and its inherent issues with sea lice pose to wild Pacific salmon runs in British Columbia. Peer reviewed literature suggests sea lice from fish farms kill 95% of the wild juvenile salmon that pass by them coming from their natal streams. The literature shows that countries with extensive fish farming industries like Norway and Chile have seen a marked reduction in their wild salmon populations. Quoting from their open letter, these experts say, "…the only management action that can ensure the protection of wild salmon stocks from farmed salmon is a complete physical barrier to pathogen transmission…It is now up to the government and the people of Canada to decide whether the economic benefits of aquaculture, as currently practiced, outweigh the threats to wild salmon and the ecosystems and economies that depend on healthy and abundant wild salmon populations."

Economic Contributions of Wild Salmon - The impending threat of fish farming to wild salmon stocks and pending governmental decisions regarding future permitting of commercial fish farms brought together a diverse group of industry and business leaders that question the value of these farms to the economy of British Columbia. Ecotourism companies, commercial fishing operators, sport fishers, coastal residents, and fish processors joined together to fund advertising in major papers urging the Canadian government move fish farms away from major juvenile salmon migration routes. These concerned businesses point out that fish farming generates about $600 million to the British Columbia economy while wilderness tourism and fishing contribute some $1.6 billion to the same economy that is dependent on runs of wild salmon.

Advocates for wild salmon in British Columbia fear for the future of natural fish runs in their Province. They are not asking for elimination of the fish farms, but rather instituting more responsible management regimes.

The copyright of the article Wild Salmon Endangered by Sea Lice in Boating & Sailing is owned by Alan Sorum. Permission to republish Wild Salmon Endangered by Sea Lice in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.