[NatureNS] re West coast:Fw: Farmed Salmon

Date: Sun, 04 Nov 2012 10:02:32 -0400
From: David Patriquin <patriqui@dal.ca>
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  P
The paper by by Ford and Myers 2008 is relevant:  "Since the late  
1980s, wild salmon catch and abundance have declined dramatically in  
the North Atlantic and in much of the northeastern Pacific south of  
Alaska. In these areas, there has been a concomitant increase in the  
production of farmed salmon. Previous studies have shown negative  
impacts on wild salmonids, but these results have been difficult to  
translate into predictions of change in wild population survival and  
abundance. We compared marine survival of salmonids in areas with  
salmon farming to adjacent areas without farms in Scotland, Ireland,  
Atlantic Canada, and Pacific Canada to estimate changes in marine  
survival concurrent with the growth of salmon aquaculture. Through a  
meta-analysis of existing data, we show a reduction in survival or  
abundance of Atlantic salmon; sea trout; and pink, chum, and coho  
salmon in association with increased production of farmed salmon. In  
many cases, these reductions in survival or abundance are greater than  
50%. Meta-analytic estimates of the mean effect are significant and  
negative, suggesting that salmon farming has reduced survival of wild  
salmon and trout in many populations and countries." The effects were  
largest for the Bay of Fundy.

Jennifer S. Ford*, Ransom A. Myers? A Global Assessment of Salmon  
Aquaculture Impacts on Wild Salmonids 2008 in PlosBiology - the full  
paper is available here:
http://www.plosbiology.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pbio.0060033




Quoting "James W. Wolford" <jimwolford@eastlink.ca>:

> Interesting notes, Dave, and I'm responding off the top of my biased  
>  head from that West, namely central B.C.  I am biased about  
> open-net- pen salmon farming which is so wrong in so many ways.  But  
> I think we  in the East have a lot to learn from the history and  
> experiences of  the salmon-farming industry in New Brunswick, about  
> which we in Nova  Scotia seldom hear much, even from CBC News and  
> Maritime Noon etc.   There is a lot of knowledge and expertise in  
> the Conservation Council  of New Brunswick, especially Inka  
> Milewsky? who traveled to Shelburne  in attempt to let the people in  
> SW NS communities the on-going  environmental effects of salmon  
> feedlots.  Also the history of the  Inner Bay of Fundy Salmon should  
> be somewhat instructive in the  chronology of the sharp demise from  
> 40,000 adults in various rivers  in 1989? to less than 200 (100?)  
> now.  (Figures from a sign in  Miner's Marsh in Kentville from the  
> Atlantic Salmon Federation et  al.)  Finally, Jim Gourlay, who  
> published the magazine Eastern Woods  and Waters for a long time, is  
> very knowledgeable about wild salmon  as well as the history of  
> salmon farming in the Bay of Fundy.
>
> Cheers? from Jim in Burn's Lake, B.C.
> --------------------
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
>> From: David & Alison Webster <dwebster@glinx.com>
>> Date: November 3, 2012 9:10:52 PM ADT
>> To: NatureNS@chebucto.ns.ca
>> Subject: [NatureNS] West coast:Fw: Farmed Salmon
>> Reply-To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
>>
>> Dear All,                            Nov 3, 2012
>>   Further to my e-mail of June 9, I happened recently to run into   
>> an article about salmon on the West Coast (Natural History 104(9):  
>> 26-39,1995). At that time fluctuations over a 100+ year period   
>> seemed to be reasonably well explained by cyclical changes in   
>> weather, wind and ocean currents.
>>
>>   With respect to Chinook salmon on the west coast there was "...a   
>> period of sustained harvest from 1889 to 1920, the period from 1921  
>>  to 1958 was one of sharp decline and from 1959 to the present we   
>> had a period of persistent salmon depletion."; page 31. On page 34   
>> there is mention of a cool wet period from the 1960s to the 1980s   
>> when stocks briefly increased. 1920 to 1950 was a hot dry period; a  
>>  time of sharp decline. Note from the 50s onward there was   
>> cumulative habitat degradation from logging.
>>
>>   In contrast, Salmon farming started in BC in the early 70s.
>> http://www.farmedanddangerous.org/solutions/industry-reform/history- in-bc/
>> Note that the period of steep decline over 37 years all took place   
>> before salmon farming started. And the period of modest increase   
>> was after farming started.
>>
>>    Perhaps, with respect to salmon farming, crap is not   
>> exclusively under salmon pens; some may be about salmon farming.
>>
>> Yt, Dave Webster, Kentville
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "David & Alison Webster"   
>> <dwebster@glinx.com>
>> To: <NatureNS@chebucto.ns.ca>
>> Sent: Saturday, June 09, 2012 9:12 PM
>> Subject: Farmed Salmon
>>
>>
>>> Dear All,                        June 9, 2012
>>>   There has been numerous articles and letters recently about   
>>> open-pen Salmon farms. One in particular caught my eye (June 9,   
>>> CH, Jim Gourlay) "...proven devastation of wild Atlantic Salmon   
>>> stocks wherever open-pen salmon aquaculture has been sited..."
>>>
>>>   As I recall, salmon stocks were in very bad shape before   
>>> culture of salmon was initiated; culture of salmon being a way to   
>>> offset the shortage of wild salmon and take some pressure off of   
>>> these wild stocks that were probably being overfished off Greenland.
>>>
>>>   Are there really examples of abundant salmon stocks in areas   
>>> where there has been no open-pen salmon farming ?
>>>
>>>   Yt, Dave Webster, Kentville
>>
>
>




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