[NatureNS] re West coast:Fw: Farmed Salmon

From: John and Nhung <nhungjohn@eastlink.ca>
To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
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Date: Sun, 04 Nov 2012 10:57:08 -0400
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To:  all

From:  John Sollows

Date:  Nov. 4/12

(Hi, Dave!)

Cannot resist chiming in, having spent most of my working life involved with
low-tech aquaculture for the benefit of the poor in less favoured societies.

I never did like salmonid culture much for two reasons:  (1) Salmonids are
carnivorous, so my vision of aquaculture as a reliever of pressure on wild
stocks is not likely to be realized by culture of same.  More the reverse.
(2) My vision of aquaculture as a producer of high-quality protein for poor
people is similarly not likely to be met by salmonids, which are relatively
pricey.  

Thirty years ago, I didn't foresee sufficiently the potential of large-scale
farms to pollute, but did feel very uncomfortable about introduction of
Atlantic salmon to B.C. because they were exotics , with all the invasive
potential that that might imply.

I belong to an environmental group which does not support cage culture of
salmonids and I personally support that stand.  But more importantly, I feel
strongly opposed to the rapid expansion currently underway.  A few cages in
an embayment may cause no noticeable harm, but things can change enormously
if the size of the operation is increased tenfold, and I find proposals to
drop tens of cages into virgin sites foolhardy and irresponsible.  The
sermon I always preached to anyone considering aquaculture always included
the following:  "Start small," and that should apply as strongly here as in
the Third World.

Isn't this just common sense, or am I missing something?  And common sense
aside, horror stories exist already of what may happen after an operation
gets very large.  We can argue till the cows come home about whether or not
subsequent disasters are due to overly rapid expansion, and the naysayers
can (somewhat disingenuously) shout that there is no evidence that there is
a cause-and-effect relationship, but sometimes, common sense and experience
similar to those discussed in the paper you quote, Dave, should carry the
day.

Time to shut up, for now!

-----Original Message-----
From: naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca [mailto:naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca]
On Behalf Of David Patriquin
Sent: November-04-12 10:03 AM
To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca; James W. Wolford
Cc: NatureNS
Subject: Re: [NatureNS] re West coast:Fw: Farmed Salmon

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.00600
33




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 abou