'No ISA in BC' Says Canadian Government

On November 8, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), and the Province of British Columbia held a press conference to report that they had conducted a full investigation, reviewing both the samples and the initial reports, and that they found no consistent positive result indicating the presence of Infectious Salmon Anemia (ISA) in wild pacific salmon.

The best article I could have written wouldn't compare half as well to this article by John Fiorillo at Intrafish.com...

Enjoy!

ISA in Pacific salmon: Just kidding - First in Seafood News - Intrafish.com

No Conclusive Evidence in ISA Scare

Today, IntraFish Media reported that there was no conclusive evidence to support the results of a previous test that found the Infectious Salmon Anemia (ISA) virus in wild BC salmon.  An ISA expert at the University of Bergen in Norway apparently retested the samples and was unable to reproduce the results of the original testing.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CIFA) is the lead agency on this situation and has been developing their own tests and conclusions to verify or reject the presence of this virus.  I firmly believe it is important that people in the general public do not jump to conclusions and allow all the facts in this case to surface before taking any action.

Virus Reported in Wild BC Salmon- Fact or Fiction?

A potentially lethal virus known as 'Infectious Salmon Amenia' (or 'ISA' for short) has been reported to be found in wild Pacific salmon on the northern coast of British Columbia, Canada.  Up until now, ISA has only been found in Atlantic salmon, which is a different species than any of the 5 species of fish that make up the group 'Pacific' salmon.  Therefore, if found to be accurate, this test would represent the first time this virus has been found in a new species of fish.

There are several factors to this scenario that demand pause and closer inspection before we run through the streets touting the end of salmon as we in BC know it.  First off, the test used to identify the virus is extremely sensitive and prone to results of false-positives.  Next, only 2 samples in 48 tested positive, which warrants further testing even in the best of circumstances.  However, the lab claims that the samples were all used up in the testing, and that repeating the testing is now not possible.  Any run-of-the-mill scientist will tell you that in order to preserve scientific accuracy, you never use all the sample for testing because the results of any test must be able to be reproduced- that is one of the fundamental principles of the Scientific Method!  And it is a requirement of all experiments in case EXACTLY this situation arises!

Next, this ISA virus has been linked to fish farms in other countries, yet not one case has been detected in the hundreds of salmon farms in BC.  The lab who found the virus is saying that they have identified it as the 'European strain': this implies that the virus came from Europe in farmed salmon eggs (which are rigorously tested by both the shipping and receiving nations), was incubated in a population of farmed salmon in BC (which are also tested under stringent Canadian federal regulations), was transferred to a completely new species, and then detected in that species.  Personally, that sounds like too many leaps of faith to accept before I join the growing masses heralding an "ISA-Salmon Doomsday".

So let's all sit back, take a breath, and let the facts unfold before we make any rash decisions...

Salmon Farming Companies Invest in Natural Solution to Sea Lice

Two of the largest salmon farming companies in Scotland are currently in negotiations to invest massive amounts on research into a natural way to combat sea lice infections at salmon farms.  Each company is planning to invest £450,000 ($710,000 USD) over the next three years to develop and research wrasse, a group of fish that naturally eat the external parasites off other fish in the ocean. Wrasse represent a completely organic method of removing sea lice from salmon, without the use of chemicals or medicinal feed additives.  Of course there are certain challenges associated with culturing another species in the same growing environment as the salmon, but by mimicking the natural ecosystem and creating food-web structures within the confines of the farm, these companies are taking steps towards the increased sustainability of the industry.

For more information on wrasse see my article "Cleaner Wrasse: Biological Pesticides to Combat Sea Lice" below (dated November 2010).

Completion of Aquaculture MSc. Program at the University of Stirling

As of today, I have officially completed the MSc. program in Sustainable Aquaculture Business Management at the Institute of Aquaculture, University of Stirling.  My dissertation manuscript on aquaculture stock mortality insurance was submitted several weeks ago, and just this week I gave a presentation and had my oral defense.  Everything went very smoothly, and now the program is officially over!

I have returned to Vancouver, British Columbia where I am currently seeking employment in the aquaculture sector.  As my adventures continue, and as new and interesting aquaculture technologies and developments come to light, I will update this blog accordingly.  Also, please feel free to comment on the articles and use this blog as a forum for the sharing of ideas and constructive discussion- only through increased communication, education, and awareness can we propagate changes towards sustainability in the global aquaculture industry.