af, if the purpose of your last few posts was to lose your credibility in this subject, you succeeded. ![Smiley :)](http://www.fishingwithrod.com/yabbse/Smileys/default/smiley.gif)
Do you believe there is and probably always has been, a strain of a virus similar to ISA-E here on the west coast that does not harm salmonids? If so, do you think it's possible this is what Morton thinks she is finding? If you do, you should also know about another salmon virus called IHN (Infectious Hematopoietic Necrosis) This virus is particularly deadly to sockeye and had been found in virtually every Fraser River stock examined but here's the thing – very seldom does it a actually harm fish.
I’m really not concerned about a salmon feedlot proponent rating my credibility. Your analysis of the whole feedlot fiasco on the west coast comes down to suggesting that because science hasn’t found anything, that there is no need for us to be concerned.
If the science was any where near being independent and unbiased, I could see your point. Unfortunately the “science” you and others keep quoting is coming from organizations whose mandate is to promote the expansion of feedlots and from the feed lots themselves. The CFIA who is responsible for ensuring that diseases in Canada are kept under control, showed it’s attitude when it revealed in emails that it’s main objective was winning the war, in demonstrating that ISA doesn’t exist in BC. This comes from an organization that hasn’t even put in place a surveillance system to monitor farmed and wild salmon for the disease in spite of seeing the devastation this disease has had on the environment world wide. When some private individuals tried to do their job for them and used one of the most credible scientists available to do the testing, CFIA dismissed the results. The fact is the government wants to expand the feedlot business and they are doing everything possible to plow over any objections to their plans regardless of the science. The fact is this is a virus that can mutate unpredictably.
If you want to start focusing on credibility, start at the organizations that financially benefit from the feedlots being in place. Folks like Morton and others who oppose the feedlots are doing this at their cost. Their sole motivation is to eliminate one of the many hazards that our wild salmon are exposed to.
This is not a personal vendetta against individuals such as yourself. I’m sure that outside this discussion you are a great person and obviously passionate about your beliefs. Accept that those of us that object to these feedlots are the same type of people.
The difference between you and I is that I am suggesting we should be pro-active in our approach to this disease, while you are suggesting that we do nothing…..