From yesterday, Eddie.
Net-Pen Fish Farms - Stop Playing Russian Roulette with Wild Salmon!
People from all backgrounds answered the call to raise public awareness and deliver the message of a call to action on testing farmed salmon immediately that would involve First Nations being involved in all the steps, and selecting scientists to do the testing. We all urge the Honourable Hunter Tootoo to meet with Alexandra Morton, Rick Routledge, Kristi Miller, Dr. Kibenge and the First Nation Wild Salmon Alliance.
News of the first published evidence that a European variant of the infectious salmon anaemia virus (ISAV) is present in British Columbia is extremely disturbing, and stakeholders are legitimately alarmed. The peer-reviewed study was published in the Virology Journal, a scientific publication from BioMed Central, a leading academic open access publisher in the areas of biology, medicine and health. Co-author Dr. Rick Routledge said that the potential of the ISA virus to be contributing to widespread decline in sockeye salmon populations must not be taken lightly. Dr. Alexandra Morton, independent biologist with Raincoast Research Society, stated, “This work gives B.C. and our U.S. neighbors the opportunity to avoid tragic consequences, but immediate steps must be taken.”
This study adds to our grave concerns about fish farms, and they must be removed from the ocean,” asserted Shane John, a Katz First Nation fisher.
“It is extremely urgent for the Liberal government to meet with scientists publishing on the ISA virus, and the First Nations Wild Salmon Alliance (FNWSA) to avoid the unimaginable – the loss or disappearance of wild salmon due to viruses such as ISA,” stated Jim Hobart, Chief of the Spuzzum First Nation (east of Yale, B.C.) and member of the FNWSA. “The fish farm industry approach of attacking the peer-reviewed science only emphasizes the need for immediate open and transparent virus testing of farmed salmon in those open-net pens,” added Chief Hobart.
“We are all in favour of long overdue testing of ocean farmed salmon, but what is also required is an immediate stop to any expansion of open-net farms on the migration routes of wild salmon,” insisted Chief Michelle Lee Edwards of Sekw’el’wes First Nation in Lillooet.
The Ahousaht First Nation made the historic decision in 2015 to have a fish farm removed from their territory. “By not allowing this fish farm in our territory, we gave the wild salmon of the Atleo River a fighting chance to survive, and we protected nearby clam beds to feed future generations,” said Lennie John of Ahousaht First Nation. “To me, this study reconfirms fish farms don’t belong in the ocean,” Lennie added.
"Open-net fish farms could very well be ticking virus bombs, and raises the spectre of wild salmon vanishing, with devastating consequences for biodiversity and the wild salmon economy, warned Eddie Gardner, Coordinator of the Wild Salmon Defenders Alliance. "To prevent this, we need to honor the precautionary principle by removing open-net fish farms from the ocean," Eddie said emphatically.
We were honoured by Coleen Thomas of the Tseil Waututh who welcomed us to the territory shared by the Tseil Waututh, Musqueam and Squamish. She said she was in solidarity and her heart was full of good feelings to be in solidarity with the people at the rally and what we stood for. OCM!"
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Topic: Get your facts straight? (Read 1344170 times)