So let me get this straight.............It's propaganda if the farming industry speaks up but it isn't when the reactionaries do?
I've been surprised to see how quiet you've been since Staniford got the boot and isn't providing the talking points anymore.
Sorry, been fishing, here is some for you.
Clues to wild salmon deaths surfacing
Pamela Suzanne Smyth, Special To The Star
Published: Thursday, April 05, 2012
Algal blooms, parasites, bacteria and viruses may be contributing to the decline of wild salmon stocks in BC, Dr. Kristi Miller, head of the Molecular Genetics Laboratory at the Pacific Biological Station, told the annual general meeting of the Qualicum Beach Streamkeepers Society Saturday.
Miller and her genomic fisheries management team are trying to understand such stock stressors so survival strategies can be implemented in collaboration with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
They look at diseases, changes in physiology and environmental factors associated with salmon migration and performance.
PAMELA SUZANNE SMYTH PHOTO
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Font:****"Dr. Kristi Miller deserves the Order of Canada and I feel relieved that Harper's budget did not chop her lab," said Anissa Reed, director of the Pacific Coast Wild Salmon Society, who saw Miller testify at the Cohen Commission of Inquiry into the Decline of Sockeye Salmon in the Fraser River.
"We heard her give evidence that her lab could test 200 fish for 30 pathogens in a single day. Up to 90 percent of the Fraser sockeye are dying in the river before spawning and no one could figure it out.
"In 2006," Reed said, "DFO tasked Miller to figure this out, and she discovered that the ones dying are fighting a virus and the ones that survived weren't. This is the first concrete clue we have to explain why entire runs of Fraser sockeye are dying on the river banks."
The lab's testing capabilities have since been increased.
In her talk, titled 'How do we recognize dead fish swimming,' Miller said one hypothesis is that algal blooms are smothering fish gills, causing them to suffer hypoxia or oxygen deprivation.
In 2007, the finding of toxic algae in fish gills indicated higher annual blooms than in 2008, she said. The fish grew more slowly than in 2008, she said, and, "they didn't appear to be outright starving."
As well, she said, "in the Fraser River, they're carrying quite a few pathogens and parasites."
Parvovirus and flava bacteria are most prevalent, Miller said. "Parvovirus," usually associated with cats and dogs, "has never been shown to be in fish before," she said.
Stress likely plays a role in the presence of the fatal virus, she said.
As the fish swim upstream to spawn, she said, their energy goes towards the journey and their immune system response shut downs, which makes them more susceptible to pathogens.
In 2010, she said, tagged and radio-tracked fish showed a 9.5 percent lower probability of making it to the spawning grounds if they were carrying the parvovirus in three tissues, such as muscle, brain and liver.
"Harrison River is the only sockeye stock increasing," she said, and in that river, "we've yet to find fish that test positive for parvovirus."
As well, Harrison sockeye spend six to eight months in fresh-water lakes, while others spend up to two years in fresh water. She said there's evidence some Harrison salmon migrate through the Johnston Strait.
Fish farms in Johnston Strait have been a source of controversy, though Miller didn't mention them.
Harrison sockeye, she said, appear to spend less time in fresh water and don't migrate as quickly into northern Pacific waters as do all other sockeye.
Fish that die in deep ocean waters pose a challenge to research, she said, "because you can't see them die."
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Topic: Some fish farm reading. (Read 16266 times)