Farmed Fish Disease Spreading

NY Times - ISA found in the Fraser

More evidence that fish farming is a dirty industry and more evidence that a large scale offshore farm in the Strait of Juan de Fuca should not even be considered.

With WDFW reducing the seasons on Strait of Juan de Fuca rivers by one month to protect declining steelhead populations we should not even consider raising steelhead in farms off these streams river mouths.  Where do the farm proponents think the escaped steelhead will go?  If we are concerned about Chambers Creek steelhead in the Elwha, we should be even more concerned about farm raised steelhead escaping and straying into the Elwha and other small streams along the Strait.

The Strait is a major feeding ground for both outgoing and incoming salmon.  How will the sealice, waste, and disease impact the populations of forage fish our wild fish depend on.  With the strong currents these negative impacts coming from the farms will be less localized and impact the entire Strait.

How much more evidence do we need to stop the expansion of fish farming?

Deep Wading

Seattle Times Article on Strait of Juan de Fuca Fish Farms

 

The corporate BS is getting deep on this one.  Just after the discovery of a major disease from farmed salmon in BC this quote from the article jumped out at me.

"Bielka, with Pacific Aquaculture, said he knows the company will face scrutiny, but "the science is behind us 100 percent," he said."

100 percent?  Your aquaculture operations are perfect according to all the available science?