Week 1 Review: The Skeletons Rattling in Cohen’s Closet

This week marked the beginning of the end for salmon farming in British Columbia as the Cohen Commission finally opened the can of worms that is 'Diseases' and 'Aquaculture'.  The horror show lying in wait is like Justice Cohen walking onto the set of the film ‘Night of the Living Dead’ or ‘Dawn of the Dead’.

The Cohen Commission’s evidentiary hearings on ‘Diseases’ (August 22-25) were a watershed moment in the fight against the Norwegian-owned salmon farming industry (three companies based in Norway control 92% of the salmon farms in B.C.). 

 
Moreover, the start of the ‘Aquaculture’ hearings on Thursday (August 25) finally opened the door to Room 101 – a door which will remain open until at least September 8 when real life salmon hero Alexandra Morton takes the witness stand flanked by the salmon farming giants Marine Harvest and Grieg Seafood. 
 
We now have a much better idea of the skeletons lurking on B.C.’s disease-ridden salmon farms (for more background read “Fish Farmageddon: The Infectious Salmon Aquacalypse”).  

Details released during the course of an action-packed week included:
 
- A presentation by DFO in 2011 calculated that 60 billion viral particles are shed per hour from a single salmon farm holding 1 million farmed salmon
 
- Disease and mortality data detailing specific sites and companies made publicly available for the first time ever for the years 2002 to 2010 (including 28 million dead farmed salmon and the diseases: Renibacterium salmoninarum Infection, Lepeophtheirus Infection, Vibrio (Listonella) Infection, Piscirickettsia salmonis Infection, Viral Haemorrhagic Septicemia Virus Infection, Aeromonas salmonicida Infection and Myxobacterial Infection)
 
- Evidence from DFO’s Dr. Kristi Miller that her colleagues at DFO (Dr. Christine MacWilliams and Dr. Stewart Johnson) did not want farmed Atlantic salmon to be tested for Parvovirus
 
- A ‘Memorandum to the Minister’ which included: “Has anyone looked at Atlantic salmon brains for similar abnormalities?  Is it possible that such brain abnormalities do indeed exist in farmed Atlantics but that no one has looked?”
 
- Genomic data collected by DFO’s Dr. Kristi Miller indicate that a potentially novel disease, possibly viral in origin “could account for the loss of >27 million salmon”
 
- Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia Virus detected in disease herring and farmed Atlantic salmon  
 
- A DFO partnership with Marine Harvest and the Pacific Salmon Foundation on testing for ISA (Infectious Salmon Anaemia) Virus, IHN (Infectious Hematopoietic Necrosis) Virus and VHS Virus
 
- A $95,000 project funded in 2011 called “Genomic characterisation of jaundice-associated mortality events in cultured Chinook salmon” involves DFO’s Dr. Kristi Miller and Creative Salmon who farm Chinook salmon in the Clayoquot Sound UNESCO Biosphere Reserve 
 
- An email in January 2011 from Dr. Kristi Miller to DFO’s Dr. Laura Richards stated that: “the approvals for media interviews have not moved past Ottawa Communications yet.....This seems like complete incompetence (on their part) to me”
 
 
Here’s what we learned last week at the Cohen Commission via documents filed as Exhibits (full transcripts will not be available online for a week):
 
Monday, August 22:
 
VHS (Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia) Virus was detected in diseased herring taken from an Atlantic salmon farm in Barkley Sound in March 2010.  92% of the dead or moribund herring tested positive for VHS Virus indicating that the high mortality was due to VHS disease.  VHS Virus was also found associated with mortality of Atlantic farmed salmon with 25% testing positive (Exhibit #1457).  
 
DFO is partnering with Marine Harvest and the Pacific Salmon Foundation on testing for ISA (Infectious Salmon Anaemia) Virus, IHN (Infectious Hematopoietic Necrosis) Virus and VHS Virus – according to a presentation in April 2011 (Exhibit #1461).
 
Gyrodactylus salaris (a deadly parasite from the Atlantic) causing increased mortality via Gryrodactylosis was reported in February 2011 in the Little Campbell River hatchery (Exhibit #1470). 
 
4,726 farmed salmon were tested for ISA Virus between 2003 and 2010 and all have been reported as negative (according to data compiled for the BC Fish Health and Surveillance Program) (Exhibit #1471).  
 
Tuesday, August 23:
 
The reporting of Gyrodactylus salaris was a “programming error” (Exhibit #1479). 
 
Scientific papers published in 1991 (Exhibit #1489) and 1996 (Exhibit #1491) detailed marine anaemia (plasmacytoid leukemia) in farmed salmon in British Columbia.   Another scientific paper published in the journal Cancer Research in 1992 called plasmacytoid leukemia a ‘retrovirus’ and reported that it had caused mortalities in farmed Chinook salmon since 1988.  The paper (Exhibit #1490 - file too big to attach here: download via Commission web-site) tentatively called this virus Salmon Leukemia Virus (SLV).  Another scientific paper published in the Canadian Veterinary Journal in 1995 reported that “marine anaemia is an endemic problem for farmed Chinook salmon in British Columbia” (Exhibit #1492). 
 
Disease data detailing specific sites and companies was made publicly available for the first time ever – for the years 2010 (Exhibit #1497), 2009 (Exhibit #1509), 2008 (Exhibit #1498), 2007 (Exhibit #1508), 2006 (Exhibit #1507), 2004 (Exhibit #1505), 2003 (Exhibit #1504) and 2002 (Exhibit #1503) (2005 data is not yet available). 
 
Data for 2010 includes 42,394 dead farmed salmon at a Marine Harvest site in Kid Bay in September 2010 and ‘Lepeophtheirus Infection’ (sea lice) listed at Kid Bay in August 2010.  Diseases listed at Marine Harvest sites included ‘Renibacterium salmoninarum Infection’ at Humphrey Rocks; ‘Vibrio (Listonella) Infection’ at Sargeaunts Pass and ‘Myxobacterial Infection’ at Thurlow South.  Diseases listed at Pacific National Group (Cermaq/Mainstream) include ‘Viral Haemorrhagic Septicemia Virus Infection’ at Dixon and ‘Aeromonas salmonicida Infection’ at Ross Pass.  Total morts (dead salmon) reported in 2010 for all salmon farms in British Columbia were 1,521,569 (Exhibit #1497).     
 
Data for 2009 includes 68,992 dead farmed at a Pacific National Group (Cermaq/Mainstream) site at Mussel Rock in the Clayoquot Sound UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in June 2009 with ‘Aeromonas salmonicida Infection’ and ‘Myxobacterial Infection’ reported in June and July at the Mussel Rock site.  Total morts (dead salmon) reported in 2009 for all salmon farms in British Columbia were 2,712,046 (Exhibit #1509).   
 
Diseases reported in 2008 include ‘Piscirickettsia salmonis Infection’ at Fortune Channel (Pacific National Group) which was treated with OTC (Oxytetracycline) and ‘Myxobacterial Infection’ at Millar (Pacific National Group) which was treated with Tribrissen and Aquaflor.  ‘Cytophaga-Flexibacter-Flavobacter-Myxobacteria’ was also reported at Site #9 operated by Target Marine and details ‘Increased mortality due to mouthrot’.  Total morts (dead salmon) reported in 2008 for all salmon farms in British Columbia were 4,139,649 (Exhibit #1498).  
 
Total morts reported in 2007 were 3,298,149 (Exhibit #1508); 157,014 in 2006 (Exhibit #1507); 3,392,946 in 2004 (Exhibit #1505); 8,350,585 in 2003 (Exhibit #1504) and 1,492,227 in 2002 (Exhibit #1503) (data for 2005 is not yet available).  Total morts for the period 2002 to 2010 (without 2005 data) was reported as 28 million (28,064,185 dead farmed salmon).
 
During 2003, Pacific National Group (Cermaq/Mainstream) reported 132,381 dead farmed salmon at one site at Dixon in May 2003 in the Clayoquot Sound UNESCO Biosphere Reserve with a further 30,884 morts in April; 23,568 morts in June and 15,463 morts in July.  Another Pacific National Group site at Obstruction reported 61,849 morts in March 2003; 143,432 morts in May; 19,766 morts in June and 29,382 morts in July.  At the Dixon and Obstruction sites during 2003 the disease ‘Infectious Hematopoetic Necrosis Virus Infection’ was reported (Exhibit #1504). 
 
An email from DFO Dr. Kristi Miller to her colleague Dr. Christine MacWilliams claimed that Dr. MacWilliams did not want farmed Atlantic salmon to be tested for Parvovirus and that if DFO “were to ask industry to voluntarily submit fish for testing” that Dr. MacWilliams “would recommend to them that it would not be in their best interest to comply” (Exhibit #1500).  Dr. Kristi Miller sent a similar email to her colleague Dr. Stewart Johnson claiming that he saw “no reason to test Atlantic salmon” (Exhibit #1501). 
 
A scientific paper – “ISA Virus in Chile: Evidence of Vertical Transmission” – published in the Archives of Virology reported that ISA was imported to Chile from Norway via infected eggs from a Norwegian broodstock company (Exhibit #1502). 
 
Wednesday, August 24:
 
Genomic data collected by DFO’s Dr. Kristi Miller “indicate that a potentially novel disease, possibly viral in origin, has been affecting a high proportion of juvenile and adult Fraser River sockeye salmon”.  The report stated that “we could account for the loss of >27 million salmon in 2008 associated with this unhealthy signature alone” (Exhibit #1512).
 
A presentation by Dr. Kristi Miller at a DFO workshop in April 2011 reported “90% prevalence of MRS fish late June in the ocean in 2007” compare to 40% in 2008 (Exhibit #1513 - file too big to attach here: download via Commission web-site).  
 
An email from DFO’s Dr. Kyle Garver to Dr. Kristi Miller in October 2009 stated that: “If the sound-bite ‘Cancer-causing viral disease responsible for salmonid declines’ gets out to the media then it will be extremely hard to retract such a statement if in fact future studies do not support this conclusion” (Exhibit #1515).
 
A ‘Memorandum to the Minister’ titled “Epidemic of Novel, Cancer-causing Viral Disease May Be Associated With Wild Salmon Declines in BC” included the comment: “Has anyone looked at Atlantic salmon brains for similar abnormalities?  Is it possible that such brain abnormalities do indeed exist in farmed Atlantics but that no one has looked?” (Exhibit #1516).
 
A report - “Timeline of Genomic Research relating to the Mortality-related Genomic Signature Hypothesized to be associated with a potentially Novel Virus” – dated May 2011 by Dr. Kristi Miller (Exhibit #1517) included: “There were no researchers in BC still studying Plasmacytoid leukemia (often called a syndrome as there is no identified infective agent, although some believe that Nucleospora salmonis is the agent responsible), and while it had been studied in the 1980’s-early 1990’s in association with mortalities in Chinook salmon net pens, with the exception of one survey in the early 1990’s it had not been looked at extensively in wild fish. Interest in this disease/syndrome waned once Chinook farming was taken over by the farming of Atlantic salmon, that did not appear to have an issue with this disease/syndrome, and researchers working on it moved out of the province.”
 
A presentation by DFO’s Dr. Kyle Garver includes: “Aquaculture within sea-cages leads to possible disease risks from the marine environment due to the generality that fish sharing water are likely to share diseases” (Exhibit #1518 - too big a file: download via here). 
 
A report by DFO’s Dr. Kristi Miller dated October 2009 stated that: “The viral-tumour linkage in our data indicate is suggestive of the presence of a virus that can induce cancer; viruses in the retroviral family are commonly associated with tumours”.  And that: “There is strong evidence to suggest that the genomic profiles and tumours observed in all three salmonid species are linked to Plasmacytoid Leukemia (PL) that is purported to be caused by a Salmon Leukemia Virus (SLV).  This relatively unknown virus was associated in the 1980s through 1990s with mortalities of cultured Chinook salmon in fresh and saltwater in BC....SLV causes severe anaemia (salmon farmers call it marine anaemia)”. 
 
Furthermore: “We cannot discount the fact that much of the documentation of mortality associated with this disease is from cultured fish (hatcheries and aquaculture facilities); hence the public and media could be quick to conclude that this is a ‘hatchery’ or ‘aquaculture’ impact on wild fish.  It is certainly possible that these high density rearing environments can increase the incidence of disease” (Exhibit #1523). 
 
Thursday, August 25:
 
A briefing note prepared by Dr. Stewart Johnson (DFO’s Head of Aquatic Health) for DFO’s Dr. Laura Richards (dated March 14, 2011) before she testified at the Cohen Commission on March 17, 2011 included: “Infectious Salmon Anaemia Virus (ISAV) causes the disease Infectious Salmon Anaemia (ISA)....Signs of ISA disease and the presence of ISAV have never been found in British Columbian or adjacent waters”.  It also included: “Marine Anaemia: also known as plasmacytoid leukemia, was first described disease of farmed Pacific salmon in British Columbia in the early 1990s....The causative agent of this disease is controversial....The link between the genomic signature, a retrovirus, Marine Anaemia and fish farms stems from presentations made in Nanaimo, that have been pick up by Dr. Morton and others.  In a meeting last week.....In attendance was Dr. Brian Riddell as well as representatives of BCSGA and Marine Harvest.  You may be asked about this new development by their lawyers as there is no implication of salmon farms” (Exhibit #1526).
 
A$95,000 project called “Genomic characterisation of jaundice-associated mortality events in cultured Chinook salmon” involves DFO’s Dr. Kristi Miller and Creative Salmon who farm Chinook salmon in the Clayoquot Sound UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.  The project (undated but from 2011) states that: “Over the past seven years mortalities of Chinook farmed salmon in the Tofino inlet have been observed with unique clinical presentation.  The salmon present with mild to severe yellow discoloration of the skin (jaundice).  This is most evident on the abdomen and around the eyes.  These fish also have very pale gills indicating anemia” (Exhibit #1527). 
 
A briefing note by Dr. Kristi Miller dated November 2008 stated that: “Retroviruses are neoplastic viruses, hence associated with cancer.  SLV was apparently concentrated from tumours behind the eyes of afflicted Chinook salmon” (Exhibit #1528). 
 
A presentation by DFO’s Dr. Kyle Garver in 2011 on “Risks of Infectious Hematopoietic Necrosis dispersion associated with Atlantic salmon net pen aquaculture” included graphics on the spread of IHN and calculated that 60 billion viral particles are shed per hour from a single salmon farm holding 1 million farmed salmon with 30% infection (Exhibit #1529). 
 
A ‘Discovery Islands Modelling Report’ by DFO Dr. Kyle Garver modelled ‘virus shedding’ and particle tracking from salmon farms operated by Marine Harvest and Mainstream (Cermaq) in the Discovery Islands (Exhibit #1530 - download via here).
 
A ‘Memorandum to the Minister’ titled “Indications of a Possibility of Infectious Diseases Associated with Poor Survival of Southern BC Salmon Stocks” included: “An infectious disease may be affecting the survival of sockeye, chinook and coho salmon in southern BC....lesions were found in the brain of over 70% of the Fraser sockeye salmon sampled in the marine approaches in 2009.....a parasitic infection could also be responsible for the lesions” (Exhibit #1531).   
 
An email from DFO’s Dr. Kristi Miller to Dr. Gary Marty (dated July 2011) included: “In general, what percentage of mortality events in aquaculture are NOT ascribed to a specific pathogen?......It would seem to me that there are likely mortality events (e.g. jaundice syndrome in cultured Chinook here in and in Chile, possibly marine anaemia – but I know that you don’t believe it truly exists.....In some of your reports you have used the term ISA-ish.  Do you think that fish that carry the pathology associated with your use of this term might be affected by an undescribed pathogen?” (Exhibit #1532). 
 
An email from Dr. Kristi Miller to DFO’s Dr. Laura Richards in January 2011 stated that: “the approvals for media interviews have not moved past Ottawa Communications yet....Media people like Mark Hume are likely to publish what they have anyway, and will likely lambaste DFO for not being willing to respond to his media requests.  That and whatever outlandish conclusions he makes about aquaculture impacts will be the crux of his story......This seems like complete incompetence (on their part) to me” (Exhibit #1533).

Friday, August 26:
 
[Only one Exhibit is currently available – more will be posted when the Cohen Commission finds the time]
 
A ‘Policy and Practice Report: Aquaculture Regulation in British Columbia’ dated July 2011 provides an over of DFO, other federal departments and the Province of BC with respect to finfish aquaculture.  The report “relies principally on information obtained from documents disclosed to the commission or otherwise made available during the commission‘s investigations” (Exhibit #1534 or PPR20 - too big a file: download via here).
 
“The purpose of this Report is not to engage in the scientific debates surrounding aquaculture nor is it to narrate or summarize the entirety of the political debate about fish farms in BC. The aim of this Report is modest. It is to describe the regulation of finfish aquaculture in BC, with particular attention to the DFO‘s role and responsibilities”. 
 
The report includes:
 
“In Canada, salmon farming began in BC in 1972 with the production of coho salmon, and in New Brunswick in the 1970s with Atlantic salmon farming experiments. The first commercial farm was established in New Brunswick in 1978.  In the mid-1980s Norwegian companies in BC attempted to culture chinook salmon. Around the same time, restrictions on the import of Atlantic salmon eggs were lifted and Atlantic salmon became the principal species for aquaculture” (p8)
 
“The first modern salmon farms, farming Pacific salmon, appeared in BC in the 1970s.  The 1980s saw a rapid increase in the number of farms and a shift to predominantly Atlantic salmon culture. By 1986, there were 70 farms operating in BC, many of them concentrated along the Sunshine Coast. By 1988, there were 101 different salmon-farming companies operating in BC” (p9)
 
“In the 1990s, significant consolidation of the industry took place, such that by 1997, there were 79 active farms operated by 16 salmon-farming companies. By 2008, there were 17 companies operating 136 salmon farms in BC marine waters. In 2011, four main companies engage in finfish aquaculture on the BC coast, holding 130 tenure licences, not all of which are in active operation at any one time. Those four companies are Mainstream Canada, Marine Harvest Canada, Grieg Seafood BC, and Creative Salmon Company. Creative Salmon is a Canadian company which raises Chinook salmon; the other three companies are Norwegian, and raise Atlantic salmon” (p11)   
 
“Concerns about the industry, particularly speculation about its potential effects on the environment and wild salmon populations, continue to be a matter of public discourse. For example, the commission‘s website has received nearly 400 public submissions on aquaculture-related issues as of June 29, 2011. Those concerns include the following: That sea lice abundance on fish farms could have a negative effect on wild salmon populations, particularly on out-migrating smolts, either by increasing the numbers of lice on wild fish to unhealthy levels or by sea lice acting as a potential disease vector, transferring pathogens from farmed to wild fish....That fish farms serve as disease incubators and have the potential to spread disease to wild fish” (p12-13)
 
“DFO Communication About Fish Farms: Nationally, just prior to the Morton Decision, DFO conducted some preliminary work on a communications plan for aquaculture to complement the SAP.  This plan or “approach” was designed to be implemented in three phases (“Identifying our Aquaculture Story”, “Telling our Aquaculture Story”, and “Engagement and Outreach”) over three to five years, with the objectives of strengthening public confidence, increasing transparency, demonstrating Canada‘s development of “long-term strategic solutions to support the responsible growth of the sector based on a strong regulatory environment and sound science”, and demonstrating the “aquaculture industry is a responsible, legitimate and viable use of the marine resource”” (p60-61).   
 
“Until DFO has had the opportunity to “receive and consider recommendations with respect to salmon aquaculture stemming from the Cohen Commission‘s Inquiry … the Department will not … make decisions on applications for new marine salmon sites or for amendments to existing licenses that have a potential to result in substantial change in the environmental footprint,” though the department will continue to accept applications and advised applicants of the delayed review and decision timelines” (p73-74)
 
“Fish Health: “Many of the concerns expressed by groups opposed to open net pen finfish aquaculture focus on the potential for disease and pathogen transfer from farmed to wild salmon. The aquaculture industry is also concerned about fish health, given operators’ investments in their fish and their desire to ensure their health and marketability. Industry has identified a “lack of available fish health management tools‖ as an obstacle to aquaculture development and sustainability” (p77)
 
“Atlantic salmon escapes: “Each year, Atlantic salmon escape from finfish aquaculture facilities along the BC Coast. The number of reported Atlantic salmon escaping into BC waters has fluctuated between 1991 and 2009, with a low of 17 fish in 2006 and a high of 111,769 in 2008. In total, since 1991, industry has reported 599,838 escaped Atlantic salmon” (p89)
 
“International Agreements Related to Aquaculture: “Canada is party to a number of Memorandums of Understanding (“MOUs”) with other countries concerning aquaculture development: Memorandum of Understanding on Aquaculture Cooperation Between the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Subsecretaría de Pesca of Chile (2008). This MOU aims for cooperation in sustainable development of aquaculture, including technical, scientific and economic cooperation. Memorandum of Understanding on Fisheries Cooperation between the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Ministry of Fisheries and Coastal Affairs of Norway on Bilateral Co-operation on Fisheries, Aquaculture and International Governance Issues (2008). This MOU aims to encourage both countries to “promote the development of technical and scientific cooperation related to fisheries, aquaculture and oceans issues” (p101)
 
“In 2006, CAAR and Marine Harvest announced the completion of a “Framework for Dialogue” agreement.  The Framework for Dialogue was designed to foster collaborative efforts between the two parties towards resolving conflict between open net salmon farming and its effects on wild stocks in the Broughton Archipelago. The agreement provides for exploration on the issue of establishing fish migration corridors, collaborative research into the impacts of sea lice on wild stocks, increased sea lice monitoring in the Broughton Archipelago, and closed-containment technology research. 
The Broughton Archipelago Monitoring Program (“BAMP”) was established in 2010 between three salmon farming companies operating in the area (Marine Harvest Canada, Mainstream Canada, Greig Seafood BC), DFO, researchers from the University of Washington and University of Prince Edward Island, and CAAR. The program calls for the monitoring of sea lice on wild and farmed salmon in the Broughton Archipelago according to its sampling protocol. The objectives of the program include the following: improve the understanding of sea lice levels on juvenile wild pink and chum salmon, evaluate the effectiveness of farm management approaches to reduce the infection of sea lice during the out migration seasons, maintain or improve public confidence and collect data for comparison purposes across years” (p114-115)
 
 “Auditor General of Canada’s The Effects of Salmon Farming in B.C. on the Management of Wild Salmon Stocks (2000).....The audit concluded that DFO is not fulfilling its legislative obligations to protect wild salmon and its habitat from the impacts of fish farming activities on the West Coast. It found that DFO lacks the scientific knowledge required to properly enforce the Fisheries Act and it has not identified priorities for research into Atlantic salmon interaction with wild stocks. According to the report, the Department needs to apply the precautionary approach to its review of the federal regulatory regime and should incorporate new knowledge into the development of regulations, monitor and enforce compliance with the regulations, and assess the effectiveness of the regulations” (p124)