The Hook

Not even an author to this article

I think that it would make real journalists want to vomit.

Francis

There you are - the authors name is now up. Francis, on behalf of a few thousand salmon farmers in BC, thank you for giving us a voice. Refreshing to say the least. Pass along your secret (like picking up the phone, calling and checking facts) to others at The Tyee!

Amazing!

An article with some balanced comments. What a treat. Be careful, though -- if you get too balanced and accurate you'll lose more than half your devoted readers.

And it does have an author. Was that just an oversight when the story was posted?

salmon farmers

It's clear that all of you that are against Alexandra Morton and the reporting done by the Tyee are simply "salmon farmers" trying to protect your jobs. Your industry is just as bad as the Alberta tar sands. It's shameful that our government is allowing the destruction of the environment for the sake of corporate interest. I have to wonder about the legacy that we are leaving for future generations.

Ms. Plourde I Beg to Differ

Like many issues created by industrial extraction, the devil is always in the details. I would encourage Ms. Plourde to dig a little deeper into the facts of this case.

First, for those who haven't seen it, please watch the very short but cogent video from BC film-maker Twyla Roscovich (herself raised in a fish farm family).

http://www.callingfromthecoast.com/

Second, the Norwegian salmon farming industry only released the data in question on...last Friday at 4:55 pm. And that was only after Alexandra's paddle down the Fraser River AND the release of Twyla's video.

Third, the Norwegian salmon farm industry has only released about 25% of the records that have been asked for. Until last week, they described this data as thousands and thousands of pages of documents that would nearly bankrupt them to reproduce. Yet on Friday, voila, the records are suddenly on line.

If the farms are disease free, publish ALL their records. They are using public waters to flush their effluent, in order to raise their share price and cash in on the stock market. All in BC waters.

Salmon farmers, be responsible corporate citizens. Stop the secrecy. Provide all of your disease data to the Cohen Commission. What are you afraid of.

Great discussion.

Not 'against' anyone, just want facts

Hi Charleen;

With all due respect, we salmon farmers are not 'against' anyone. What we are against is lies and deceit - if Ms. Morton is guilty of that (and in my eyes she is), then please excuse us for pointing this out. You're not going to like it, I understand.

I'm a salmon farmer - full transparency.

I would recommend that others who comment on this page (like lawyers who represent Ms. Morton) should be as transparent before accusing me of be "secretive".

One last thing - the fish health data released to Cohen was not because of a canoe paddle - it was released because the Cohen Commission asked for it and the hearings have started. You'd think a lawyer would know that?

Working together

I participated on the paddle, and my reasoning for going was to get out there on the beautiful Fraser and to support the cause that wants to protect and conserve one of BC's most integral resources: wild salmon. It was a positive experience to be out there on the water.

I believe that there are many potential factors contributing to the decline of wild salmon -- net fish farms being only one. The paddlers seemed to support the further study of all potential threats to wild salmon, not just fish farms. I also walked from Vanier Park on Saturday, and did not sense any dramatic activism or debate or anger, just good energy in raising awareness of a resource that needs to be protected in many ways.

Alexandra, who has led this months long migration, is calling for the records of all disease, not just parasites, going back to the beginning of the decline in the early 1990s, instead of back just 5 years.

There are many other factors potentially contributing to the decline of wild salmon, including raw sewage and other pollution in the water, lack of food supplies out in the ocean, more predators, warming waters, etc. -- many of these factors working in tandem with each other.

It is important that we examine and study each factor.

Alexandra, whose concentration is net-pen fish farms, is calling for more studies on the already correlating factors of declining salmon populations and net farms in migration routes. I have never seen an interview or anything else where she claims to have all the answers, but provides correlation theories, which need to be studied more. This is what scientists do. They develop hypothesis and work to prove them right or wrong in order to gain a clearer picture of the problem at hand.

I think if everyone worked together in a positive manner to study each and every potential factor potentially contributing to the decline of wild salmon, we'd get somewhere. Throwing insults around is counter-productive.

Correction

I paddled on Saturday and walked on Monday from the park.

A common thread

Industry points to fluctuations in salmon returns in the past in the same way climate change deniers point to fluctuations in the earth's surface temperature.

For the same reasons perhaps?

Campbell's popularity is 9%, but its like I walked into a meeting of that 9% here.

Good advise MaryW

MaryW, couldn't agree with you more. There are many things going on in the ocean and river, aquaculture is just one.

But the next time your new best friend calls me a foreigner, or that I don't care about the environment, please remind her of your wishes.

And please remember, Ms. Morton walked away from any collaboration with industry and will not participate in cooperative science - that is not something a "scientist" does. She sticks to mud slinging, and court cases. I think you may need to know more about the person you want to hang out with.

My fish are calling - gotta go feed 'em.

And then there's Frank

Really helpful advise Frank. Keep up the useful posts....