Fish farm processing plants contaminate ocean
Posted: Nov 28th, 2017, 11:41 pm
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Spokeswoman Emma Pullman said there are no regulations in Canada at either the provincial or federal level to control or monitor what is in the wastewater released into from fish farms and processing plants.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) disagrees, saying that though HSMI has been found in fish infected with the piscine reovirus in Europe, there's not enough evidence to suggest a direct causal relationship between the virus and the disease in B.C.
"PRV is not linked to any disease in British Columbia. HSMI, the disease that Morton is alleging may exist in B.C., is not found in wild or farmed fish in this province,” said Roberts.
When piscine reovirus was detected in B.C. in 2010, there was speculation it had been introduced by salmon farms. But Roberts said Marine Harvest looks forward to submitting research to the court that shows that's not true.
Section 3 of the AAR authorizes the owner or operator of an aquaculture facility to deposit into water the classes of deleterious substances mentioned in section 2, as long as the conditions outlined in section 4 through 14 are met.
These Regulations do not regulate the approval, application, or any other element of drug or pesticide use (other than what is specified), or the disposal of fish waste from fish processing activities.
Aquaculture Activities Regulations Guidance for Owners and Operators
Conditions
4. The deleterious substance must be deposited in the operation of the aquaculture facility and the facility must be operated under an aquaculture licence.
Cactusflower wrote:The last time this processing plant was inspected by the BC government inspectors was in 2013. They failed the inspection but were allowed to continue their operation without penalties of any kind. That's the kind of government we had for 16 years. The environment was not one of their priorities. Their priorities were monetary in nature. It was strictly a 'you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours' relationship with the Atlantic salmon farmers and anyone else who kept their war chest brimming with donations.
The Feds may be the regulators of B.C. aquaculture, but you can be sure that George Heyman is going to be a thorn in their side until they do something about these destroyers of our wild salmon and all other sea life in our coastal waters. The piscine reovirus-infested sea-pens and processing plants must be shut down.
“Since 2000, government agencies have been auditing BC salmon farms for disease and compliance with fish health management plans; these audits include examination of farm mortality records. During that time, licensed salmon farm veterinarians have reported their diseases to the regulatory veterinarians. One hundred and twenty times a year, the government audits check the veracity of the reports from the licensed salmon farm veterinarians. One hundred and twenty times a year, these audits confirm that the licensed salmon farm veterinarians are reliably reporting their diseases.”
Conclusions
In summary, our longitudinal study identified HSMI over an extended period in 2013–2014
on one farm in BC, Canada, and documented the same correlation between PRV and HSMI
lesions in heart tissues as reported for HSMI occurrences in Norway. This is the third country
in which PRV has been associated with HSMI lesions, providing supporting evidence that
PRV appears to be a component for HSMI development, but falling short of demonstrating
that PRV alone is sufficient to cause HSMI. However, it is important to put these data into perspective
given what we do not know about the role that PRV has on HSMI in BC salmon. Our
data describe the occurrence of HSMI lesions on one of four Atlantic Salmon farms we followed
through an entire ocean production cycle. Hence with these data alone, we cannot comment
on the spatial extent of this disease or potential impacts on other species, such as wild
Pacific salmon. Future epidemiological studies need to be extended both geographically and
temporally, to identify the extent of the disease, to further evaluate the relationship with PRV,
and to further elucidate predisposing factors that may contribute to the development of HSMI
in the field, including environmental and husbandry practices, and strain variation derived
through full viral genome sequencing. In addition, challenge studies should be conducted
using HSMI positive tissues in both Atlantic and Pacific salmon to assess the disease potential
across species and the contribution of PRV (or other identified agents) and additional contributing
factors to the development of HSMI lesions.
Supporting information
S1 File. Data extrapolated from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans—Aquaculture
Management Division—Fish Health and Surveillance Audit program. The data show
heart lesions identified on four farms located in the region of the farm of interest, for years
LordEd wrote:Something indicating they failed an inspection?
So the potential libels:
- failed inspection
- implied failed inspection was serious enough to shut down plant without bribery.
- bribed official ignored above without situation being rectified