THE FISHERMAN, DECEMBER 16, 1996
Something seriously wrong with the system
Excerpts from a letter sent to DFO Pacific regional director Louis Tousignant:
I have recently reviewed hundreds of pages of intergovernment and industry correspondence on the importation of Atlantic salmon, released under the Freedom of Information Act. In those
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letters, DFO personnel openly acknowledge that importation of exotic diseases and strains is unavoidable if Atlantics are brought into B.C. and the establishment of Atlantic salmon in B.C. rivers was expected, despite an understanding that the public did not want Atlantic salmon or their diseases.
On Nov. 21, 1986, then DFO Pacific regional director Pat Chamut wrote to B.A. Hackett: "Repeat shipments of non-indigenous stocks into B.C. will, with time, guarantee the introduction of exotic disease."
On May 28, 1987, Bernd Lehman, president of the Western Trout Farmers' Association, said he was "strongly against" importing Atlantic salmon for fear of disease because disease testing was inadequate. "In the past three or four years," he wrote, "there have been instances of diseased eggs and fish introduced from the U.S. even though the stocks were
presumed disease free, according to Canadian Health Protection Standards."
And yet Atlantic eggs kept coming.
• Dr. Gary Hoskins of DFO and others regarded DFO's disease-testing regime as inadequate: "To most fish experts, the levels of sampling relied upon are too low....In summary, the risk of introducing an infectious agent with Atlantic salmon eggs is high, as well as real, if large repeated shipments are allowed without protective measures beyond those offered by the Canadian Fish Health Protection Regulations."
The public has also been misled on the potential for Atlantics establishing on this coast. Publicly, DFO's Ron Ginetz denies that Atlantics can become established but apparently that's not what he really thinks. "In my view," he wrote Feb. 19, 1991, "it is only a matter of time before we discover that Atlantics are
gaining a foothold in B.C....What should our position be in responding to inquiries? Do we prepare the public/user groups for the possibility, strategically plant the seed now or do we downplay the idea?"
Anyone educated about the impact of exotic diseases knows there will be severe ramifications to the establishment of Atlantic salmon in the Pacific. "The consensus was that introductions
generally have been harmful. That is, our fishery resources and our natural ecosystems throughout the world would be in better shape today if fish introductions had not been a common tool of fish management agencies over the last century." (Brian Riddell, head of salmon assessment at DFO, June 29, 1993.)
When the former director general of DFO says that repeated shipments of Atlantics guarantees the arrival of exotic diseases and then approves repeated shipments, something is seriously wrong with the system.
ALEXANDRA MORTON, Echo Bay
Thanks to everyone...
We want to thank everyone from CKNW, B.C. Packers and the UFAWU who contributed their time and effort to try and get the Steveston herring sale underway. As you know, the sales at Steveston and Vancouver, planned for Dec. 1 had to be cancelled. People who missed out the herring at the New Westminster sale two weeks earlier will unfortunately have to wait until next year.
A special mention should go to George Muktai and Sandy Wakabayashi for the work they did, and to Paul Diatoka and Andy Leckobit for the donation of plastic buckets which sold quite handily at the New Westminster sale.
A very pleasant holiday season to all the participants in the sale and may we all have a successful season in 1997.
DON TAYLOR, Steveston
It's your choice
Donate your Commercial Fisheries Conservation Stamp to the T. Buck Suzuki Environmental Foundation and protect salmon habitat.
Commercial fishermen called for the creation of a conservation stamp as a way to help protect and restore salmon habitat. Support was overwhelming. Not one penny of the money raised will go to the government. When you go to buy your personal fishing licence in the new year, you can choose to give the $10 stamp to the T. Buck Suzuki Environmental Foundation to continue its good work in saving habitat.
The T. Buck Suzuki Foundation is well known for its effort to stop the Kemano Completion Project, to get the GVRD to upgrade its sewage treatment, to protect urban salmon streams and to ensure that logging pratices are changed so that fish habitat is not destroyed. The Foundation has also worked on numerous marsh clean-up projects and stream restoration projects.
T. BUCK SUZUKI ENVIRONMENTAL FOUNDATION
#30-111 Victoria Drive, Vancouver, B.C. V5L 4C4 Telephone: (604) 255-8819 • Fax: (604) 255-3162
Edgar Birch, gillnetter
"We've done our bit with reduced catches. But we have to look after the spawning grounds, too. That's why my conservation stamp will go to T. Buck."
Ted Carter (left) and Paul Kandt working on a T. Buck Suzuki marsh cleanup project.
Russell Cameron, halibut/packer
"I feel good checking off T. Buck on my conservation stamp
because it's an organization run by fishermen, fighting to protect habitat for our future."