Cohen made 75 recommendations and RECOMMENDATION #3 is:
DFO’s obligations in relation to net-pen salmon farms
3 The Government of Canada should remove from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans’ mandate the promotion of salmon farming as an industry and farmed salmon as a product.
He cites potential for “conflict of interest,” “that DFO will impose less onerous fish health standards on salmon farms, than it would it its only interest were the protection of wild salmon” and he states “There is a risk DFO will be less rigorous in enforcing the Fisheries Act against the operators of salmon farms.” Powerful words!
In Recommendation 14 Cohen warns that salmon farm licenses should only be for one year:
Limiting salmon farm production and licence duration
14 Beginning immediately and continuing until at least September 30, 2020, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans should ensure that
the maximum duration of any licence issued under the Pacific Aquaculture Regulations for a net-pen salmon farm in the Discovery Islands (fish health sub- zone 3-2) does not exceed one year;
DFO does not issue new licences for net-pen salmon farms in the Discovery Islands (fish health sub-zone 3-2); and
DFO does not permit increases in production at any existing net-pen salmon farm in the Discovery Islands (fish health sub-zone 3-2).
Justice Cohen is the first person of authority to present salmon farming as an activity so dangerous to wild salmon that salmon farms should “cease to operate” if risk to wild salmon is more than minimal:
RECOMMENDATION 18:
If at anytime between now and September 30, 2020, the minister of fisheries and oceans determines that net-pen salmon farms in the Discovery Islands (fish health sub-zone 3-2) pose more than a minimal risk of serious harm to the health of migrating Fraser River sockeye salmon, he or she should promptly order that those salmon farms cease operations.
A lot of salmon feedlots are included in sub-zone 3-2:
While industry claims this will only affect 9 farms, a close look at the map above from the DFO website puts the number of farms affected closer to 20. Salmon farm spin at work.
In a crucial series of recommendations 15-17, Cohen recommends the siting criteria for salmon farms require a serious and continuous update to protect wild salmon migration routes, something that was never even considered when the Province of BC gave salmon farms their rental agreements to the seafloor.
15 The Department of Fisheries and Oceans should explicitly consider proximity to migrating Fraser River sockeye when siting salmon farms.
16 After seeking comment from First Nations and stakeholders, and after responding to challenge by scientific peer review, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans should, by March 31, 2013, and every five years thereafter, revise salmon farm siting criteria to reflect new scientific information about salmon farms situated on or near Fraser River sockeye salmon migration routes as well as the cumulative effects of these farms on these sockeye.
17 The Department of Fisheries and Oceans should apply revised siting criteria to all licensed salmon farm sites. Farms that no longer comply with siting criteria should be promptly removed or relocated to sites that comply with current siting criteria.
This means Fraser River First Nations must be asked if they agree to allow salmon they have specific rights to swim through salmon farm effluent. It also means ALL the salmon farm leases that are up for Provincial tenure renewals have to examined for wild salmon migration routes. Many First Nations are under pressure to respond to renewals of these tenures by November 15, 2012. Is Premier Clark going to ignore the $26 million dollars tax-payers have paid to find out that salmon farms on wild salmon migration routes might be causing “irreversible damage.” I would venture a guess that yes, this information will be ignored unless we are heard. I have created a place for you be heard.
The report is grabbing headlines such as:
Commission presses Ottawa to curb fish-farm impact on sockeye
Report calls for freeze on fish farms off Vancouver Island
Report into decline of B.C.’s sockeye fishery critical of salmon farming
Cohen report calls for 8-year salmon farming ban
Cohen Commission report makes 75 recommendations on the future of Fraser River sockeye salmon
Cohen Commission report makes 75 recommendations on the future of Fraser River sockeye salmon
Comments
5 responses to “Cohen Report”
Although Justice Cohen agreed that more than one person should be looking at fish health issues here is what he had to say about your theory – seeing as though you are quoting text in the report:
“I have considered the theory put forward by Alexandra Morton, executive director of Raincoast Research Society, concerning marine anemia on chinook farms, and I am unable to agree with it in light of the contradictory evidence of Dr. Kent; Dr. Gary Marty, fish pathologist at BC’s Animal Health Centre; Dr. Mark Sheppard, lead veterinarian Aquaculture Environmental Operations, DFO; and Dr. Peter McKenzie, a veterinarian and the fish health manager for Mainstream Canada, who are all experts in areas of fish health.” – Justice Bruce Cohen, The Uncertain Future of Fraser River Sockeye, Vol. 2 Causes of Decline, Findings, page 113.
“There is also uncertainty about the migratory route the Harrison River population takes after it leaves the Strait of Georgia. It is hypothesized that some or all migrate through Juan de Fuca Strait to the west coast of Vancouver Island, but the evidence is incomplete. Neither is it known how far north the fish migrate and where they reside during their marine life history. Improving our understanding of these migratory patterns may provide additional insight into Fraser River sockeye production processes.” – Justice Bruce Cohen, The Uncertain Future of Fraser River Sockeye, Vol. 3 Recommendations, page 62.
Steve
Your comment deserves an answer. Cohen can only work with what he was presented and indeed the evidence of people in positions of authority did disagree with me, but how credible are they? Dr. Kent was ready to abandon his theory, that marine anemia is a virus, even though he published on it in the journal of Cancer Research and named it the Salmon Leukemia virus. Kent should really go back to the journal and say he has changed his mind and perhaps he could explain why he changed his mind. It is a real shame Kent never completed his work – he never sequenced or visualized the virus, so no one can trace where it went, where is it now. Cohen had nothing to go on its a cold trail with only heaps of circumstantial evidence. I am hopefully Dr. Miller will solve this riddle. As for Dr. Mark Sheppard, he briefed the Minister of Agriculture in 2007 that no live Atlantic salmon eggs had entered BC. His memo was identified as “confidential” but I found it in the Cohen documents. Dr. Sheppard, in charge of farm salmon disease for the Province, must have known that by 2007 27,832,000 presumably live Atlantic salmon eggs had been brought into BC. You can verify these numbers by Googling DFO Eggs. Despite misleading a Provincial Minister, Dr. Sheppard has been promoted to working for DFO and is still in charge of farm salmon health. Misinforming a Minister should be unlawful. Now on to Dr. Gary Marty, who testified at Cohen under oath that he has a great deal of confidence that ISAv is not in BC. And yet there have now been many ISAv positive test results in farm and wild salmon in BC. How did Dr. Marty miss this virus? This is a question I can’t answer, but it is very puzzling. ISAv is a pretty big deal, the CFIA says trade in BC farm salmon could stop if ISAv is in BC. And Dr. MacKenzie, a fish farm vet, testified that “we” have done over 5000 tests for ISAv and all are negative. How is it three labs have found it in farm salmon? I would like to see those 5,000 test results. So while Cohen had to assume these men were honouring their oath, a lot of unanswered questions remain. I am working to ground-truth my concerns, traveling thousands of kilometers working with First Nations and other fishermen and top labs in the world. We will get to the bottom of this.
Questions arising.
Does the DFO have the political will and organizational skills to carry out Justice Cohen’s recommendations?
An open question.
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Helmsdale:
No, the federal government has no will to protect wild salmon and so we, the people who paid the $26 million to find out:
“I therefore conclude that the potential harm posed to Fraser River sockeye salmon from salmon farms is serious or irreversible.” Justice Bruce Cohen
…. will have to decide if we are going to step in with an intervention or just let the wild salmon go down and explain to those who come after that we just didn’t have what it takes to protect life on earth.
The province of BC is pushing to renew the industry’s tenures to the seafloor right now. The timing of this is unfortunate, but once this is done there will be all kinds of legal ramifications to rescind those renewals.
Everyone should know the viral situation is serious. I am working as fast as I can, but so are the pathogens. It’s a race and we have no idea where ISA virus and the others are at with making themselves at home in BC waters. Don’t bet on me winning this race.
In my experience, the characteristic of our federal bureaucracy, is that they are more concerned with cross country uniformity than regional variants.
They would rather let a problem fester than look to regional solutions. If they do look for regional solutions, characteristically, the bureaucrats run up against federal/provincial legal impediments.
There are many otherwise sensible solutions in other areas) that collapse in the face of provincial deadlock.
Perhaps the stakeholders have something to say about this.
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