On Thursday, the lawyer for Canada argued that the Minister of Fisheries, North Vancouver MP Jonathon Wilkinson, is not acting in Bad Faith when he permits farm salmon infected with piscine orthoreovirus (PRV) to be transferred into fish farms in Namgis territory.
One of the lawyer's main points was that DFO is concerned about protecting wild salmon "conservation units" (large groups of salmon which if wiped out will not be able to be restored) and was using the precautionary principle to maintain them.
It was really hard to hear him say this in a court to a judge knowing that bears in the Ahta and Kakwekian Rivers in the Broughton are currently starving for lack of salmon. 'Namgis councilors attending the hearing have heard from bear tour operators who are going into Broughton rivers daily. As well, I know that almost no young salmon came out of those rivers this spring, as I have done 18 years of counting sea lice on those fish. This year where there should have been 100,000s, there were only 10s. DFO's response has been to stop counting salmon in these rivers. No data, no problem. The Broughton conservation unit is going extinct and a group of us have been studying and publishing on the impact of salmon farms on these salmon. They are being eaten to death by sea lice from salmon farms and 45% of them are infected with a Norwegian strain of piscine reovirus.
Today, 3 1/2 year old J50 was officially counted as dead, her whole family and all her relatives starving towards extinction for lack of Chinook salmon. This is not evidence of health salmon runs, this is what extinction looks like.
The 'Namgis and myself, would not be in court if DFO was in reality protecting wild salmon of this coast.
Then he moved on to "Duty to Consult." Should the Minister of Fisheries have to consult with First Nations about the transfer of Atlantic salmon into their territories? He said "no." This was an operational decision and besides they met with the 'Namgis in 2012 and they have a long history of working together. He said DFO gave the 'Namgis lots of information at that meeting, and that was the consultation. And besides, there is no adverse impact from PRV-infected farm salmon because it has been "shown not to cause disease so there is no duty to consult."
Wow. All through this hearing DFO and industry act as if only one set of science exists, the science which sort of says that PRV was injected into salmon and did not cause disease, only it didn't really say that, it said the fish got some lesions, but only on the inside, so somehow that didn't count as disease. However, the research that reports PRV invades the red blood cells of Chinook salmon and causes the cells to rupture en masse, is completely ignored. In fact DFO threw that paper under the bus, without giving the authors the opportunity to defend their work. Warning: if your science crosses DFO policy, expect your work to be discredited.
The audacity of this approach from government is troubling. To actually stand in a court of law and say there is no adverse impact from PRV on Pacific salmon is how we are losing every valuable fish stock in Canada including the North Atlantic cod – ignore anything or one who has a different view.
The lawyer for Canada also criticized 'Namgis for not responding to all DFO's meeting requests, but can you blame them? They walk in the door and bam the consultation box is ticked. See ya next time. Fish farming is good to go.
DFO said they wrote 'Namgis and told them they are doing more research to learn about the impact of PRV which clearly indicates that they don't know everything they need to know, but they even won't screen farm salmon for it before putting them into 'Namgis territory. What's up with that? Are they afraid of the data that says which farms are infected and thus which runs of wild salmon are being exposed. This would give us a better picture of the impact of PRV on wild salmon.
Regarding the question, did DFO act in Bad Faith, the lawyer for Canada said the allegations of bad faith should be struck from the record, 'Namgis have failed to provide the evidence.
Cermaq
Kevin O'Callahan, lawyer for Cermaq told the court he wanted most if not all the 'Namgis affidavits struck from the record. All the evidence on the concerns about the harm PRV may have on wild salmon that the 'Namgis case depends on, from science experts, should not be allowed to be part of this decision. In addition, Cermaq wants all the freedom of Information documents on how government scientists found the disease caused by PRV back in 2008, but never reported it, even publishing papers saying he had not seen the disease BC, struck from the record.
Then he took a run at all of the scientists who provided affidavits for the 'Namgis. Basically anyone who associates with me can't be trusted. Of course that would have to also include all the scientific journals we are publishing in.
I was surprised that he thought a judge would find this at all credible. Almost every time this industry gets up in this court they slander me. He told the judge that I personally pay the lab doing the tests for PRV, as if I was that wealthy. Actually I raise funds through the Raincoast Research Society where a tax receipt is issued to donors. Personally, I have lived without running water for the past 4 years, because doing this work leaves no time to make a proper living.
Where are honour and truth?
Marine Harvest
Chris Watson, lawyer for Marine Harvest said he "stood on the shoulders" of the Cermaq lawyer and agreed the 'Namgis evidence should be struck, but he raised the stakes and said it should be an "all or nothing approach" and suggested the Marine Harvest evidence could be struck too, if the 'Namgis evidence was disposed of.
He wanted 'Namgis chief councilor and hereditary chief Don Svanvik's affidavit struck too.
'Namgis
Sean Jones, lawyer for 'Namgis got 30 minutes to respond to the day.
He said:
DFO has the duty to consult with First Nations on the policy not to screen farm salmon for the virus because it is a decision that is separate from the licence.
He pointed out the inconsistencies in what DFO is saying – that we don't need to consult, but if we are wrong and we DO need to consult, then we already did because we sent 'Namgis information on PRV bundled in with other stuff
Because there is an existing decision by the Federal Court (Morton vs Canada) that ruled that the precautionary Principle is triggered, there is a heightened burden that minister has to establish that the science has advanced since this decision to the point that there truly is no concern that PRV is harming wild salmon.
The court already found that not screen farm salmon for PRV before transferring them into Canadian waters is unlawful. The Minister appealed this decision, then dropped his appeal and just ignored the court ruling.
'Namgis told Marine Harvest that they did not have their permission to restock the Swanson Island salmon farm, but Marine Harvest ignored them and did this. Today, we hear arguments on whether the Minister of Fisheries should have had to consult with 'Namgis before restocking the farm.
In memory of little J50, I am sorry beyond words for what we are doing to your world. RIP little one.