View Full Version : Sea lions killed at fish farm
Sundancefisher
03-21-2016, 09:57 PM
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/marine-mammal-massacre-ends-sea-lions-invasion-of-salmon-pen/article29322349/
Sometimes environmentalist really need to give their heads a shake.
How many mice, voles, deer...etc are lost due to farming beans.
Just because nuisance wildlife are killed by farmers to protect meat that it is different than protecting produce farms.
Sometimes you just gotta protect the crops...whatever they are.
tony d
03-21-2016, 10:27 PM
Sounds like a place I should apply for a job not sure why but I dislike sea lions LoL
Jeff336
03-21-2016, 10:59 PM
So this is exactly the same as a chicken farmer shooting foxes/coyotes but since it's cute cuddly seals and sea lions in Lefty BC it's a sensational story. It really boggles my mind to think these reporters actually call themselves professionals
big zeke
03-21-2016, 11:27 PM
There are very few people that can legally kill a sea lion, apparently a for profit commercial fish farmer is one of them. I have no sympathy for these guys as the farming has huge impacts that they tend to ignore. It's great that they feed the seals, that way they pattern on the farms and not on my line.
I'd prefer to see them both gone from the area I fish. Looks like the fish cops (DFO?) will have to don their big boy pants and do some enforcement...:mad0030:
HunterDave
03-21-2016, 11:50 PM
Two comments under the article.....Talk about public outrage!
FlyTheory
03-22-2016, 10:32 AM
If they're not endangered and risking the wellbeing of wild salmon stocks (by breaking nets of domestics), then yeah. Gotta do what you gotta do. Just hope the meat and skin wasn't wasted.
Not sure why we allow an introduced species (Atlantic Salmon) in an area where they impact the indigenous salmon.
They should never have been allowed. Now that they are there, the only right thing to do is buy them out. Way too many problems with escapement, displacement, competition and disease.
Funny how people who have an opinion on this matter more then likely never worked, never seen or never been impacted by a Fish Farm.
Yet they know best how to react to this.
Great job guys.
Next time you launch your fishing boat, pontoon boat, canoe wear your chest waters or use your fishing rod I hope that you disenfected the equipment properly or else your responsible for spreading disease and dwindling fish stocks.
Funny how people who have an opinion on this matter more then likely never worked, never seen or never been impacted by a Fish Farm.
Yet they know best how to react to this.
Great job guys.
Next time you launch your fishing boat, pontoon boat, canoe wear your chest waters or use your fishing rod I hope that you disenfected the equipment properly or else your responsible for spreading disease and dwindling fish stocks.
The issue of is not new... I remember reading the first scientific reports 18-20 years ago.
You more then likely remember the fish embryo they showed claiming it was a mutated wild salmon. In fact it was a halibut embryo.
I also remember when they banned fish farms from moving their sites around more often in order to prevent the spread of disease. They did the exact opposite they allowed concentrations in one area.
I also remember when tens of thousounds of fish were released because of torn nets. They found the environmentalists had hired scuba divers who cut the Nets. Yes they were caught in the act. No charges were laid.
The simple fact is if we want to feed our population we have to find ways to grow and harvest the food we need and want. This goes from farming crops on land, ranching cattle and sheep to fish farming.
None of these ways is perfectly environmentally friendly. We need to find safer ways to do it all. Instead of shutting down whole industry's why not find a better way.
Simply put we would rather just shut it down. It's no different then the anti quadding, anti hunting anti vehicle, anti oilfield crowd. They want it shut down with no compromise and no viable solutions.
Unless you can figure out a way to feed millions of people around the world. Then please either add something positive to the change or stop supporting the ANTI CROWD.
Headdamage
03-22-2016, 04:03 PM
I used to work for Cermaq in Clayoquot Sound. Back when I was there they were terrible and should have been shut down.
Sundancefisher
03-22-2016, 05:52 PM
It comes down to destroying wildlife habitat to grow veggie crops is ok. No out cry. To grow meat... Not the same rules.
People need food. Intensive agriculture or aquaculture has its impacts. However feeding the most people is key.
But even on this topic people cannot help but digress.
^v^Tinda wolf^v^
03-22-2016, 10:27 PM
I'm planning a sea lion hunt next week, I will cancel my plans for a motor boat..uh um...Pam :)
Hilgy
03-23-2016, 08:00 AM
You more then likely remember the fish embryo they showed claiming it was a mutated wild salmon. In fact it was a halibut embryo.
I also remember when they banned fish farms from moving their sites around more often in order to prevent the spread of disease. They did the exact opposite they allowed concentrations in one area.
I also remember when tens of thousounds of fish were released because of torn nets. They found the environmentalists had hired scuba divers who cut the Nets. Yes they were caught in the act. No charges were laid.
The simple fact is if we want to feed our population we have to find ways to grow and harvest the food we need and want. This goes from farming crops on land, ranching cattle and sheep to fish farming.
None of these ways is perfectly environmentally friendly. We need to find safer ways to do it all. Instead of shutting down whole industry's why not find a better way.
Simply put we would rather just shut it down. It's no different then the anti quadding, anti hunting anti vehicle, anti oilfield crowd. They want it shut down with no compromise and no viable solutions.
Unless you can figure out a way to feed millions of people around the world. Then please either add something positive to the change or stop supporting the ANTI CROWD.
Hey don't go bringing common sense and logic into the discussion. Excellent post.
mark-edmonton
03-23-2016, 09:02 AM
I actually had the job of predator protection at a salmon farm when I was younger. Shot quite a few seals! Like shooting a floating ball in the sea!
I worked on a Fish Farm for a short time. Definitely an eye opener for how controlled they are in their practices.
That may not be all farms but the one I worked on was good.
My brother worked managing Fish Farms for many years. He knows the ins and outs of all the BS.
Again the anti crowd speaks the loudest.
elkdump
03-23-2016, 02:08 PM
I actually had the job of predator protection at a salmon farm when I was younger. Shot quite a few seals! Like shooting a floating ball in the sea!
X 2, I HATE sea lions , stinky , grotesque slobs of the sea , eat fish and $hat is all they are good for,
Unless you heat your tent with blubber for heating oil ,
Bang plop !
Red Bullets
03-23-2016, 03:29 PM
Glad we don't have to contend with sea lions while fishing in drydock Alberta..
https://www.facebook.com/1664991100422462/videos/1673406539580918/
Glad we don't have to contend with sea lions while fishing in drydock Alberta..
https://www.facebook.com/1664991100422462/videos/1673406539580918/
Errr.... species identification your strong point? Strangest sea lion I've ever seen. :D
Salmon Slayer Lenny
03-23-2016, 04:40 PM
The simple fact is if we want to feed our population we have to find ways to grow and harvest the food we need and want. This goes from farming crops on land, ranching cattle and sheep to fish farming.
None of these ways is perfectly environmentally friendly. We need to find safer ways to do it all. Instead of shutting down whole industry's why not find a better way.
Simply put we would rather just shut it down. It's no different then the anti quadding, anti hunting anti vehicle, anti oilfield crowd. They want it shut down with no compromise and no viable solutions.
Unless you can figure out a way to feed millions of people around the world. Then please either add something positive to the change or stop supporting the ANTI CROWD.
There are very viable options that are better than open pens in the water. Closed containment systems on land would be the best way to mitigate any of the issues of predation, fish releases, disease and the impacts on the ecosystems.
Farming may not be the absolute 'sky is falling' scenario that extremists present but on the other side, they aren't exactly safe and benign either.
It's not fair to say you need to feed millions of people and use that as a 'red herring' :sHa_shakeshout: to support salmon farming. I think it's a legitimate threat to the local wild salmon stocks as well as the other aquaculture and fish stocks.
Red Bullets
03-23-2016, 05:00 PM
Errr.... species identification your strong point? Strangest sea lion I've ever seen. :D
Coastal critters are not my forte. Drydock Alberta animal ID no problem.
I stopped the video and took a good look and then googled sea lions. Now I am undecided as to the salmon snatchers identity. I don't think it was a bear like the video caption implies..
What do you think it is? Just a big seal?
Sundancefisher
03-23-2016, 05:09 PM
Coastal critters are not my forte. Drydock Alberta animal ID no problem.
I stopped the video and took a good look and then googled sea lions. Now I am undecided as to the salmon snatchers identity. I don't think it was a bear like the video caption implies..
What do you think it is? Just a big seal?
Video said it was a "son of a beach".
Big blondie. Had him visit me a few times at Langara. Likely to see him in two months.
Talked with a Haida fellow. Said they hate sealions also. No food value. Locals will kill one just to use the whiskers and let the Sharks eat the rest.
Sundancefisher
03-23-2016, 05:11 PM
Errr.... species identification your strong point? Strangest sea lion I've ever seen. :D
What do you think it is?:bad_boys_20:
Salavee
03-23-2016, 05:19 PM
Maybe the fish farms shouldn't be there in the first place .. watch the skinny on those operations and judge for your selves...
http://www.salmonconfidential.ca/watch-salmon-confidential-documentary/
Coastal critters are not my forte. Drydock Alberta animal ID no problem.
I stopped the video and took a good look and then googled sea lions. Now I am undecided as to the salmon snatchers identity. I don't think it was a bear like the video caption implies..
What do you think it is? Just a big seal?
It's white.
The video itself says it's a polar bear.
It absolutely definitely is a polar bear.
Salavee
03-23-2016, 05:56 PM
Take this to the Bank .. it's not a Polar Bear
parfleche
03-23-2016, 06:04 PM
X 2 Not polar bear!
parfleche
03-23-2016, 06:12 PM
Cecil the sea lion perhaps? LOL
Sea Lions are just wolfs that live in the sea . Shoot them all :fighting0074:
Red Bullets, my apologies.
I was wrong. Salmon (unless they are Atlantic Salmon) do not mix at all. Looking at the background, it looks like the BC or Alaska southern coast; no polar bears there or even close.
It may well be a sea lion. Please excuse my comment and accept the apologies.
Positrac
03-23-2016, 10:12 PM
Red Bullets, my apologies.
I was wrong. Salmon (unless they are Atlantic Salmon) do not mix at all. Looking at the background, it looks like the BC or Alaska southern coast; no polar bears there or even close.
It may well be a sea lion. Please excuse my comment and accept the apologies.
With 40 years of living on the coast I can say without a doubt that was a Sea Lion. Had the exact same thing happen a half dozen times with Sea Lions right at the boat and probably a hundred times with seals.
Fishing North Bluff in Seymour Narrows just north of Campbell River in the spring when the big Stellers come through you would lose almost every Ling that you got on before they reached the surface.
Too bad you can't shoot the buggers....legally.
Positrac
03-23-2016, 10:16 PM
http://i1365.photobucket.com/albums/r747/arthurjlarsen/image.jpg1_zpsquedcicc.jpg (http://s1365.photobucket.com/user/arthurjlarsen/media/image.jpg1_zpsquedcicc.jpg.html)
Big male Steller Sea Lion.
Positrac
03-23-2016, 10:22 PM
I actually had the job of predator protection at a salmon farm when I was younger. Shot quite a few seals! Like shooting a floating ball in the sea!
Were you out of Campbell River?
The biggest threat to wild salmon stocks is over fishing, second is altering their breeding grounds third natural causes.
They have grown Salmon in closed pens on shore. It is very labour intensive, consumes much more resources and still has the same issues with water born disease and spread of such to oher area water born animals.
Water in and water out has to be be filtered and disposed of and or sourced.
There is a bit of concen about GMO/ antibiotic atlantic salmon. yet many do not know that most "wild Salmon" are in fact off spring of GMO/ antibiotic wild salmon raised from hatchery breeding stock.
We never discuss that because it is taboo.
Headdamage
03-24-2016, 01:58 PM
On the subject of antibiotic resistance, I have personally cultured triple resistant bacteria strains from the fish raised in the farms in Clayoquot Sound while working there for Cermaq. The way antibiotics are given to the fish in the open water pens is perfect for developing resistance. The health fish eat lots of medicated feed and get better, some of the not so healthy fish eat but not enough to kill all of the bacteria and you end up with resistant strains. Even if the resistant strains are not disease causing the plasmid for the drug resistance can be passed to ones that are disease causing resulting in antibiotic resistant disease causing bacteria being present in the pens and in the surrounding waters.
On the subject of antibiotic resistance, I have personally cultured triple resistant bacteria strains from the fish raised in the farms in Clayoquot Sound while working there for Cermaq. The way antibiotics are given to the fish in the open water pens is perfect for developing resistance. The health fish eat lots of medicated feed and get better, some of the not so healthy fish eat but not enough to kill all of the bacteria and you end up with resistant strains. Even if the resistant strains are not disease causing the plasmid for the drug resistance can be passed to ones that are disease causing resulting in antibiotic resistant disease causing bacteria being present in the pens and in the surrounding waters.
Shhhhh.... you will confuse the deniers with facts.
Farmed fish are ecologically a huge risk.
Headdamage
How much mass difference between the healthy fish and the un healthy fish was there? How long until any difference in feeding between the fish was noticed by the operators?
If you are having sick fish they should be getting segregated right away into a separate pen for treatment and or disposed of properly.
This is one of the issues we have now with the way Fish Farming has gone. To many smaller companies involved with to much over head. One bad year and they pretty much go belly up on their whole operation. They cut cost on how they should be running the operation.
mark-edmonton
03-24-2016, 05:19 PM
Were you out of Campbell River?
Yes lived in Campbell river with my aunt and uncle. Worked off of quadra island
Positrac
03-24-2016, 05:47 PM
Yes lived in Campbell river with my aunt and uncle. Worked off of quadra island
Small world. I have a picture of you holding a 40 lb Spring 25 years ago. We caught Twin 40 pounders that morning. Too funny!
mark-edmonton
03-24-2016, 07:12 PM
Small world. I have a picture of you holding a 40 lb Spring 25 years ago. We caught Twin 40 pounders that morning. Too funny!
Think I have that pic somewhere. Haven't seen it in years! I remember finding a pearl when we stopped to get some oysters. My mother still has it
Headdamage
03-25-2016, 10:33 AM
Headdamage
How much mass difference between the healthy fish and the un healthy fish was there? How long until any difference in feeding between the fish was noticed by the operators?
If you are having sick fish they should be getting segregated right away into a separate pen for treatment and or disposed of properly.
This is one of the issues we have now with the way Fish Farming has gone. To many smaller companies involved with to much over head. One bad year and they pretty much go belly up on their whole operation. They cut cost on how they should be running the operation.
Divers would go pen to pen and bring up the dead fish from the bottom of the nets. I would perform necropsies on them to look for signs of disease, the common diseases are easy to identify when you know what to look for. If there was any doubt as to what was killing the fish I would take samples, culture bacteria, and send tissue samples into a lab for viral.
If the disease was bacterial I would contact the vet and he would write a script for medicated feed. At no time is there any effort made to separate sick from healthy and they all get the same medicated feed. It was unusual for the farm operators to notice a problem before I did and that often included toxic plankton blooms starting. I would travel between all of the farm sights in the area over the course of a week. I was my full time job to monitor fish health and environmental threats.
Two additional failings on these farms are poor isolation and disinfection of personnel and equipment traveling between farms and running the farms with way too high a densities of fish in the pens.
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