IronNoggin
04-14-2022, 11:51 AM
Why a federal salmon study that found viruses at B.C. fish farms took 10 years to be released
For ten years, Kristi Miller-Saunders could not fully disclose the results of her study that showed a virus spreading among fish-farmed salmon in British Columbia.
The federal Fisheries Department in the government of Stephen Harper would not release the 2012 report into open-net fish farms, a position that continued with the Trudeau government.
In March, the federal Information Commissioner ordered the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) to release the information that found pathogens among open-net fish farms in the province. The commissioner ruled that suppressing publication of the document was not justified. “The complaint is well-founded,” the commissioner said of a request to access the material.
Dr. Miller-Saunders, who was a key author of the 2012 report, expressed frustration that it took until March of this year for the findings to finally surface. The study found that fish-farmed salmon suffered from jaundice and anemia because of the highly contagious Piscine orthoreovirus (PRV). This virus is associated with organ failure in chinook although it is not considered harmful to humans.
Dr. Miller-Saunders said PRV continues to be identified as a threat to wild Pacific salmon, notably Chinook and coho, and a transmission risk between farmed and wild salmon.
“Moreover, sequence epidemiology, similar to what has been done to track the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in humans, shows that the virus originated in Norway and spread to North America some 30 to 35 years ago, and is being actively transmitted between farmed and wild salmon in B.C.,” she wrote in her statement.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-federal-salmon-study-that-found-viruses-at-fish-farms-released-10/
For ten years, Kristi Miller-Saunders could not fully disclose the results of her study that showed a virus spreading among fish-farmed salmon in British Columbia.
The federal Fisheries Department in the government of Stephen Harper would not release the 2012 report into open-net fish farms, a position that continued with the Trudeau government.
In March, the federal Information Commissioner ordered the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) to release the information that found pathogens among open-net fish farms in the province. The commissioner ruled that suppressing publication of the document was not justified. “The complaint is well-founded,” the commissioner said of a request to access the material.
Dr. Miller-Saunders, who was a key author of the 2012 report, expressed frustration that it took until March of this year for the findings to finally surface. The study found that fish-farmed salmon suffered from jaundice and anemia because of the highly contagious Piscine orthoreovirus (PRV). This virus is associated with organ failure in chinook although it is not considered harmful to humans.
Dr. Miller-Saunders said PRV continues to be identified as a threat to wild Pacific salmon, notably Chinook and coho, and a transmission risk between farmed and wild salmon.
“Moreover, sequence epidemiology, similar to what has been done to track the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in humans, shows that the virus originated in Norway and spread to North America some 30 to 35 years ago, and is being actively transmitted between farmed and wild salmon in B.C.,” she wrote in her statement.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-federal-salmon-study-that-found-viruses-at-fish-farms-released-10/