Tag Archives: Marine Harvest
Plan to Close Fish Farms on Salmon Migration Routes a ‘Step in Right Direction’
After months of negotiation, the province and the ’Namgis, Kwikwasut’inuxw Haxwa’mis and Mamalilikulla First Nations announced an agreement to remove some fish farms in the Broughton Archipelago on northern Vancouver Island’s east coast. But both industry and government “have a long way to go to really protect wild salmon,” says Alexandra Morton, a biologist and vocal critic of the foreign-owned fish farm industry. The plan, announced Friday, also gives First Nations more control over the monitoring of fish diseases. Both Marine Harvest, a Norwegian firm, and Cermaq, a Norwegian-run subsidiary of Mitsubishi, have agreed to the plan and foresee no impact on jobs. >click to read<17:34
“Fish Farms Out!” – Fish farm opponents detained in protest at Victoria shipyard
Several people were detained at Victoria’s Point Hope Shipyard after illegally boarding a vessel to protest fish farms. Police received reports at around 7 a.m. that protesters had illegally entered the shipyard and boarded a vessel. Calling themselves “wild salmon defenders,” six protesters boarded the Orca Chief, a vessel reportedly used by salmon-farming company Marine Harvest to transport Atlantic salmon to B.C. fish pens. They then unfurled a giant banner that said “Fish Farms Out!” from the bow of the ship. >click to read<15:25
Chile accuses Marine Harvest of damaging environment after 600,000 salmon injected with antibiotics escape
Chile’s environment ministry on Monday (Aug 6) accused the local unit of Norway’s Marine Harvest of damaging the environment after hundreds of thousands of salmon escaped from one of the company’s fisheries last month. The ministry said in a statement that it had asked the State Defense Council, which represents the government in legal matters, to investigate the incident and initiate legal action against Marine Harvest with the aim of repairing the environmental damage. Some of the 600,000 fish that swam into the wild last month after a storm damaged enclosures near the southern city of Calbuco had been injected with a course of antibiotics that was incomplete at the time of their escape, making them unfit for human consumption. >click to read<08:49
Marine Harvest pursuing radical new salmon farm designs
Marine Harvest is proposing to build radical new salmon farms that could answer nagging concerns about sea lice infestations, virus transfer and escapes from conventional Atlantic salmon farms. Ocean-based closed containment and semi-closed farms would avoid the massive energy requirements of land-based systems, with a goal of eliminating contact between farmed and wild salmon. The Marine Donut is a closed, escape-proof farm that protects farmed fish from sea lice and pathogens. The futuristic-looking Egg is a semi-closed tank that extends 40 metres below the surface of the water. >click to read<16:16
Horror photos of farmed salmon spark legal threat
The diseases, damage and infestations suffered by hundreds of thousands of caged salmon in Scotland have been exposed by more than 300 graphic photos released by the Scottish Government. Pictures taken since 2015 by fish health inspectors investigating mass deaths at salmon farms along the west coast and on islands reveal eight diseases, bloody lesions, eye damage, deformed organs, plagues of flesh-eating sea lice and much else.,,, The investigations were into outbreaks of disease and other issues at 27 fish farms run by six companies. The majority – 15 – were at farms operated by Marine Harvest, along with four run by The Scottish Salmon Company, three by Scottish Sea Farms, three by Cooke Aquaculture, two by Greig Seafood, two by Loch Duart and one not known. >click to read<17:42
Inside DFO’s Battle to Downplay a Deadly Farmed Salmon Disease
Part One of a series. Provincial lab played key role in denying existence of HSMI in BC. In 2002, Dr. Ian Keith, a senior DFO veterinarian, began noticing strange heart lesions when he examined Atlantic salmon from B.C.’s growing fish farm industry. Keith was likely the first to detect signs of Heart and Skeletal Muscle Inflammation. The disease, first found three years earlier in Norwegian farmed salmon, went on to plague the industry there, killing up to 20 per cent of salmon in some outbreaks. >click to read the story< 19:21
Part II: DFO’s Plan to Gut Rules Protecting Wild Salmon from Fish Farm Disease – Part two of a series. After court losses, federal government has new strategy to protect industry. >click here to read< 1/11/18 20:29
A Pacific bluefin tuna snagged in a fish farm pen in Scotland!
Salmon farmers off a Hebridean island have rescued a 300kg (47-stone) Pacific blue fin tuna after it appeared in one of their pens. Marine Harvest staff at Colonsay said they were stunned to see the fish, which is normally associated with the warmer waters of the Pacific. They said they spotted the 3m-long tuna after noticing “a feeding frenzy” near their salmon enclosures. The fish was eventually caught using a net and crane and returned to the sea. Farm manager Ali Geddes said: “We’d noticed a lot of activity around the southern part of the farm – there seemed to be a real feeding frenzy going on with the dolphins and porpoises. click here to read the story 14:54
New video appears to show disfigured, unhealthy farmed salmon
Hereditary chief George Quocksister Jr., 68, from the Laich-Kwil-Tach Nation has been gathering footage of unhealthy salmon all month. Quocksister has been going from salmon farm to salmon farm along the east coast of Vancouver Island from Cambell River to Alert Bay. “I’m examining them and seeing what’s going on in them, and it’s sure not very good,” he said on the phone from a boat in a remote area off the coast. “I’m not a scientist, right, but you can obviously tell they have a disease,” said Quocksister. “It’s beyond horrible.” The footage has been edited into a video and posted online by independent biologist and marine activist Alexandra Morton. Video, click here to read the story 13:04
Fishermen raise funds for removed Comox soccer player opposed to fish farms
A group of commercial fishermen gathered at the Comox Fisherman’s Wharf Thursday to present 14-year-old Freyja Reed with a trust fund cheque for $2000. They’re throwing their support behind the young soccer player over the backlash she received for speaking out against her team’s sponsor Marine Harvest, one of the largest fish farming companies in the world. “We want our youth to know if you do stand up for something you strongly believe in, people are going to listen,” said commercial fisherman and trust fund organizer Travis Hird. Video, Read the rest here 12:10
