NEWS

Friday, March 02, 2007

New research shows BC salmon farms producing billions of sea lice eggs

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Community: Central Coast

Watershed Watch Executive Director, Craig Orr’s recent peer-reviewed study published in the North American Journal of Fisheries Management shows that salmon farms are the major producers of sea lice threatening juvenile wild salmon in B.C.’s Broughton Archipelago.

The study used industry data to track sea lice production on farmed salmon in open-net cages owned by Marine Harvest Canada during an 18-month period in 2003 and 2004.

“The results aren’t surprising,” said Orr. “They simply confirm European research showing that farmed salmon substantially amplify the production of sea lice in coastal waters, especially in the winter and spring, when vulnerable juvenile wild salmon have not historically encountered many infectious lice.”

Read the full article, published February 27, 2007 in The Globe and Mail.

Read full report here.