Submitter: Alejandro Frid

Community: Bowen Island

Date Submitted: October 29, 2023

Summary:

The hypothesis that juvenile Fraser sockeye have been impacted by parasites and disease originating from fish farms must be tested. The hypothesis that the 2010 Fraser sockeye cohort experienced rates of disease and parasite exposure that differed from previous years must also be tested. To do so rigorously, disease and stocking information for all fish farms on migratory routes must be disclosed for the entire period of their operation. It is also essential that priorities for the conservation and sustainable use of salmon consider the role that salmon play in subsidizing terrestrial ecosystem with marine nutrients.

Submission:

As a research ecologist, I have three succinct points for the commission to consider:



1)The hypothesis that juvenile sockeye salmon leaving the Fraser River and migrating through areas occupied by open net salmon farms have been impacted by parasites and diseases originating from such farms requires scrutiny and testing. In order to do so rigorously, the disease and stocking records for all farms (ca. 70 farms) operating along the migration routes must be fully disclosed. Further, such disease and stocking information must cover the entire period for which such farms have existed (ca. 18 years). Unless full disclosure of the disease and stocking information is made available for analysis, the commission will be a waste of everyone’s time.



2)A related point is that the extremely high return of Fraser Sockeye in 2010 singles out that cohort as having experienced unique conditions. The hypothesis that migrating juveniles of that cohort experienced rates of exposure to diseases and parasites from salmon farms that differed from cohorts in the preceding years (and which had extremely low escapement) must be rigorously tested. Again, this will be possible only if there is full disclosure of disease and stocking information for the entire tenure of all salmon farms.



3)It is essential that priorities for the conservation and sustainable use of salmon explicitly consider the role that salmon play in subsidizing terrestrial ecosystems with marine nutrients (e.g., as reviewed by Schindler et al. 2003. Pacific salmon and the ecology of coastal ecosystems. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 1 31-37.) While criteria for fishery use, particularly native fisheries, remain very important, the clear link between salmon upstream migration, forest productivity, and other ecosystem services must be a priority for defining the conservation needs of salmon.



Alejandro Frid, PhD

Bowen Island, BC