B.C. decision brings fish farming sea lice data out into open

A ruling by British Columbia's Office Information and Privacy Commissioner means that information about the health of farmed fish must be made public.

British Columbia - Environmental groups have been trying to obtain information about sea lice and farmed salmon from the government for years, but the government has steadfastly denied those requests. Now that the Commissioner has said the information must be made available to the public, salmon farming advocate Mary Ellen Walling, who heads up the B.C. Salmon Farmers Association, is concerned that environmentalists will use the data

"... to mislead the public rather than describe the pattern of successful management of sea lice."

The biggest salmon farmer in British Columbia, Marine Harvest, said it had no problems with the release of information, pointing out it already posts that information on its website. However, a brief search failed to turn up any statistics on sea lice issues Marine Harvest might experience at its B.C. fish farms, although there are documents about treatments used to combat sea lice infestations of the company's fish. B.C.'s Ministry of Agriculture and Lands has collected the data for years. The ministry has said that farmers submit the information in confidentiality, thus it cannot release the data to the public. The move to make the records public was spearheaded by T. Buck Suzuki Environmental Foundation and Ecojustice. The two groups have asked the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands for the information on sea lice since 2004. Even while the two environmental groups were celebrating their victory, David Lane the Executive Director of T. Buck Suzuki Environmental Foundation cautioned

"... transparency into fish farming will continue to be a problem even with improved access to government records. Although we now have access to government audit data, the real site-by-site sea lice and disease monitoring data is collected by the BC Salmon Farmers’ Association, not the government. Without access to this information, the public and the government have no idea if parasite or disease levels are dangerously high on a particular farm and the government has no ability to enforce its Sea Lice Management Strategy.”

A large number of British Columbia residents are concerned that sea lice from open-net farmed salmon in British Columbia have been negatively impacting wild salmon. Those fears have been confirmed by at least one independent study by scientists. After British Columbia's Sockeye Salmon fishery collapsed last year, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced an inquiry into the collapse. In the meanwhile, the federal government has deferred salmon fishery negotiations with British Columbia's First Nations pending the first report from the salmon inquiry, which is due in August. Earlier this week, 10 environmental organizations in British Columbia have written a letter to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to request protection for wild salmon from fish farms, and sea lice in particular.