Sea lice are something we often see on adult salmon but rarely give much thought to. They are natural, slightly ugly, but not much to worry about. Or so we’ve always thought.

Last summer, there was a significant outbreak of sea lice on juvenile pink salmon in the Broughton Archipelago, northeast of Vancouver Island. The outbreak occurred in an area boasting the heaviest concentrations of salmon farms anywhere on the BC coast.

For good reason, attention focused on the link between the lice outbreak—the first-ever in BC’s pink salmon—and the dense clusters of salmon farms in this area. There is substantial evidence from Europe that salmon farms can act as breeding grounds for lice, and that wild fish—particularly small ones—may be extremely susceptible to infestation by lice coming from salmon farms. A world’s expert on the subject, Ireland’s Paddy Gargan, detailed the farm-salmon-to-wild-salmon "lice link" in a recent workshop at Simon Fraser University (www.sfu.ca/coastalstudies).

Government’s response to the lice outbreak—and the entire lice issue—has so far been disappointing. So disappointing, in fact, that Watershed Watch Salmon Society commissioned fisheries biologist Dr. Diane Urban to research the interactions between fish farms, sea lice and wild salmon. "As I examined the research," Dr. Urban says, "it became abundantly clear that lice from fish farms are a serious and immediate threat to wild salmon."

Salmon Farms, Sea Lice, and Wild Salmon: A Watershed Watch Commentary on Risk, Responsibility, and the Public Interest focuses on the little-discussed but serious environmental threat from open net-cage salmon farms.

The report provides evidence that sea-lice outbreaks in wild salmon populations can originate in fish farms, where large numbers of fish penned in close quarters are vulnerable to attack by this native parasitic copepod known as Lepeophtheirus salmonis. Wild juvenile salmon swimming by an infested farm can become covered in lice. The end result is often death.

The paper sketches the basic biology of lice, the parasitic relationship of lice to salmon, the effects of infection, and the recorded occurrences of lice outbreaks. It provides a detailed summary of the biology and natural history of the sea louse, and of the pros and cons of current lice-prevention and treatment tactics.

The lice outbreak in wild pink salmon emphasizes the need to prevent salmon farms from becoming lethal reservoirs of lice. Though BC’s wild salmon have coevolved with lice, the advent of fish farms appears to impact an already-stressed group of fishes. Juvenile salmon are particularly vulnerable; in experiments with small Atlantic salmon, 5 lice debilitated fish of 15 grams or less, and 11 or more kill it outright.

The report also urges government to: research the farm/sea lice threat; set and monitor sea lice control measures at fish farms; publish monitoring results promptly; and review lice prevention and treatment strategies.

Watershed Watch’s findings and recommendations have already been praised by BC Aboriginal Fisheries Commission chair, Arnie Narcisse, who said "First Nations and all British Columbians deserve to know much more about the risks posed by fish farms, so that they can make intelligent choices about future employment."

Victoria (CP) – A second escape of Atlantic salmon has been reported from a Vancouver Island fish farm operated by Pacific National Aquaculture.

A rip 1 ½ metres long by one metre wide was discovered 4 ½ metres below water level late Thursday in a pen holding 130,000 young Atlantics, a federal Fisheries Department spokesman said Monday.

The escape at McIntyre Bay in the Clayoquot Sound area, believed caused by a storm, was reported Friday morning and the pen was repaired by divers the same day.

An estimated 8,000 Atlantic salmon escaped when another Pacific National pen was ripped open near Tofino during the same storm.

B.C. Fisheries Minister John van Dongen said the province is investigating and Pacific National may face penalties if it is found to have violated provincial regulations.

Van Dongen says the government is taking the escapement seriously and intends to enforce the law.

Jan 28 & 29, 2002 – Upper Fraser River Fisheries Group Workshop will be in Prince George at the Friendship Centre in Circle of Unity Boardroom.