News
The Cohen Commission is re-opening for three days on December 15, 16 and 19 to hear evidentiary testimony on the ISA virus. They will no doubt be looking into whether the DFO withheld a vital report on the virus from an earlier study taken in 2002 of wild salmon. The recently revealed report is being called "Fishyleaks" on the Superheroes4salmon blog.
It states that: “These results lead us to conclude that an asymptomatic form of ISA occurs among some species of wild Pacific salmon in the north Pacific.” The report is co-authored by staff at the DFO Pacific Biological Station in Nanaimo and the Atlantic Veterinary College at the University of Prince Edward Island.
Over 117 salmon tested positive for ISA. Over half of the positive tests were from Cultus Lake sockeye – where 100% tested positive for ISA (64 out of 64 samples). 10 out of 37 chinook caught ‘Inside East Alaska’ tested positive for ISA and 22 out of 40 chinook caught ‘Inside Vancouver Island (inlets)’ tested positive.
This follows a press release by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency on December 2 stating, "The Government of Canada in collaboration with the Province of British Columbia has completed testing all samples related to the suspected infectious salmon anaemia investigation in BC. Based on the final results, there are no confirmed cases of the disease in wild or farmed salmon in BC. The CFIA has also conducted a preliminary review of an industry-led testing program for farmed species. The review found that there has been a significant amount of testing for viral diseases, including infectious salmon anaemia, in farmed fish over the last 10 years."
Alexandra Morton, BC biologist who has been in the forefront of this issue, said that "rules of confidentiality prevent me from talking about certain documents, if the leaked document really says 100% of one run of Fraser sockeye tested positive for ISA virus, we have two very big problems. One, Justice Cohen instructed DFO to provide all documents relevant to the health of the Fraser sockeye and this was not one of them. Two it means we are repeatedly finding this virus in wild salmon stocks that are mysteriously vanishing, such as Rivers Inlet sockeye and salmon dying of unknown causes just before spawning."
Morton suggests three actions if it is found to be true that DFO withheld information:
- DFO should be suspended from managing salmon farms.
- A volunteer board of scientists, First Nations and others with deep commitment to maintaining wild salmon should step forward to oversee the ISA virus response.
- Every hatchery should contact me about how they can test for ISA virus.
The commission will be held at the Asia Pacific Hall at the Morris J Wosk Centre for Dialogue, 580 West Hastings Street, in Vancouver, BC. The hearing schedule is set for: Morning Session: 9:00AM - 12:30PM, Afternoon Session: 2:00PM - 4:00PM.
Witnesses include: Nellie Gagné (Molecular Biology Scientist and Laboratory Supervisor, DFO, Moncton), Dr. Fred Kibenge (Chairman, Department of Pathology and Microbiology, Atlantic Veterinary College, University of Prince Edward Island), Dr. Kristi Miller (Head, Molecular Genetics, DFO) and Dr. Are Nylund (Professor, University of Bergen, Norway).
The commission has reopened public submissions until the end of added evidentiary hearings to deal with new information on disease testing. Submission will now close at 5 pm PT on the last date of those added hearings in December 2011.