Greenpeace 'horror show' full of tired cliches

The latest attack on salmon farming by Greenpeace is based on nothing but broad, baseless claims.

Instead of trying to work with us to tour a farm site, several individuals recently boated past a few farms to take pictures (including a picture of themselves standing on a mort barge, violating clearly posted biosecurity measures) and published a blog post riddled with unsourced claims and wrong information. Their blog post calls our farms a "horror show," a claim which is untrue and baseless.

The blog posting makes several other unfounded claims about salmon farming including our operations in B.C. We have corrected those claims here.

• The ISA (Infectious Salmon Anemia) virus has not been found in wild juvenile sockeye, coho, Chinook or chum salmon in B.C. Those claims are based on preliminary test results, which have been partially proven wrong by more recent, more comprehensive testing. As well, definitive test results from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency are expected soon, which will be based on virus sequencing and advanced genetic testing. See our news release for more details.

• The salmon farming industry has not transformed sea floors. Fish waste (poop) falls to the sea floor, but it is mostly dispersed through ocean currents, the same way wild fish waste is dispersed as they swim through the sea in massive schools. And we monitor the sea floor regularly to make sure we are not exceeding government regulations. In between production cycles, our farms are fallowed to allow the sea floors to recover.

• Farmed salmon which have escaped do not compete with wild salmon. They have never been able to establish self-sustaining populations and all the available evidence suggests that escaped fish are eaten, caught by fishermen or starve to death. We have not had an escape since 2008.

• Wild salmon stocks in B.C. have not disappeared. In fact, there have been record runs of Fraser River sockeye (biggest run in 100 years in 2010) and several record-breaking runs of pink salmon since 2000 all along the coast.

• Salmon farms do not displace native species.

• Salmon farms do not pollute beaches.

• Salmon farms do not release toxic chemicals.

• Salmon farms do not take protein for feed from "lesser developed regions in need of the source of protein."

• Farmed salmon is not "ridden with cancer-causing chemicals," it is in fact very low and has also been proven to be beneficial for heart health because of its high Omega-3 content.

• Salmon farming causes only a tiny percentage of marine mammal deaths compared to the seals and sea lions reported killed every year in fisheries bycatch in Pacific US fisheries.

Here are some real facts.

• Mainstream Canada works closely with the Ahousaht First Nation in Clayoquot Sound to farm 14 sites in their traditional territory. We do nothing in their territory without their permission, and we have a protocol agreement with the First Nation in place governing our operations and relationship.

• Salmon farming is an efficient use of resources because salmon are efficient eaters, requiring only 1.2 kilograms of food to produce one kilogram of protein, more efficient than any other farmed livestock. In fact, salmon farms can be a net protein producer. 

• Farmed salmon are healthy, because it is in our best interests to keep them healthy. Our average survival rate is around 90 per cent for our fish.

• Our company farms salmon in a way that is environmentally, socially and economically sustainable. This is proven in our certifications, including ISO certifications for our Environmental Management System (ISO 14001), Quality Management System (ISO 9001), Food Safety (ISO 22000), Occupational Health and Safety (OHSAS 18001), Aboriginal Principles for Sustainable Aquaculture (APSA) and our Certificate of Recognition (COR) from the Food / Manufacturing Industry Occupational Safety Association of B.C.