Thursday 5 January 2017

DFO Taken to Court for Not Protecting Wild BC Salmon from PRVirus Farmed Salmon, Updated Jan 7, 2017


DFO is not protecting wild BC salmon, and Ecojustice is taking them to court. You will recall that this legal defense team took DFO to court for wanting to allows PRV infected farmed salmon in BC waters (yes, I know this seems very odd for DFO to defend putting salmon with disease viruses in the water). 

But Ecojustice acting on behalf of wild salmon and Alex Morton is going after DFO to keep those disease virus fish out of the water.

Here is their take:

"The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) and aquaculture giant Marine Harvest have finally dropped their appeal of our precedent-setting Federal Court victory, which held that the government cannot offload its regulatory duties to that same aquaculture companies it is supposed to regulate.

This development is a welcome piece of good news.  We have been working with our client, biologist Alexandra Morton, to secure this legal victory for B.C.’s wild salmon since 2013. [Yes, DFO, in Ottawa, has been trying to force farmed fish with diseases and the virus PRV into BC ocean for the past three years].

That said, our work to protect B.C.’s wild salmon is far from done.

In April, just days before the hearing for DFO and Marine Harvest’s appeal was abruptly adjourned, DFO scientists revealed that heart and skeletal muscle inflammation (HSMI) had been found on B.C. salmon farms.  This disease can be deadly to wild salmon — heart damage makes it difficult for them to capture prey, escape predators, and spawn.

[Yes, HSMI is the disease that PRV is thought to cause - yes, it is a semantic issue that having the virus is not the same thing as having the disease, until the virus is isolated from a sick fish, cultured and sequenced. Note that I have a link to a research article from Norway in 2011 that confirms PRV causes HSMI. DFO seems not to be able to find it, but you can find it in this report PDF: https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=17&ved=0ahUKEwinqtiqv4_QAhVRxWMKHV77ARI4ChAWCEEwBg&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.vetinst.no%2Frapporter-og-publikasjoner%2Frapporter%2F2016%2Ffish-health-report-2015%2F_%2Fattachment%2Fdownload%2Fd59c0da2-22fb-4881-8d29-be75553f16be%3A72a2ab576ec65bce833798aeeeff3598beb56fa3%2F3b%2520-%2520Fish%2520Health%2520Report%25202015-web.pdf&usg=AFQjCNHYGpIJ3Dkxvk7pWFdT3GKcNtQyBQ&sig2=dFcfR0BKd_9R2KswVgM3Og .]

We’ve since learned that DFO refuses to test farmed salmon for piscine reovirus, believed by many scientists to be the causative agent of HSMI, before allowing those fish to be transferred into open-net ocean pens alongside wild salmon.  As a result, we have launched a new lawsuit against DFO to compel it to protect wild salmon.

[Yes, it is peculiar for DFO to be sued for refusing to protect wild BC salmon from fish farm salmon, but you may want to see my file on Bad News Bites on the global news diseases/disasters/bankruptcies/boom-bust cycles/conflicts in the fish farm industry: http://fishfarmnews.blogspot.ca/2016/07/news-bites-farmed-salmonseafood.html.]

It’s become very clear that the Department of Fisheries and Oceans won’t stand up for wild salmon.  But, thanks to your support, we will.


Christmas has come early for B.C.’s wild salmon.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) and aquaculture giant Marine Harvest have finally dropped their appeal of our precedent-setting Federal Court victory, which held that the government cannot offload its regulatory duties to that same aquaculture companies it is supposed to regulate.
This development is a welcome piece of good news.  We have been working with our client, biologist Alexandra Morton, to secure this legal victory for B.C.’s wild salmon since 2013.
That said, our work to protect B.C.’s wild salmon is far from done.
In April, just days before the hearing for DFO and Marine Harvest’s appeal was abruptly adjourned, DFO scientists revealed that heart and skeletal muscle inflammation (HSMI) had been found on B.C. salmon farms.  This disease can be deadly to wild salmon — heart damage makes it difficult for them to capture prey, escape predators, and spawn.
We’ve since learned that DFO refuses to test farmed salmon for piscine reovirus, believed by many scientists to be the causative agent of HSMI, before allowing those fish to be transferred into open-net ocean pens alongside wild salmon.  As a result, we have launched a new lawsuit against DFO to compel it to protect wild salmon.
It’s become very clear that the Department of Fisheries and Oceans won’t stand up for wild salmon.  But, thanks to your support, we will.
Happy holidays to you and your loved ones,
Margot
- See more at: http://www.ecojustice.ca/breaking-news-early-christmas-present-wild-salmon/?utm_source=Watershed+Watch+Email+List&utm_campaign=e0d8c79f0c-Salmon_News_Jan4_2017&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_405944b1b5-e0d8c79f0c-166907249&mc_cid=e0d8c79f0c&mc_eid=5777c92bcd#sthash.62ewQaqj.dpuf
Christmas has come early for B.C.’s wild salmon.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) and aquaculture giant Marine Harvest have finally dropped their appeal of our precedent-setting Federal Court victory, which held that the government cannot offload its regulatory duties to that same aquaculture companies it is supposed to regulate.
This development is a welcome piece of good news.  We have been working with our client, biologist Alexandra Morton, to secure this legal victory for B.C.’s wild salmon since 2013.
That said, our work to protect B.C.’s wild salmon is far from done.
In April, just days before the hearing for DFO and Marine Harvest’s appeal was abruptly adjourned, DFO scientists revealed that heart and skeletal muscle inflammation (HSMI) had been found on B.C. salmon farms.  This disease can be deadly to wild salmon — heart damage makes it difficult for them to capture prey, escape predators, and spawn.
We’ve since learned that DFO refuses to test farmed salmon for piscine reovirus, believed by many scientists to be the causative agent of HSMI, before allowing those fish to be transferred into open-net ocean pens alongside wild salmon.  As a result, we have launched a new lawsuit against DFO to compel it to protect wild salmon.
It’s become very clear that the Department of Fisheries and Oceans won’t stand up for wild salmon.  But, thanks to your support, we will.
Happy holidays to you and your loved ones,
Margot
- See more at: http://www.ecojustice.ca/breaking-news-early-christmas-present-wild-salmon/?utm_source=Watershed+Watch+Email+List&utm_campaign=e0d8c79f0c-Salmon_News_Jan4_2017&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_405944b1b5-e0d8c79f0c-166907249&mc_cid=e0d8c79f0c&mc_eid=5777c92bcd#sthash.62ewQaqj.dpuf
Christmas has come early for B.C.’s wild salmon.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) and aquaculture giant Marine Harvest have finally dropped their appeal of our precedent-setting Federal Court victory, which held that the government cannot offload its regulatory duties to that same aquaculture companies it is supposed to regulate.
This development is a welcome piece of good news.  We have been working with our client, biologist Alexandra Morton, to secure this legal victory for B.C.’s wild salmon since 2013.
That said, our work to protect B.C.’s wild salmon is far from done.
In April, just days before the hearing for DFO and Marine Harvest’s appeal was abruptly adjourned, DFO scientists revealed that heart and skeletal muscle inflammation (HSMI) had been found on B.C. salmon farms.  This disease can be deadly to wild salmon — heart damage makes it difficult for them to capture prey, escape predators, and spawn.
We’ve since learned that DFO refuses to test farmed salmon for piscine reovirus, believed by many scientists to be the causative agent of HSMI, before allowing those fish to be transferred into open-net ocean pens alongside wild salmon.  As a result, we have launched a new lawsuit against DFO to compel it to protect wild salmon.
It’s become very clear that the Department of Fisheries and Oceans won’t stand up for wild salmon.  But, thanks to your support, we will.
Happy holidays to you and your loved ones,
Margot
- See more at: http://www.ecojustice.ca/breaking-news-early-christmas-present-wild-salmon/?utm_source=Watershed+Watch+Email+List&utm_campaign=e0d8c79f0c-Salmon_News_Jan4_2017&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_405944b1b5-e0d8c79f0c-166907249&mc_cid=e0d8c79f0c&mc_eid=5777c92bcd#sthash.62ewQaqj.dpuf
Christmas has come early for B.C.’s wild salmon.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) and aquaculture giant Marine Harvest have finally dropped their appeal of our precedent-setting Federal Court victory, which held that the government cannot offload its regulatory duties to that same aquaculture companies it is supposed to regulate.
This development is a welcome piece of good news.  We have been working with our client, biologist Alexandra Morton, to secure this legal victory for B.C.’s wild salmon since 2013.
That said, our work to protect B.C.’s wild salmon is far from done.
In April, just days before the hearing for DFO and Marine Harvest’s appeal was abruptly adjourned, DFO scientists revealed that heart and skeletal muscle inflammation (HSMI) had been found on B.C. salmon farms.  This disease can be deadly to wild salmon — heart damage makes it difficult for them to capture prey, escape predators, and spawn.
We’ve since learned that DFO refuses to test farmed salmon for piscine reovirus, believed by many scientists to be the causative agent of HSMI, before allowing those fish to be transferred into open-net ocean pens alongside wild salmon.  As a result, we have launched a new lawsuit against DFO to compel it to protect wild salmon.
It’s become very clear that the Department of Fisheries and Oceans won’t stand up for wild salmon.  But, thanks to your support, we will.
Happy holidays to you and your loved ones,
Margot
- See more at: http://www.ecojustice.ca/breaking-news-early-christmas-present-wild-salmon/?utm_source=Watershed+Watch+Email+List&utm_campaign=e0d8c79f0c-Salmon_News_Jan4_2017&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_405944b1b5-e0d8c79f0c-166907249&mc_cid=e0d8c79f0c&mc_eid=5777c92bcd#sthash.62ewQaqj.dpuf

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