Leading salmon farming researcher to testify at aquaculture inquiry
New report examines Atlantic salmon in BC
October 8, 2001 -
The scientist who discovered feral Atlantic salmon in Vancouver Island streams will testify Wednesday to the Leggatt Inquiry into Salmon Farming in BC on the effects of farm Atlantic salmon on wild Pacific stocks.
At the same time, the David Suzuki Foundation will release a report by Dr. John Volpe, Super-un-Natural: Atlantic salmon in BC waters. Copies of the report will be available to the media.
Dr. Volpe, a fisheries ecologist at the University of Alberta, will present a copy of his report to Commissioner Stuart Leggatt and explain to him the many unanswered questions about the effects of introducing this alien species to BC. Atlantic salmon especially compete with wild BC steelhead, whose numbers are at all-time lows, says Dr. Volpe.
"One of the least understood of the world's major environmental issues is the movement and eventual establishment of species beyond their native range. In contrast to other significant environmental problems such as urbanization and pollution, 'biotic invasions' mean that living organisms are the threat," Dr. Volpe writes in Super-un-Natural.
"The United Nations recently declared the introduction of exotic species the greatest threat to global biodiversity after habitat loss. This second-place ranking is misleading when we consider habitat loss is itself a major effect of invasive species."
Dr. Volpe is the researcher who confirmed that escaped farm Atlantic salmon had successfully reproduced in several Vancouver Island streams, and later discovered the first feral Atlantics in Vancouver Island waters. At the time, Dr. Volpe was a doctoral student at the University of Victoria.
Dr. Volpe is available for telephone interviews today, Oct. 8, and Tuesday. He will testify at the Leggatt Inquiry at 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Vancouver Art Gallery, 750 Hornby St., Room 301 and will be available for interviews.
For more information and to arrange interviews, please contact
Jean Kavanagh,David Suzuki Foundation, 604-732-4229
