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Mark April 3 in your calendars:
Don’t miss this rare chance to ask these experts your questions about the state of fish around the world and how we can all help to create a sustainable seafood future!
Where: Italian Cultural Centre, 3075 Slocan Street, Vancouver, BC
1. Sea Lice Threaten Wild Salmon – Proved Again The question of whether or not salmon farms threaten wild salmon has been answered yet again. There have been several studies in recent years which show that dangerous numbers of sea lice from salmon farms end up on juvenile salmon migrating past the farms, yet Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) has continued to deny the validity of this evidence. Now a new study, funded by the David Suzuki Foundation and published in a peer-reviewed journal, shows that lice infestations are related to salmon farms in the Broughton Archipelago of BC. Dr. Craig Orr, Executive Director of Watershed Watch and science coordinator of the Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform (CAAR), has published an article in North American Journal of Fisheries Management which uses industry data to confirm the relationship between numbers of Atlantic salmon in farms and the number of sea lice infestations in nearby wild salmon. These farms are operated by Marine Harvest, who have shared their data and who are working with CAAR to monitor lice on farms. This study is yet another example of not-for profit organizations like DSF being relied on to fund the basic research needed to protect our fish and marine resources – research that DFO and provincial regulators are failing to conduct, or even support.
The Pacific Salmon Treaty is an agreement between Canada and the US designed to coordinate harvest levels of salmon that migrate through the waters of both countries. It has essentially become an argument over who gets to harvest how many of the remaining wild salmon. Parts of the original Treaty To learn more about the Pacific Salmon Treaty, visit http://www.psc.org/. To learn more about the David Suzuki Foundation’s concerns about the Pacific Salmon Treaty, visit http://www.davidsuzuki.org/Campaigns_and_Programs/Salmon_Aquaculture/News_Releases/newsaquaculture02140701.asp The Canadian Fisheries Act has long served as one of the most powerful pieces of environmental legislation in the country. The Act is designed to regulate the capture of wild fish, which belong to all Canadians, and to prevent the damage or elimination of fish habitat. Recently the federal government has decided to “streamline” the Act, often code for decreasing the power of a law. The David Suzuki Foundation is concerned about many aspects of the proposed changes. Some of these concerns include: Canadians cannot allow this important piece of legislation to be watered down – without a strong Fisheries Act our fish will be under even greater stress. To read about the proposed changes to the Fisheries Act, visit http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/media/infocus/2006/20061213_e.htm.
Canada adopted an Oceans Act in 1996 and a corresponding Oceans Strategy in 2002. While there are references to protecting important ecological marine areas in the Act, there is no funding and no specific planning for the creation of new Marine Protected Areas, which are widely considered one of the most effective mechanisms for saving endangered ecosystems. It is time for DFO to come up with an Oceans Act implementation plan that will add some action to the words and for the federal government to adequately fund it – we need a plan with goals, timelines and funds. The recent federal budget only provided $19 million for the Act, whereas the David Suzuki Foundation estimates we need $600 million over 5 years to be effective. An effective Oceans Act will result in a healthier marine environment, which is good for all Canadians. To learn more about the Oceans Act, visit http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/oceans/OceansAct/oceansact_e.htm. What can you do? Write a letter to your MP and Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Loyola Hearn, letting them know that; Minister Hearn can be reached at: Fish Facts Steelhead are the fastest of the pacific salmonids. They can swim in bursts of speed up to 8.1 metres per second and leap up to 3.4 metres. On the other hand, while Chum salmon may not be as fast with a maximum burst speed of 4.6 metres per second and maximum jump height of 1.5 metres, they can swim to Japan and back on a diet of jellyfish! Pretty impressive statistics.
Chum salmon
All cold-water prawns and shrimp are fast-growing, have short lives and reproduce rapidly. For these reasons, coldwater shrimp are relatively resilient to fishing pressure. Spot shrimp are usually caught in a trap fishery, which has a very low rate of destructive by-catch (unintentional capture of non-target animals) and have healthy populations in Oregon, BC and Alaska (not enough is known about Washington populations).
Question to ask:
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expire at the end of 2008 and must be renegotiated. The David Suzuki Foundation is part of the Pacific Salmon Treaty Reform Coalition, Canadian and US groups dedicated to ensuring that the Treaty protects the long-term diversity and abundance of fish and the habitat they need to survive and thrive. 
Green (good choice): Spot Prawn or Spot Shrimp (cold-water)
Red (bad choice): Warm-water Shrimp
