Retired Biologist: Sea Lice Infestations Need To Be Dealt With

After 25 years as a marine biologist at the University of California at Los Angeles, I decided to retire to British Columbia, where the combination of people with a similar life philosophy and a remarkably rich and interesting marine environment is very appealing.

Since my specialty was and is the ecology of marine fishes, salmon and the controversies surrounding farmed salmon inevitably captured my attention. I quickly realized the issues were more complex than I had thought. The salmon farming industry stresses the jobs created and the politicians appreciate the tax base. This is understandable, and potentially wonderful.

However, environmental concerns about the overall effects of salmon farms on the marine ecosystems of B.C., especially in light of the scientific literature that has proliferated in the past several years, has been ignored by both the scientific/regulatory branch of the government (Department of Fisheries and Oceans), and most of the politicians.

Last week I took a group of first nations elders and others on a trip to observe the research about the relationship of the fish farms to sea lice infestations in juvenile salmon.

What we witnessed was horrific. Juvenile salmon, pink and sockeye, were collected. Virtually every fish was carrying gravid female sea lice. Many were carrying five to 15 lice. These fish were all collected near the fish farms in Okisollo Channel. This infestation could only be possible if the salmon farms are acting as incubators for the lice.

In more than 30 years of research into fish biology, I have never seen such high levels of parasitism. Not only are all of these little fish going to die, before dying they are going to spread the infestation to other fish.

There is a catastrophe happening right now. It needs to be dealt with right now.

Read the full article in the Vancouver Sun.