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FINDINGS OF
DFO STUDY IN THE BROUGHTON ARCHIPELAGO
RAISE MORE QUESTIONS
Vancouver - Fisheries and
Oceans Canada today announced that results of the sea
lice/juvenile salmon research conducted last spring in the
Broughton Archipelago show that of almost 20,000 juvenile salmon
sampled, 3 out of every 4 were free of lice. Furthermore, all
fish studied appeared to be in good health, in spite of the lice
present.
The information collected by DFO scientists from March to
mid-June 2003 indicates that pink and chum juvenile salmon were
found throughout the study areas, and that two species of sea
lice were found on the salmon studied. Of the pink salmon
examined, approximately 15% were infected with Caligus clemensi
(a species rarely found on farmed salmon) and 9% were infected
with Lepeophtheirus salmonis (a species commonly found on wild
and farmed salmon). The average number of lice per infected fish
in the study area was 1.7. All fish captured appeared healthy
and no dead or dying fish were observed in the field.
Another observation is that juvenile pink and chum salmon were
found throughout the Broughton Archipelago and in Knight Inlet,
thus contradicting the hypothesis that a main migration corridor
is used by juvenile salmon moving from freshwater to the open
ocean.
On April 6, 2004, members of the Pacific Scientific Advice
Review Committee, along with external experts met in Nanaimo to
judge the methodologies, data analyses, results, conclusions and
recommendations from this study on salmon distribution and sea
lice prevalence and intensity of infection. The final
conclusions and recommendations of this peer-review process are
contained in the advisory document released today and available
from DFO’s website.
The next phase of the research plan in the Broughton Archipelago
will begin May 10th, with further research into the distribution
of pink and chum salmon and prevalence and intensity of
infection by sea lice species. A minimum of $300,000 has been
set aside for more sampling work in an attempt to better
understand the full impact of sea lice infection on these
juvenile salmon.
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For more information:
Christiane Côté
Communications Advisor
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
(604)
666-8072
Please visit our web
site at:
http://www-comm.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca
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