When salmon farming began in BC during the late 1970s, three species of Pacific salmon were raised: chinook, coho and sockeye. Farmers encountered a number of problems raising sockeye and coho salmon, including a low survival rate upon entry to saltwater, stress leading to mortality or poor product quality, and slow and unpredictable growth. By this time, Atlantic salmon were already being farmed in Washington State. BC salmon farmers began raising Atlantic salmon in the mid-1980s.

Atlantics were selected for fish farming for a number of reasons:

· they often have better growth and survival rates than Pacific salmon;

· they are a more docile stock than Pacific species;

· there is a strong international market demand for Atlantic salmon; and,

· processors find that Atlantic salmon provide more meat and create less
  waste per fish.

High quality chinook and coho are also raised in BC. Atlantic salmon account for approximately 65% of BC production.

While regulations and tougher compliance measures for salmon farm operators were put in place last year to proactively prevent escapes from occurring, they do not preclude Atlantic salmon escapes from taking place. Escapes sometimes occur because predators such as seals or sea lions cause damage to nets by trying to climb over or chew through the layers of protective barriers. Escapes can also occur during transport or transfer accidents.

The Auditor General commented on the issue of escapes in his report to Parliament earlier this year. Fisheries and Oceans Canada takes these comments seriously and is working closely with the Province of BC and the industry to keep Atlantic salmon escapes as close to zero as possible. In fact, less than 0.3% of all farmed salmon escaped from net pens in BC in 2000. This is a five-year continuous and sharp decline in escape rates. Monitoring for escaped Atlantic salmon began in 1991.

One of the arguments made by fish farming opponents is escaped Atlantic salmon can result in established Atlantic salmon populations, competing with Pacific salmon for habitat. This is simply not true. Washington State was actively stocking Atlantic salmon in their waters until 1990 with no success. There have been attempts to stock Atlantic salmon around the world and to date no anadromous or sea run populations have been established.

Early this century, Atlantic salmon were introduced to many British Columbia watersheds in a deliberate attempt to establish runs for sport fishing. All attempts to establish runs of Atlantic salmon on the BC coast have failed. Nearly 200 introductions were made into 52 different water bodies all over the coast of BC. A total of 13.9 million eggs, alevins, fry or smolts were introduced. Not a single introduction was successful, and only three adult Atlantic salmon were ever recovered from these efforts. Similar results have occurred with Atlantic salmon introductions in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Washington State and many other countries. There has never been a successful introduction of sea run Atlantic salmon outside of their natural territory where other native salmon species were present. There are many environmental factors that influence the abundance of fish stocks: ocean condition and marine survival; naturally occurring parasites in both salt and fresh water; fresh-water habitat; water levels and water temperatures. Since strict conservation measures were put in place in 1997, there have been steady improvements in many runs. Certainly, there remain stocks of concern for which the Department continues to impose protective measures and implement recoveryplans.

The Department has conducted research on the interactions between farmed and wild salmon. Departmental scientists have studied interaction at net pens as well as the stomach contents of escaped Atlantic salmon. Both bodies of research suggest a very low level of interaction (both through competition or predation). There is no evidence that escaped Atlantic salmon pose a threat to Pacific salmon. Experience in BC and from around the world combined suggests a low risk that Atlantic salmon could establish themselves in local waters and compete for food or habitat with local, more aggressive wild salmon. If farm fish escape, their survival rate appears to be low. They have been hand fed from birth and, like all domesticated animals, are poorly suited to survival in the wild. Escaped Atlantic salmon are docile and they are usually found showing signs of starvation. Farmed salmon are hand fed a diet composed exclusively of locally manufactured fish meal pellets. Stomach content analysis of recovered Atlantic salmon indicates that the intake of wild food by farmed salmon is low. Of the small amounts consumed, most consisted of trace amounts of herring.

Farmed salmon are hand fed a diet composed exclusively of locally manufactured fish meal pellets. A study conducted by the BC Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food indicates that the intake of wild food by farmed salmon is low. Of the small amounts consumed, most consisted of invertebrates that live on the farm net. No juvenile wild salmon were consumed by any of the farmed fish examined.

Atlantic salmon (genus: Salmo) are genetically a different genus and species from Pacific salmon (genus: Oncorhynchus). This genetic difference is responsible for the two species being unable to behaviourally queue up during the mating ritual. As such, the production of viable offspring through interbreeding between Pacific and Atlantic salmon appears impossible. Even under controlled laboratory conditions, very few hybrid offspring survive and these are sterile.

The numbers of Atlantic salmon observed in BC rivers in 2000 was 131 adults. This was a year where the largest effort ever mounted to find and remove Atlantic salmon. The effort was funded by DFO, BC Ministry of Agriculture, Fish and Food, BC Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection (formerly Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks) and Stolt Sea Farms. In addition to the hundreds of rivers monitored by DFO and provincial agencies for regular stock assessment, 38 rivers were surveyed specifically for Atlantic salmon.

The joint federal / provincial Atlantic Salmon Watch Program has been monitoring the presence of Atlantic salmon in BC stream for ten years. The Department also monitors for Atlantic salmon through our on-going stock assessment activities for Pacific salmon.

The Atlantic Salmon Watch Program (ASWP) is a cooperative research program operated by Fisheries and Oceans Canada with funding from the BC Fisheries. The purpose of the program is to study the abundance, distribution and biology of Atlantic salmon in British Columbia and its adjacent waters. The ASWP monitors commercial and sport catches and observations of Atlantic salmon throughout British Columbia, Alaska and Washington in co-operation with the BC Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

In 2001, Fisheries and Oceans Canada has again partnered with the provincial agencies and the BC Salmon Farmers Association to conduct the First Nations Atlantic Salmon Watch (investment of $220,000 for training, salaries and equipment from the Provincial Interim Measures Fund). Sixty members of coastal first nations will be trained and deployed to survey the streams for Atlantic salmon in their traditional territories. Last year, the industry also invested $85,000 in surveys and we are continuing to receive good cooperation and support from industry in that regard.

Managed risk does not imply zero risk. Humans rely on a number of products in their everyday life such as automobiles, air planes, lumber, and oil. Not one of the products are a result of an environmentally risk-free industry, yet we have come to accept these industries as part of the natural course of our lives either out of necessity, convenience or pleasure.

The BC government, in cooperation with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, conducted an extensive environmental assessment review of the salmon farming industry in 1997, commonly known in BC as the Salmon Aquaculture Review or SAR. Based on the best available scientific evidence, the SAR team concluded that salmon farming posed a low overall risk to the environment. This review included an assessment of escaped farmed fish and the scientific review panel concluded that there was no compelling reason to stop farming Atlantic salmon in BC.

There is no scientific evidence to support that mature Atlantic salmon could disrupt the life history processes or cause disease transfer to wild Pacific salmon. These claims also contradict the conclusions of SAR and a similar review in Washington State in 2000. The Province has also been proactive in ensuring industry have escape prevention plans in place by January 1, 2001 and industry themselves have developed a code of practice to address many of the environmental concerns that have been raised.