Wednesday, November 16, 2005

NEWS RELEASE/COMMUNIQUÉ

Sexually Mature Escapees Turn Up In N.B. Wild Salmon River

For immediate release

St. Andrews…The recent escape of tens of thousands of salmon from Cooke Aquaculture of New Brunswick is one of the Atlantic Salmon Federation’s worst recurring nightmares. The federation has been advocating for years for well-regulated salmon aquaculture industries in Canada and the United States. “While the U.S. Government has made progress, the regulation in Canada is especially wanting,” said ASF President Bill Taylor.

“Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) and the N.B. Government are doing little if anything to prevent and mitigate the recent escapes,” continued Mr. Taylor. “There is no process to handle this kind of disaster that can occur at the hand of nature or people, and is especially prevalent during times of turmoil in the industry. This is just one of a series of escapes since the spring and still no action by governments nor do they feel any necessity to provide the public and the U.S. Government with information on the escapes. For example, because government does not require mandatory reporting by the industry and because of government’s lack of transparency, we don’t know how many fish have escaped. These same governments are always front and centre, though, in promoting the benefits of the industry, openly contending that it is “environmentally sustainable”. Yet they do not put the rules in place to ensure this.”

Atlantic Salmon Federation (ASF) researchers scrambled to operate and man the fishways on the Magaguadavic River in N.B. and the international St. Croix River to monitor escapees entering the rivers. The researchers are also swimming through Charlotte County’s Dennis Stream and New River to assess the damage. Reports of escapees entering the rivers are already coming in. Mr. Taylor continued, “The mitigation shouldn’t be left to non profit conservation groups. This is a government responsibility. We need government leadership in

setting down and communicating action plans, and manpower and resources to find out where the fish are going and to put up barriers to the fish entering the rivers.”

Glenn Cooke of Cooke Aquaculture indicated in N.B.’s Telegraph Journal that the recent escapees were not mature and would not spawn in the rivers. “In fact,” said Mr. Taylor, “six escaped fish, presumably from this incident, entered the Magaguadavic River on November 15, and all are sexually mature.” Scientists have documented that escaped salmon do spawn with wild salmon. Mr. Cooke’s statement that the escapees will not cause any harm because they are “wild cousins” has been refuted over and over again by scientists, who have documented the weakened ability to survive in the wild of offspring from wild and farmed salmon mating.

Cooke Aquaculture, immediately following the escape, reported it to governments and ASF. Mr. Taylor said, “It should be the Canadian Government that takes the lead in reporting and working with the U.S. government to come up with an emergency response plan. The United States and Canada are remiss on working together to set up a cooperative Bay Management System, which is critical in the interconnected ecosystem of the Bay of Fundy and Gulf of Maine, where escaped salmon don’t recognize borders.”

The escaped salmon are a very real threat to the last vestiges of wild Atlantic salmon that are listed as endangered in the five down east Maine rivers: the Dennys, Pleasant, Narraguagus, Machias, and East Machias.

Mr. Cooke indicates that DFO is permitting the round-up of escaped salmon. However, Mr. Taylor pointed out, “ASF’s research in Cobscook Bay indicates that recapture efforts will be ineffectual as escaped salmon disperse very quickly once released from the sea cages in this fast-current area. “Like escaped prisoners, they don’t hang around the detention centre for long,” concluded Mr. Taylor.

The Atlantic Salmon Federation is an international, non-profit organization that promotes the conservation and wise management of wild Atlantic salmon and their environment. ASF has a network of seven regional councils (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Maine and Western New England) which have a membership of more than 150 river associations and 40,000 volunteers. The regional councils cover the freshwater range of the Atlantic salmon in Canada and the United States.

ASF Contact:

Muriel Ferguson

506 529-1033 (direct line) or 506 529-4581 (switchboard)

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