First the short list of the government employees to which the letter was sent: dwightball@gov.nl.ca; cbennett@gov.nl.ca; derekbennett@gov.nl.ca; derrickbragg@gov.nl.ca; davidbrazil@gov.nl.ca; markbrowne@gov.nl.ca; gerrybyrne@gov.nl.ca; siobhancoady@gov.nl.ca; stevecrocker@gov.nl.ca; bernarddavis@gov.nl.ca; padavis@gov.nl.ca; jerrydean@gov.nl.ca; lisadempster@gov.nl.ca; randyedmunds@gov.nl.ca; johnfinn@gov.nl.ca; sherrygambinwalsh@gov.nl.ca; johnhaggie@gov.nl.ca; carolannehaley@gov.nl.ca; allanhawkins@gov.nl.ca; colinholloway@gov.nl.ca; keithhutchings@gov.nl.ca; ejoyce@gov.nl.ca; stevekent@gov.nl.ca; neilking@gov.nl.ca; dalekirby@gov.nl.ca; paullane@gov.nl.ca; grahamletto@gov.nl.ca; lorrainemichael@gov.nl.ca; cmitchelmore@gov.nl.ca; tosborne@gov.nl.ca; bettyparsley@gov.nl.ca; andrewparsons@gov.nl.ca; kevinparsons@gov.nl.ca; pamparsons@gov.nl.ca; barrypetten@gov.nl.ca; traceyperry@gov.nl.ca; scottreid@gov.nl.ca; gerryrogers@gov.nl.ca; perrytrimper@gov.nl.ca; brianwarr@gov.nl.ca.
Quite a few. And the list of private individuals to whom the letter was sent is twice as long as this list.
Now, the letter:
Honorable Premier, Ministers, MHAs, and Respected Others;
Hot off the presses of the international Journal Of Aquaculture Environment Interactions comes a study that analyzed nearly 30 years of data to show that salmon farm open net pen amplified sea lice cause a dramatic decline in nearby wild salmon numbers. The science on this is now overwhelming (100s of peer reviewed papers). It is no secret that sea lice transmit many deadly finfish pathogens that are amplified in our open net pen in NL such as IPNv, ISAv, etc etc. Given that the entire southern Newfoundland salmon stock of 4U is federally S.A.R.A listed as "threatened" how can government sanction the expansion of yet more open net pens?!
Our south coast herring stocks are now collapsing and infected with a deadly aquaculture virus (3L recently shut down to purse seining), local lobster harvesters are complaining about lobster grounds not producing near the pens, DFO lists open net pens as a threat to the wild trout and salmon stocks in their SARA assessment....how is this governing using "science based decisions"?
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316684886_Quantifying_the_contribution_of_sea_lice_from_aquaculture_to_declining_annual_returns_in_a_wild_Atlantic_salmon_population
 |
Official Full-Text Publication: Quantifying
the contribution of sea lice from aquaculture to declining annual returns in
a wild Atlantic salmon population on ResearchGate, the professional network
for scientists.
|
When will government start shifting away from
the destructive 1958 open net pen method of pathogen amplification (like Norway
is now doing in leaps and bounds) and start the shift to land based closed
containment? Where are the plans and incentives to make this happen? How much
shall our wild fish stocks, our own health, and our economy suffer
before government reacts? Must we have yet ANOTHER total meltdown of the
failed open net pen industry like we experienced from 2012-2014?
When will government become transparent and release the damning data they are hiding?
Cheers;
Bill Bryden
***
In other words, the citizens of the world are calling on their governments to take fish farms out of the oceans, around the world.
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