L E T T E R S T O T H E E D I T O R
Choose Factual Evidence
To the Editor:
I am writing in response to the article entitled Blue Revolution Revisited by Inka Milewski in the September, 2011 edition.
For over 30 years, salmon farmers have shared a working waterfront with the traditional fishing sector, and this article does a disservice to our communities and our citizens by fear-mongering based on selective reporting, old data and misinformation.
Ms. Milewski based her commentary on the observations of a group of hand-picked participants —hardly what anyone would describe as an unbiased sampling. The document she cites is not backed by credible research and doesn’t include any input from our region’s salmon farmers, some of whom have farmed these waters for decades.
I think it’s important to point out to your readers that the observation of a few does not reflect the reality of what’s happening in our region’s marine environment. I suggest your readers choose factual evidence over kitchen table stories. Check the records of lobster landings. Catches have remained steady or increased in the 30 years since salmon farming started in New Brunswick. Look through the underwater cameras on established salmon farms to see the marine life alive and well and active below the net pens. Read the publicly-available sulphide counts on farms.
Absolutely every aspect of salmon farming is based on credible science and research from veterinarians, marine biologists, ecologists, scientists and regulators.
To point to a single farm site or to harken back to the way things were in the early days of the industry is not an accurate reflection on how modern salmon farms operate.
When it comes to the environmental sustainability of our industry, we base our farming on facts, not anecdotes and are we are held accountable for our practices. Ms. Milewski needs to be held to the same standard of accountability.
Yours truly,
Pamela Parker
Executive Director, Atlantic Canada Fish Farmers Association
Going After Messenger, Not Research
Dear Editor:
In a typical and predictable manner, a spokesperson for the aquaculture industry is impugning the credibility of the messenger rather than providing a science-based rebuttal to the information provided in the article, Blue Revolution Revisited, which appeared in Fishermen’s Voice September 2011.
It is also clear from the letter that the standard of credibility the aquaculture industry holds for others is not a standard they apply to themselves. On several occasions, including their current letter to the editor of Fishermen’s Voice, aquaculture spokespersons have tried to infer that higher lobster landings over the past three decades are somehow a sign that salmon farms have had no impact on lobster. At times, they even suggest that salmon farms maybe responsible for the high landings. Not a single study to support these inferences has ever been provided.
I think most people will agree that the observations made by fishermen who spend their entire working lives on the water are more valid and credible than that those of industry spokespersons who may never have set a lobster trap and then make observations about the health of the lobster fishery.
Every statement I made in the article about the impacts of salmon farming on the marine environment can be backed by peer-reviewed scientific articles. They include articles that have been published in the past few months, not "old data" as suggested.
Inka Milewski
Author, “Blue Revolution Revisited”