Challenge to eliminate ISA issued at fish health workshop

At the recent Northeast Farmed Fish Health Management Workshop, Glenn Cooke, CEO of Cooke Aquaculture, laid down a challenge for the salmon farming industry, fish health researchers and government, stating, "We cannot manage ISA; it can and must be eliminated." His comment, made to the April 6 gathering of salmon farmers, scientists and fish health specialists at the Washington County Community College in Calais, runs counter to the current view that the infectious salmon anemia (ISA) virus will always be present and the industry needs to learn how to live with it.

"To eliminate ISA is going to be very difficult," comments Dr. Stephen Ellis of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal Plant Health Inspection Service, who is based in Eastport, noting that researchers still do not know all of the sources for the virus or all of the means of transmission. Elimination of the virus could be possible at some point if there are long enough fallowing periods for fish farms to break the cycle of outbreaks and if the sources and means of transmission are identified. He notes, though, that fish farms can still make a profit with the disease being in the area, and salmon farmers have been "embracing a number of helpful strategies" for managing it.

Stating that fish health must be treated like a religion, the head of Cooke Aquaculture, which is now producing all of the farmed salmon in Maine and about 70% of the New Brunswick harvest, reviewed the steps that have been taken to manage the disease, which has resulted in millions of salmon having been destroyed in Maine and New Brunswick since 1997, but he said more must be done. New Brunswick has adopted a three-year management system, with different areas being on a separate cycle for stocking over a three-year period, with a goal of fallowing sites for at least four months. Campobello, Deer Island and Cobscook Bay in Maine will be in one area, Lime Kiln Bay, Back Bay and the upper half of Grand Manan in a second, and Beaver Harbour and sites east, along with the lower half of Grand Manan, in a third.

Other steps have included the move to single year-class farms, fallowing of sites, the designation of vessel traffic routes, biosecurity protocols and best management practices for the farms, hatcheries and processing plants, along with the hiring of veterinarians and fish health professionals.

A partnership of scientists and researchers, government and the industry is needed, Cooke stated. Urging that researchers "find the missing pieces of the fish health management puzzle," he said the industry needs more than one treatment, currently Slice, for sea lice management, as sea lice are involved with the spreading of the ISA disease. An ISA vaccine that works on the farm, and not just the lab, is also needed. "Our company will pay the price for a vaccine that works," he said.

Cooke also said that a dependable and consistent ISA compensation program for fish farmers is needed in the U.S. and Canada. In both countries, the industry is still awaiting word on compensation packages from the government for ISA losses. He also urged the industry to be willing to accept changes, noting that there had been resistance to the adoption of the three-year management system.

Cooke Aquaculture has over 1,200 employees, and Glenn Cooke asked what they would do without salmon farming. The company will be introducing 3.5 million smolts in Maine and 7.5 to 8 million in New Brunswick this year and will have 20 million fish in the water. It will be investing $60 million in the state over the next two years.

Other talks concerning ISA included one about the environmental, farmer-controlled and industry-controlled risk factors for outbreaks of ISA. Fred Page of the St. Andrews Biological Station reviewed a tidal circulation model to examine the potential for water-borne spread of ISA among fish farms, and Stephen Ellis pointed out that there appears to be extensive mixing of water between Cobscook Bay in Maine and Deer Island and Campobello in New Brunswick. These findings have led to a new international bay management zone to keep nearly all of the sites in those areas in one year-class, starting this spring.

The probable role of sea lice in the transmission of the ISA virus was reviewed. The drug Slice is under investigational status by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which will be making a determination on approval status for the drug.

Marketing of salmon
The market benefits of sustainable salmon aquaculture were outlined by Cathy Roheim of the University of Rhode Island. Although there are no conclusive data from research about market rewards for sustainable salmon farming, she pointed out that consumers are willing to pay more for sustainable seafood products. Retailers are beginning to demand and possibly are willing to pay premiums for sustainable farmed salmon. She recommended that salmon farmers continue to pioneer environmental stewardship and pursue ecolabelling programs for farmed salmon.

Alex Trent of the Salmon of the Americas, a public relations effort by Chilean, Canadian and American companies to promote farmed salmon, countered the widely publicized study of the levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in farmed versus wild salmon that was published in the journal Science in 2004. That study indicated that farmed salmon have 10 times higher levels of PCBs than wild salmon. However, a study done by the Salmon of the Americas found that the levels were nearly the same. Trent pointed to several reasons for the difference. The Science published study included wild salmon that are not sold on the fresh market, and there are decreasing levels of PCBs in farmed salmon, because of cleaner feed, and the Science published study took samples in 2001, while the Salmon of the Americas study took samples in 2005. Trent also maintained that his group's study used proper sampling and testing procedures. He pointed out that the levels found by the study published in Science were 100 times lower than the safe amounts recommended by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. "This is not about public health; it's a pr campaign against farmed salmon," he stated.

Raising of cod and other species
Along with salmon farming, there was consideration of the raising of other species. A talk about multi-trophic aquaculture studies in New Brunswick reviewed research on growing kelps and mussels next to fish farms, with the wastes from the salmon farms being taken up by the seaweed and shellfish, creating healthier production systems. The research is focusing now on developing commercial-scale integrated operations.

Potential disease risks associated with cod and haddock aquaculture were looked at, and the launching of the cod genomics and broodstock development project was reviewed. Jane Symonds and Sharen Bowman of the Huntsman Marine Science Centre in St. Andrews stated that programs in Newfoundland, New Brunswick and New Hampshire will be selectively breeding cod for specific traits targeting the production of fast growing, good quality, healthy fish.

Other talks concerned the development of U.S. Department of Agriculture organic standards for aquatic products and the diagnostic capabilities of the newly formed Maine Aquatic Animal Health Laboratory and the Maine Environmental Samples Repository.