Cooke fined $500,000 for pesticide use

A Cooke Aquaculture subsidiary will pay $500,000, one of the largest and most significant penalties ever levied in Canada under the Fisheries Act, for using an illegal pesticide at salmon farms that led to lobster deaths around Deer Island and Grand Manan. On April 26 in St. Stephen Provincial Court, the 19 counts that had been brought against Kelly Cove Salmon and three executives -- Cooke Aquaculture CEO Glenn Cooke, Vice President Michael Szemerda and Randal Griffin, regional production manager at Kelly Cove Salmon -- were withdrawn, and Kelly Cove pleaded guilty to two new counts related to the lobster deaths and to the use of cypermethrin at 15 aquaculture sites.
Along with a $100,000 court fine issued by Judge Julian Dickson, under a settlement agreement the company will pay $250,000 for an environmental studies scholarship at the University of New Brunswick, $100,000 for environmental studies and research projects related to fisheries and aquaculture at UNB and $50,000 to a fund for restoration and enhancement of fish habitat in the Bay of Fundy.
Kelly Cove used the pesticide, which is toxic to crustaceans, to address a major sea lice infestation at their salmon farms, knowing that it was illegal to do so, according to a statement of facts that was agreed to by the company. However, Glenn Cooke, CEO of Cooke Aquaculture, stated in a release, "We made the difficult decision not to fight these charges even though we question the allegations. Our main reason for this decision was to relieve our people, our company and our customers from a lengthy and public court battle."
Matthew Abbott, Fundy Baykeeper for the Conservation Council of New Brunswick, comments, "While no individuals were fined, the seriousness of these infractions should not be downplayed. Cypermethrin, and pesticides like it, are used to kill sea lice and they are thus also extremely toxic to other crustaceans including lobster, shrimps, krill, copepods and other zooplankton which form the base of the food chain in the Bay of Fundy."
He adds, "Even approved use should give us pause, however, and I think traditional fisheries advocates, watchdog groups like Baykeeper and concerned citizens will need to remain vigilant to ensure that pesticide use is not allowed to continue in our sensitive coastal waters."
To limit the use of pesticides, Glenn Cooke notes that the company has been making significant investment in green sea lice management. "We have invested millions of dollars into well boat technology, into the effective use of hydrogen peroxide as a bath treatment, and into lab and field trials on the use of the native cunner as cleaner fish C fish that will eat sea lice from salmon in net pens. We continue to explore the benefits of using lice traps and the possibility of building sea lice resistance into our breeding program."
He adds, "At the same time we have made the very difficult decision to limit stocking of those New Brunswick farms that experienced warmer water temperatures and higher sea lice levels in 2009B2010. We cannot stock these farms until the industry has access to a full suite of pest treatment and management tools. Unfortunately, this will have negative consequences for jobs and for the local economy.
Use at fish farms detailed
According to the agreed statement of facts, in 2009 Kelly Cove Salmon, a division of Cooke Aquaculture and the largest independent aquaculture company in North America, acquired 144 gallons of a cypermethrin-based pesticide and used the pesticide at aquaculture sites near Deer Island, Grand Manan, Campobello, Seeley's Cove, Red Head and Maces Bay.
In November and December 2009 the use of cypermethrin resulted in lobster kills in Seal Cove Sound, Grand Manan, and Clam Cove, Deer Island. Four lobster fishermen, including Vincent Guptill and Joseph Ingalls, reported dead lobsters in traps in Seal Cove Sound that were set near aquaculture pens operated by Kelly Cove Salmon. Environment Canada conducted a chemical analysis of three of the dead lobsters from one of the fishermen, with the analysis registering the presence of cypermethrin. A salmon sample from the nearby aquaculture site also contained cypermethrin. At Deer Island, Bryant Green and Derek Green discovered three crates of dead lobsters in a lobster car that was located next to an aquaculture site. Both the dead lobsters and salmon samples registered the presence of cypermethrin.
As a result of the lobster kills, Environment Canada collected additional salmon samples from numerous fish farms and found cypermethrin in samples from the following 15 sites operated by Kelly Cove Salmon: #MF-0400, Seeley's Cove, Maces Bay; #MF-0412, Maces Bay, adjacent to Red Head; #MF-0320, Passamaquoddy Bay, adjacent to Deer Island; #MF-0496, Orange Cove, Maces Bay; #MF-0215, Fish Island Harbour, adjacent to Deer Island; #MF-0045, Boone Cove, adjacent to Deer Island; #MF-0377, #MF-0251, #MF-0370, #MF-0179, #MF-0320 and #MF-0228, Passamaquoddy Bay, adjacent to Deer Island; #MF-0168, Friar's Bay, adjacent to Campobello; #MF-0059, Clam Cove, adjacent to Deer Island; #MF-0051, Doctor's Cove, adjacent to Deer Island.
Salmon samples from farms owned by two other companies, Northern Harvest Sea Farms and Ocean Legacy, also tested positive for cypermethrin, and Environment Canada warned the companies to immediately stop using the pesticide.

Usage in Maine
Although cypermethrin's use in the marine environment is prohibited in Canada, the pesticide has been permitted under certain restrictions for use in treating for sea lice at salmon farms in Maine and is also used at salmon farms in Europe and Chile. The last permit for its use in Maine expired in June 2011. It also is registered for use in commercial agriculture in the U.S. and Canada, marketed under the trade name Ripcord.
While the way in which cypermethrin was used at the Kelly Cove Salmon sites in New Brunswick has not been released, it was not the licensed product, Excis, that has been used at salmon farms in Maine, there probably was no oversight by a veterinarian and it most likely was not used following the strict protocols that are required in the state.
Under the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Investigational New Animal Drug (INAD) program, permitted use in Maine is only allowed, upon application, for a limited period of time and for specific sites. Environmental monitoring of the water, sediments and any organisms in the environment is required. Required dosage levels are very low, treatment is done in a pen that has a tarp pulled up inside the salmon cages, and the pesticide cannot be discharged into currents that will lead to any accumulation in intertidal or back bay areas.
Survey results in Cobscook Bay following bath treatments have shown that cypermethrin is at non-detectable levels in the waters and in the nearby environment where samples were collected. According to Matthew Young, an environmental specialist with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, there have not been any lobster deaths reported from its use in Maine. Lobsters had been placed in cages under the salmon pens during treatments, and no treatment residues were detected in them.
Chris Bartlett, a marine extension associate with the University of Maine Sea Grant program who worked on the chemical trials for the FDA, also reports that over five years of research no deaths of any animals were observed. He notes, "By following protocols with legal product, over here we've never had a problem," with no pesticide residue being detected and with no species, other than sea lice, being affected.