Farmed fish escape off Deer Island stirs debate

The escape of approximately 1,000 farmed salmon from a cage site off Deer Island has again increased tensions between wild salmon advocates and fish farmers. The Atlantic Salmon Federation (ASF) is upset about the lack of public notification when farmed salmon escape and fears any interbreeding with wild fish will lead to a continued decline in the wild population. Fish farmers, though, point out that they follow the law by notifying the provincial government of any escapes and that they have been working to help rebuild the wild salmon stocks.
According to Cooke Aquaculture, the incident occurred on August 20 at a Kelly Cove Salmon site off Davidson's Head, which is on the western side of Deer Island. The fish escaped when a discharge hose on a wellboat that was treating the salmon for sea lice broke. The broken hose was then replaced, reinforced with chafe guards, and a video monitoring system was repositioned to target the area that is monitored on the vessel.
Kelly Cove Salmon, a division of Cooke Aquaculture, reported the escape to the provincial registrar of aquaculture at the New Brunswick Department of Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fisheries. While Kelly Cove initially reported that approximately 2,500 fish escaped, it was later determined that approximately 1,000 fish were released from the hose, with some of them collected from the deck of the vessel. The company provided consent to the provincial registrar to inform the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), Maine Department of Marine Resources, Atlantic Canada Fish Farmers Association and the Atlantic Salmon Federation of the escape of fish.
As of September 8, ASF researchers had removed 53 aquaculture salmon that were attempting to enter the Magaguadavic River through the fishway at St. George. Although the origin of the fish has not yet been determined, the surge follows the August 20 incident off Deer Island. This is the most escapees that have been collected since 2013, when 91 were captured. The fish are killed and brought to ASF headquarters in Chamcook for sampling before being sent to DFO for further analysis.
ASF believes that only a small percentage of salmon enter the Magaguadavic following an escape. In 2005 when vandals cut 50,000 fish loose from a nearby Cooke site, only 30 fish matching the description of the escapees were recovered by ASF staff from the fishway.
"While we appreciate a prompt response from Cooke to our inquiries and the fact the company consented to the release of some information by provincial officials, this news was not shared widely with the public," says Neville Crabbe, ASF's executive director of communications. "In general, silence and secrecy about escape events put endangered Bay of Fundy wild Atlantic salmon at risk."
However, the Department of Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fisheries says the company followed the law by reporting the escape as required by regulations. Under New Brunswick laws, companies are only required to report escapes to the provincial government when employees believe more than 100 fish have been lost, although fish farmers are voluntarily reporting all escapes. Those reports are then treated as confidential and only released with consent of the company. The government is not permitted to identify to the public the name of the farm or the location. In Maine, though, such information is released to the public.
Crabbe, though, believes greater transparency is needed about farmed fish escapes. "Knowing to be on the lookout for escapes is critically important, especially as we get closer to the fall spawning season for endangered wild salmon in the Bay of Fundy," he says. "For example, Fisheries and Oceans Canada and Parks Canada could detect and remove escapees at monitoring facilities they operate. Others like the Hammond River Angling Association and the Nashwaak Watershed Association could also step up surveillance, but only if they're equipped and know there's a threat in the water."
According to the ASF, farmed salmon in the Bay of Fundy are known to be hosts for high concentrations of parasitic sea lice and multiple viruses, including infectious salmon anemia, which can have devastating effects on wild fish.
The Atlantic Salmon Federation has monitored the Magaguadavic River fishway since 1992 and has detected escapee salmon every year. From the period from 1992 to 2015 escapee salmon have outnumbered wild salmon in all but four years. Spawning by aquaculture escapees and between farmed fish and wild salmon in Bay of Fundy rivers has been documented by the ASF and DFO. According to ASF, these events produce "maladapted offspring" and contribute to population collapse. As a result, DFO has declared the industry a marine threat of "high concern" to wild Atlantic salmon populations.
"Despite oversight from two levels of government, aquaculture companies in New Brunswick benefit from a significant legal loophole when it comes to escapes," says Crabbe. "As long as the fish are contained, they are the responsibility of the corporation. In the wild they are the responsibility of no one."
In early 2019, the province of New Brunswick began consultations on the development of a new provincial Aquaculture Act and regulations, a move welcomed by ASF and others. In a submission to government, ASF has requested increased transparency, extended responsibility for escaped fish and reforms to the lease conditions and fees that currently allow companies to discharge significant fecal, chemical and pharmaceutical waste into public waters.

Salmon farmers respond
Salmon farmers, though, point out that preventing any fish from escaping from their net pens is a top priority. Susan Farquharson, executive director of the Atlantic Canada Fish Farmers Association, says, "Salmon farmers do not want to lose a single fish. Their fish are their livelihood." Any fish escapes are usually the result of extreme weather or occasionally they are caused by equipment malfunction or human error.
Farquharson says the statements made by ASF officials about the transparency of reporting farmed salmon escapes and the potential risks involved with escapes cannot go unchallenged. "Salmon farmers are already transparent about escapes. When escapes happen, New Brunswick salmon farming companies voluntarily report it to the provincial regulator, who in turn notifies numerous groups, including the ASF, that are members of the [New Brunswick] Aquaculture Containment Liaison Committee." Other members include the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, the New Brunswick Department of Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fisheries, salmon producers, the New Brunswick Conservation Council and the New Brunswick Salmon Council. The Aquaculture Containment Liaison Committee recently discussed adding other groups on a case‑by‑case basis that may wish to be informed of an escape for a specific reason.
Responding to Crabbe's comment in the media that spawning between escapees and wild fish could potentially wipe away "10,000 years of evolution in a single spawning event," Farquharson says, "We reject that hyperbole. ASF knows full well that farmed salmon are very poorly suited to survival in the wild or reproductive success. Fearmongering about potential evolutionary disaster after a small escape does a disservice to the collaborative efforts between salmon farmers and the members of the [New Brunswick] Aquaculture Containment Liaison Committee. Mr. Crabbe's comments also conveniently ignore any potential impacts of over 100 years of Atlantic salmon enhancement efforts, including ASF's own sea ranching project in the 1970s and 80s that saw large releases of a variety of salmon strains into rivers and estuaries."
Farquharson points out that salmon farming began, with ASF as a partner, as a way to address the decline of the commercial and recreational fishery for Atlantic salmon. She comments, "Salmon farming is a responsible, sustainable and innovative means to provide adequate food supply to meet the world's population growth while helping to reduce the pressure on wild fish stocks. Our farming practices and technology continue to evolve. Fish containment will always be a top priority as will our wild salmon conservation and enhancement efforts. Farmers work with a wide variety of partners, including First Nations, as part of the innovative Fundy Salmon Recovery project that is now seeing inner Bay of Fundy salmon return to one river in Fundy National Park in unprecedented numbers."