After 10 years of research,
Galician scientists have discovered a highly effective
and non-polluting natural medicine that can be used in
aquaculture.Professors
José Luis Sánchez and Ricardo Riguera from
Compostela University (UCS)
Aquaculture Institute have succeeded in developing the
sector's first natural antibiotics. |
The scientists produced the
antibiotics from
marine bacteria found in scallop and oyster larvae.
(Photo:P Johnson) |
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New Brunswick
environmentalists who surveyed the sea bottom beneath an
abandoned salmon farm in the Bay of Fundy say the buildup
of chemicals, pesticides and fecal matter has turned the
area into a wasteland.
The Conservation Council of New Brunswick said Tuesday it
wants tougher regulations governing aquaculture sites in
provincial waters, where fish farming has exploded in size
and value over the past decade.
'We cannot afford to wait another 10 years for better
environmental regulations,' said Inka Milewski, marine
science adviser to the conservation council, a citizen's
watchdog group.
Milewski released underwater video footage shot in August
at the Crow Harbour site near St. George, N.B., where a
salmon farm recently ceased its operations. Shooting
directly below the area where the cages used to be on a
large, 19-hectare site, the council's cameras recorded a
scene of deep sea desolation with little in the way of
marine life.
Measurements of sediments showed the effects of
contamination by hundreds of metric tonnes of salmon fecal
matter, as well as chemicals and pesticides. There wasn't
nearly as much marine life compared to a nearby, farm-free
area used as a control site.
'The mean number of species was 14 at the Crow Harbour
site versus 31 at the control area,' Milewski said. 'There
has been a 50 per cent reduction in the species number
from the fish farm versus the control site.'
Milewski said one salmon farm produces the same amount of
fecal waste as 2,667 people, all of it concentrated on the
seabed beneath the aquaculture site.
'Taken together, the 93 salmon farms in southwestern New
Brunswick are producing the equivalent to fecal waste from
89,611 people.'
Milewski and fellow environmentalist Janice Harvey said
that despite mounting evidence of environmental damage,
the New Brunswick government has been slow to act,
reluctant to touch a burgeoning industry that employs
close to 2,000 people and adds over $230 million a year to
the economy.
'They've handled this industry with kid gloves,' Harvey
said.
Harvey said it's a fight to get environmental compliance
records on the aquaculture industry from the provincial
environment department. She said no other industry is so
protected from public scrutiny.
In addition, Harvey and Milewski said the standard of
protection is too low. They want discharge standards for
nutrients and chemicals and more water monitoring.
No one from the New Brunswick Environment Department was
available to comment on Tuesday.
It's not the first time New Brunswick has been warned
about the way the province's aquaculture industry has
developed.
A House of Commons environment committee expressed alarm
over the province's lack of environmental control several
years ago.
It blamed overcrowded cages for rampant disease and marine
pollution. The committee called on the federal Environment
Department to assert its authority and make sure
environmental laws are enforced.
James Smith, a biologist and environmental specialist with
the New Brunswick Salmon Growers Association in St.
George, N.B, said the industry is still evolving and is
searching for ways to ensure environmental sustainability.
'Our industry operates in the environment,' Smith said.
'We're keenly interested in maintaining environmental
quality and being environmentally sustainable. It's in our
interest as well as in the public interest. We're not
bracing for new standards, we're embracing them.'
© The Canadian Press, 2002
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