(A salmon)

These are the feed pellets used at a central coast fish farm CREDIT: Nick Procaylo, The Province

Fan for matching flesh colours.

A salmon smolt infested with sea lice.

CREDIT: John Volpe Escaped adult Atlantic salmon caught in the wild in B.C.

(John Randle).

(Joanie Sims).

(Jean Allan).

(Sam Short).

(Stacey Berg).

Critics of B.C.'s fish-farming industry have laid a long list of sins at its door.

Chief among them is the belief that farming salmon, especially Atlantic salmon, in open net cages threatens the existence of B.C.'s wild salmon stocks.

They also feel pollution from farms imperils the sea bed and species close to the farms' nets.

The fish farming industry says that in the 30 years since it set up its first operations, it has learned from its mistakes, adapted its practices and is now far more environmentally responsible.

It says farmed salmon is a major product with a small environmental footprint and that it can exist alongside wild salmon in B.C.

Here are some of the most contentious issues in the debate.

SALMON ESCAPES

Environmentalists' view: The biggest concern of environmentalists is that Atlantic salmon, a species foreign to the West Coast, is the fish of choice of B.C.'s aquaculture industry. About 80 per cent of B.C.'s farmed salmon are Atlantics, and environmentalists say that's a serious threat to B.C.'s wild Pacific salmon.

Historically, Atlantic salmon, a more docile fish than the Pacific salmon, has had little success in wild B.C. waters. Between 1905 and 1933, up to nine million Atlantic salmon smolts and eggs were planted in rivers to stimulate sports fishing. They failed to take hold.

But fish farm opponents argue that environmental conditions have changed and that escaping Atlantics can now colonize B.C. rivers. Backing up their fears is the universally accepted scientific principle that introduced foreign species frequently pose threats to native species.

Researcher Dr. John Volpe of the University of Alberta found between 1998 and 2000 that 153 juvenile Atlantic salmon had successfully spawned in the Adam, Amor de Cosmos and Tsitika rivers on Vancouver Island.

Volpe concludes that, more than 70 years after the deliberate colonizing attempts, native B.C. salmon stocks are weaker in some rivers and are less able to repel foreign Atlantics. He fears their presence in B.C. rivers may be much more widespread and argues the federal and provincial governments, which regulate aquaculture, haven't done enough to quantify the problem.

"River systems back then were considerably different from today," says Volpe. "Then, habitat was saturated with native competitors and there was no ecological room for a new player."

Industry's view: Better net location, supervision and anchoring have cut down on escapes. Last year, 9,200 fish were reported escaped, well down from the hundreds of thousands of some earlier years. But even if some get away, Atlantic salmon are not good colonizers.

The charge that they have colonized B.C. rivers is unproven because there is no evidence the smolts found in rivers are the offspring of Atlantic salmon that have survived more than one generation in the ocean. There is no evidence of interbreeding between escaped Atlantics and native Pacifics.

SEA LICE

Environmentalists' view: While sea lice on salmon are a naturally occurring parasite, B.C.'s fish farms are accused of acting as fertile breeding grounds for lice, multiplying their threat to the wild salmon that pass by.

The argument runs that the caged, slow-moving farmed salmon attract and help breed lice in huge numbers. When young wild salmon leave their fresh-water rivers to enter the sea, they pass inshore salmon farms. As young, small fish, they are especially vulnerable. Once attached, the lice eat their flesh and weaken them to the point where they fall prey to other diseases.

Norwegian and Irish studies have shown that wild salmon and trout carry far more lice in areas close to salmon farms than they do in pristine areas. While there is no direct evidence that sea lice from farms are to blame for disappearing wild salmon stocks, environmentalists argue there is strong circumstantial evidence.

Sea lice have become a huge issue in the Broughton Archipelago near northern Vancouver Island, the most intensive area for salmon farmed area in B.C.

Most recently lice, and the farms, have been linked to the disappearance, in 2001, of a large pink salmon run.

The B.C. and federal governments have belatedly recognized they are years behind other countries in studying and quantifying the sea lice threat. Their recent decision to conduct extensive research and shut down half the farms in the Broughton Archipelago, through which wild pinks must migrate, is being called too little, too late.

Industry's view: "There may be factors other than fish-farm-linked sea lice behind the pink salmon collapse," says Mary-Ellen Walling, executive director of the B.C. Salmon Farmers' Association, "but we're not in denial." Fish farms in the Broughton Archipelago have responded with an "area management approach" to farming.

B.C. can look towards other jurisdictions such as Norway to ensure regulations and mandatory safeguards are sensible and allow for wild and farmed salmon to coexist, she says.

ANTIBIOTICS, PESTICIDES AND FUNGICIDES

Environmentalists' view: Keeping large numbers of fish close to each other in relatively small net cages can lead to disease.

To combat a variety of problems, fish farmers inoculate young fish and monitor their health as they grow. If disease appears, antibiotics are added to the feed.

Critics argue the fish absorb only a minute part of such antibiotics, excreting the rest to the sea bed below. That can alter the biological make-up of the sea life below the pens. There are fears this could lead to antibiotic-resistant bacteria with future impacts on human health.

Neurotoxins such as SLICE are used to combat parasite infestations such as sea lice. The government has recently authorized regular testing and treatment against lice buildup. The fear is these treatments will, like antibiotics, have negative impacts on sea-bed species.

Industry's view: Salmon farmers charge they are being flogged with outdated information. The industry now vaccinates its young fish against disease and, over the last decade, has cut its antibiotic use by 90 per cent. When fish show signs of sickness, drugs are distributed only by vet's prescription. Antibiotics are used far less than in farming pork and beef, and are used only to combat disease and not as a preventative measure. Salmon treated with drugs cannot be slaughtered until undergoing prescribed withdrawal periods.

FECES AND OTHER POLLUTION

Environmentalists' view: Feces from fish build up beneath the nets, and additional debris comes from uneaten food pellets. The packet pellets are manufactured under pressure and take months to decompose. Critics suggest that in 2000, B.C.'s salmon farms produced nitrogen equivalent to the untreated sewage of 682,000 people and phosphorous to the equivalent of 216,000 people. And production has increased since then. Decomposing waste can smother organisms, deplete oxygen and lead to the release of methane, carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide. All of these can have a negative effect on marine life adjacent to farms.

Industry's view: Fish feces is not analogous to human sewage. The footprint of a dozen farm nets in an inlet is small, so their overall impact is limited. Farms are now located in much deeper areas with stronger currents. The currents help the flow of oxygen to the fish and help spread fish feces over a wider area. Any temporary negative effects are mitigated by regular "fallowing" of pens, switching them to adjacent locations, or halting production for a number of months. While some ocean species are affected negatively, others thrive with the additional nutrients. Sea beds are regularly checked for pollution levels. Feed, being expensive, is very strictly monitored by underwater cameras, and very little uneaten food reaches the seabed.

ARTIFICIAL DYES

Environmentalists' view: Wild salmon take on their distinctive colour by eating shrimp and krill. The substance they eat is a carotenoid, the sort of chemical that turns carrots orange.

Fish farmers use two chemicals, astaxanthin and its less expensive synthetic cousin, canthaxanthin, to reproduce the salmon colour. Critics have played up the issue of synthetically dyeing fish and voiced concerns about possible health risks.

The European Commission has recently reduced the maximum canthaxanthin levels allowed in fish feed after studies that indicate consuming too much could lead to eye damage in people.

Industry's view: Astaxanthin is more than a pigment. It also acts as an antioxidant, helping the health of the fish. Natural sources can't cater to the demand of the increasing fish farm industry. Although canthaxanthin is created artificially, it has exactly the same chemical components as its wild counterpart. While there is a theoretical danger from excessive consumption of canthaxanthin, keeping within established levels has been ruled by the European Health Commissioner to pose no taste or health risk to humans.

SOLUTIONS

In the deeply divided world of fish farming, common ground is hard to find. Both sides agree B.C.'s wild salmon must be protected, pollution must be minimized or eliminated and that farmed salmon must not escape. Critics argue there are still too many questions surrounding fish farming and wild salmon is too precious to risk.

Their solution is to remove farmed salmon into fully contained pens until it is proven that wild and farmed salmon can co-exist in the ocean separated only by nets.

While research is being done on the feasibility of closed pens, the industry says it is too expensive. Fish farms, they argue, can be a great economic boon to small, isolated communities on B.C.'s coast. And Canada must farm, they say, in a way that's competitive with larger salmon operations in Norway, Chile and Great Britain.

Their solution is to work with the environmental movements to minimize harmful effects. And they firmly believe that wild and farmed salmon can co-exist.

FISH FARM FACTS

According to the B.C. Salmon Farmers' Association, salmon farming accounts for 15 per cent of B.C.'s agricultural output

Salmon farming provides approximately 4,700 direct and indirect jobs

In 2002, B.C.'s wild salmon exports were worth $129 million

In 2002, B.C.'s farmed salmon exports fetched $391 million

Roughly 85 per cent of B.C.'s farmed salmon is exported

Farmed Atlantic salmon eggs, once stripped from broodstock and inseminated, take 60 days to hatch

After a year in fresh water, at around a weight of 80 to 100 grams each, they are put in seawater

The salmon are then raised for about a year in their net pens

In their pens, the fish eat a diet of steadily larger food pellets

At harvest time, the fish are anesthetized, slaughtered, chilled and processed

2002 production figures: 73,119 metric tonnes (up 43 per cent from 2001); 59,939 tonnes Atlantic (up 82%); 11,180 tonnes Chinook (up 15%); 2,000 tonnes Coho (up 3%)

WE ASKED...

Do you prefer to eat wild or farmed salmon? Are you in favour of sea-based salmon farms in B.C.?

John Randle, Abbotsford: I don't like the farmed Atlantic salmon at all. I find it way too "fishy." I don't like the idea of salmon farms in B.C.

Joanie Sims, Vancouver: I love salmon. I try to eat wild salmon on principle whenever possible. Occasionally I will buy farmed Pacific salmon, but I will not buy farmed Atlantic salmon on principle.

I'm concerned the Atlantic salmon will damage the wild Pacific stocks.

Jean Allan, Vancouver: Given a chance, I would eat wild salmon. I'm not afraid [of farmed salmon] personally, but I am afraid environmentally. [I favour farms] so long as they can be contained; if we could farm them apart from wild salmon.

Sam Short: I don't touch farmed salmon. I would never have known the difference between farmed and wild before, but now that I am aware I can really tell the difference. I've heard they use chemicals and colouring and different things on the farm. I wouldn't be opposed to it if they were well-regulated and they weren't allowed to escape.

Stacey Berg, North Vancouver: I really can't make up my mind, because there are lots of ups and downs. In taste, I definitely prefer wild salmon, I can tell the difference. I know we need to take the pressure off the wild life and for those who don't know the difference, have them eat farmed salmon. But I don't know how it's going to affect the eco-systems and what it does to the environment.

A DEEPER LOOK

For more information on these issues, check out the websites of the Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform at www.farmedanddangerous.org and The B.C. Salmon Farmers Association at www.salmonfarmers.org