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Government, industry study aims to counter poor image of farmed B.C. salmon
Dirk Meissner - Canadian Press
VICTORIA (CP) - Scientists funded by government and salmon farmers are conducting a study that aims to counter the negative image some consumers have about B.C. farmed salmon, says an environmentalist with concerns about the research.
The $409,000 study appears to be nothing more than a public relations exercise to support the salmon farming industry, Lynn Hunter, B.C.'s Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform spokeswoman, said Wednesday.
Proposal documents for the study of flesh quality of market-size farmed and wild salmon indicate preliminary results could be released by next month.
"Our tax dollars are being used as a public relations boost to a very questionable industry," Hunter said. "The intent of this study was to assure consumers that everything is just fine."
The proposal documents from AquaNet, the federal agency overseeing the study, reveal that an in-depth study of the quality and health of B.C. farmed salmon will likely result in increased consumer confidence in the fish.
"Establishment of this important information base likely will enhance consumer confidence in B.C. salmon in domestic and foreign markets," says the proposal. "This will increase marketing opportunities and strengthen the B.C. salmon industry."
Study co-ordinator Scott McKinley said the public would welcome research that examines the health and safety of farmed and wild salmon in British Columbia.
"We do need a comprehensive and rigorous scientific study that looks at both farmed and wild fish as well as feed fish from different geographical locations along this coast," he said.
AquaNet, the B.C. Salmon Farmers Association, the office of the aquaculture commission and the Science Council of B.C. contributed the funding for the study, McKinley said.
He rejected Hunter's statement that tax dollars are being used to prop up the image of the salmon farming industry.
"That's just a silly comment," said McKinley. "Unlike Lynn, I have no hidden agenda."
Hunter, a former NDP MP, has been a vocal opponent of the development of fish farming in B.C.
She said the open-net pens that rear farmed salmon in B.C. coastal waters are floating feedlots that pollute the ocean and threaten wild salmon stocks.
The U.S. journal Science released a study in January that concluded farm-raised salmon contain higher levels of potentially cancer-causing pollutants and dioxins than wild salmon.
Eating more than a meal of farm-raised Atlantic salmon a month, depending on its country of origin, could slightly increase the risk of getting cancer later in life, the study concluded.
The study tested contaminants in 700 salmon bought around the world, including Vancouver and Toronto, and found those farmed in Northern Europe contained the most pollutants, followed by North America and then Chile.
Government and industry officials in British Columbia said pollution levels found in farmed salmon are still well below health guidelines set by the federal government.
British Columbia is the fourth-largest producer of farmed salmon in the world after Norway, Chile and United Kingdom. |
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