Okay, I'll slow down.
The centre is a small not-for-profit organization located here in Campbell River, with a mandate for conducting research and providing services that contribute to the health of aquatic animals in the environment. BC CAHS started operation in 2005. It is unique, in that it's the only independent non-profit fish and aquatic health facility of its kind in Canada. The centre is very fortunate to have highly qualified researchers and technicians, as well as a well-equipped laboratory facility. Our strength lies in our ability to maintain a non-partisan approach that brings interested parties together to build scientific understanding and seek solutions that benefit all.
We have a board of directors, and its members represent the interests of various stakeholders, including academic institutions, environmental and conservation organizations, salmon aquaculture, shellfish aquaculture, and the fish health product industry. We believe that aquaculture provides good opportunities for coastal B.C., and its impacts can and should be recognized and mitigated to ensure healthy aquatic environments.
Our partners include government, the aquaculture industry, first nations, and environmental and conservation organizations. We feel that our role fills a critical gap between academic-based research, government agencies, and the industry and coastal community needs.
I have a BSc. in marine biology, a doctor of veterinary medicine degree, and a master of science degree in epidemiology. Epidemiology is the study of disease in populations. I have worked in association with the B.C. aquaculture industry since 1995, when I started as a veterinarian for a feed company. Since 2000 I have maintained a private aquaculture veterinary practice. I have been a researcher at CAHS since its inception in 2005, and in October 2009 took over the role of executive director.
Throughout my career I've worked with a variety of cultured species, including Pacific salmon, Atlantic salmon, rainbow trout, tilapia, sturgeon, black cod, and cobia; and a wide range of production facilities, including open-net pens, closed-containment systems on land and in water, and novel systems such as integrated multi-trophic systems. My interest is in ensuring that all current and future aquaculture development has a primary focus on fish health and welfare, as I believe the health of the environment and the fish are very much connected and interdependent.
Through my research, my knowledge of aquaculture in B.C. and globally, my connections with researchers, and access to results from BC CAHS projects and services, I have been fortunate to become uniquely positioned to discuss fish health and sea lice infection issues in farmed salmon, and the implications on wild populations.
Through my research and observations I can confidently state that fish health is well managed by veterinarians and fish health professionals in B.C. farmed salmon. Compared to other agriculture and aquaculture industries, there is considerable sharing of fish health data between industry and government, as well as very good oversight and auditing programs of both fish health and sea lice issues on farms. The audit program in British Columbia does an excellent job of verifying that infectious diseases indeed are very low in farmed salmon.
Even so, diseases from farmed salmon have been implicated as a potential source of the collapse of the Fraser River stock in 2009. Specifically, a virus named IHN has been implicated. This virus is natural to the coast of B.C. and has been found in wild Pacific salmon. However, IHN has not been detected in farmed salmon since 2003. Therefore it really can't be a factor in the collapse--at least the transmission of the disease from farmed salmon to wild. Unlike other jurisdictions, B.C. doesn't seem to see the same issues with sea lice on the farmed fish.
Why is this important? There has been a lot of interesting research in British Columbia, and it has shown that the species of louse here, lepeophtheirus almonis, is far less aggressive, and is actually a different species.
That's it.