UPDATED: Watershed Watch and Save Our Salmon Media Release: New Study Confirms Lice from Farmed Salmon Imperil Wild Salmon, Refutes Flawed Study and Related Media Spin

This entry was posted in Conservation News, Science and Research, Watershed Watch Activities, Watershed Watch in the Media and tagged media, research, Save Our Salmon, sea lice, Watershed Watch. Filed In: Salmon Farming. Posted by Trish Hall on August 22, 2011

A new study on the impacts of lice on wild salmon published today by an independent team of academic researchers in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) confirmed what many previous and unbiased studies have also shown, namely, that lice on farmed salmon can multiply and spread to wild salmon and decrease their survival.  For complete details, see the full media release New Study Confirms Lice from Farmed Salmon Imperil Wild Salmon, Refutes Flawed Study and Related Media Spin issued by Watershed Watch Salmon Society and the SOS Marine Conservation Foundation.

In the release, Watershed Watch Executive Director, Craig Orr, states “We hope that the PNAS study released today and the focus on farm impacts at Cohen will set the record straight.  Lice are difficult to control on farmed salmon and represent a very real threat to the health of wild salmon here and around the world.”

Watershed Watch and the SOS Marine Conservation Foundation have also developed the Cohen Aquaculture Daily to provide daily updates on testimony and media surrounding the disease and aquaculture hearings for the Cohen Commission of Inquiry into the Decline of Sockeye Salmon in the Fraser River from August 22 – September 8, 2011.  Bookmark the page or subscribe to our RSS feed to stay up to date on this important issue.

For a look back at key testimony and exhibits examined by the Cohen Commission at previous hearings, see Watershed Watch’s Salmon Leaks series.

For more information, see these related news stories:

• Wild salmon deaths linked to sea lice at fish farms, Times Colonist, August 22, 2011
• Sea lice linked to wild salmon mortality, CBC, August 22, 2011
• Researches says lice killing wild salmon, CFJC, August 23, 2011
• Study Says Sea Lice From Farmed Salmon Do Hurt Wild Fish – But the Debate’s Not Over, Time, August 23, 2011
• Lice from farmed salmon killing wild fish: study (Radio Interview with Dr. Craig Orr), CBC – The Fisheries Broadcast, August 23, 2011
• Link between sea lice and deaths in wild salmon confirmed, FIS, August 24, 2011
• Sea Lice From Farmed Salmon Infect Wild Salmon After All, Says New Study, Huffington Post, August 25, 2011