Alexandra Morton, Salmon Circle Rally, Oct 3,2009

[AquacultureAwareness]

It's now 2010!!!

We have an update for you...and it's going to blow you away. Click on our name and see what's really happened to wild sockeye salmon since you posted this video.

[AquacultureAwareness]

We have an update for you...and it's going to blow you away. Click on our name and see what's really happened to wild salmon since you posted this video on salmon farming in British Columbia.

Facts are stubborn things, aren't they.

[PacificOrcaWhales]

Way to go Alex..

[wobblet1]

This women is an inspiration. Anyone who has anything negative to say about her is blind. People who believe the government when they say "there is no conclusive evidence" are sheep and are too scared to stray from the flock. We all need to start standing up to the government and their greedy ways.

[sputnik306]

Is it simply a coincidence that this pretty well coencides with the oil rig catastrophe...or is it a huge wake up call from the Man????? I've never seen such a big STOP sign in my life.

[eilyac]

Thank you to Alexandra Morton for her work on this.

[cradel3]

Not only are they starving to death but their immune systems are severely compromised by PCB's and other chemicals. A recipe for disaster when there are only about *80 of these whales in the southern straits.

[MrArchiebarker]

Cradel3 It is known that almost 20% of the southern resident population of orcas died between 1995-2000 due to heavy loads of PCB's and other chemicals

[MrArchiebarker]

cradel3, the southern pods travel all the way to california. California also has a problem with survival of their salmon species. They have NO fish farms. it is obvious that there are other factors at play. Consider the pollution outfall from the mouth of the Fraser River. There are 250 orcas approx. in the Northern pods.

[cradel3]

Arch, Plankton eating Killer Whales? Are you sure? Baleen Whales eat krill and other small organisms Killer whales have big teeth for eating flesh. Resident Killer whales eat salmon and herring and gather each year in the same areas. Transients roam the coast and eat seals, sea lions, dolphins, porpoise, and other whales. The seven missing resident killer whales were showing classic evidence of starvation evidenced by the syndrome called peanut head..

[sputnik306]

@cradel3 It would be kinda sweet if whales enjoyed certain politician types as appy's

[cradel3]

Arch, For someone who isn't a fish farmer you are certainly writing a lot of trash justifying the industry. If all the research, the inquiries and the historical data are wrong regarding the threat presented by fish farms to wild salmon then please present your papers and the research to prove this. Otherwise one can only conclude that you are a paid fish farm greenwash shill or that eating too much toxic fish farm salmon has distorted your sense of reality

[MrArchiebarker]

Where is the autopsy report proving the missing orcas starved to death. it is a well known fact that killer whales like polar bears are chock full of PCB's As for the whales, irregardless not all whales are gone as she claims.

[sputnik306]

@cradel3 Excellent reply.

[cradel3]

Arch, Just thought I'd let you know that the migration of Grey Whales and Humpback Whales doesn't have much to do with salmon runs as these whales don't eat salmon' It's the resident Killer whales that do. Orcas follow and depend on the salmon runs. Without the salmon they starve to death as did seven whales in the southern pod last year

[sputnik306]

@cradel3 To bad that by the time we figure out exactly what whales are thinking and saying to each other..there will only be one left..He'll have noone to complain to and he'll beach himself out of loneliness. If he had to listen to Arch I'm sure he would want to bite him.

[MrArchiebarker]

BCfishboy : I happen to know the broughton well. I know people who know it better than she does and I know people who work there. As for my remark about whales it was humpback whales not grey whales My mistake and at least 20 were sighted in blackfish sound. Salmon are in trouble on the whole coast of north america are being impacted by something unknown. Her remark that the Skeena was ONLY down by 50% is pretty stupid as 50% is a lot and there are no salmon farms in the north.

[BCFishboy]

You are warped.

the government knew of Alex's findings and kept them secret for quite a while as there was lots of money involved. Give your head a shake.

[BCFishboy]

Runs of ooligahns have completely disappeared and never get mentioned, this is a tragedy. There was a time not so long ago that humans were simply part of the eco system in this area, there was an incredible balance never to be seen again. Our commercial fishing fleet and now our sport fishing fleet have contributed to it's demise. Now we throw in the ultimate wild card by adding science and gov't BS political management into the equation and YOU are OK with this?

[BCFishboy]

we are talking about the holy grail of Orcas here, not a mass migration of baleen whales that happens annually and is based on a completely different food group of shellfish etc.... If you knew anything about the Broughton at all you would realize that the fish stocks have been devastated there and are not even a shadow of past years.

[BCFishboy]

Alexandra, thanks for your caring and devotion to our salmon and whales.

Archie you are way out of turn on this and have no idea how much time and study Alex has spent in the Broughton. If you only had a clue, it is however obvious that you know nothing about the area especially the reference to Grey whales. What?

[cradel3]

Arch, It's so easy for you to hide in the shadows and heckle and name call better people than yourself. List the papers you've had published on this issue, the scientists who support your findings, the inquiries which concur with your recommendations. Sea lice have no choice regarding their life style but you do. If people such as yourself can stall and delay a concerted effort of mitigation in this unfolding catastrophe we may lose the salmon forever

[cradel3]

Arch, Just wanted to help you out regarding the issue. 13 carcinogenic or possibly carcinogenic organic compounds in fish farm fish. They have up to 10 times the PCB load than wild salmon. Fish farms plundering the southern oceans af small feed fish to feed the farmed fish. Fish farm treat with pesticides, fungicides, coloring chemicals and antibiotics.

All creditable research shows wherever fish farms on wild salmon routes the salmon plummet

[cradel3]

It is heartwarming to know that there are people like Arch defending sea lice and the lice farms. Without the lice and the lice farms we'd have millions of salmon cluttering up the rivers and streams we want to give away to private power. We'd have the Fisheries Act hobbling logging , mining and drilling in salmon habitat. We'd have whales slowing down the whale watching boats and we'd have Grizzlies scaring tourists.

[alexandramorton]

Archie, my comment and research was not on gray whales, it referred to resident killer whales in the Broughton. Yes, the pinks did well everywhere naturally, and the places with fish farms also got pinks back this time because they controlled their lice.

[MrArchiebarker]

Blah Blah Blah The straits were nonethe less full of grey whales last week. The resident whale pod is still there. It follows it's food source as you well know. It did not EVER just reside in the Broughton alone.

[MrArchiebarker]

As I said you naturally have another one of your " educated responses " as far as pinks returning coast wide. You have been told for years that Broughton pinks return in poor and good numbers in opposite years. get with the program. The research was done years before you even graduated with your degree.

[MrArchiebarker]

even the resident whales migrate

[alexandramorton]

If these are your beliefs I can't help you. I have no salary as I don't want anyone to own my voice, the pink survived due to massive drug treatment by the farms, when they stop doing this it will be back to business as usual. The whales are not back.

[MrArchiebarker]

Ms Morton you lie. The straits were full of grey whales last week. Your claims that pink salmon returned in record numbers because of the farms using slice is questionable because not only did they return in record numbers in the Broughton they returned in record numbers coastwide in areas where there are no farms as well as the broughton. Naturally you'll have some answer for that no doubt ?

[MrArchiebarker]

Further to that if there are no whales why are there a large number of whale watching eco groups on the internet advertising whale watching in the Johnston strait ? They claim their industry is worth millions. If there are no whales to watch how can they be in business ??

[branthunter]

Archiebarker is another salmon farm industry shill. They show up with their bullshit and misleading arguments (and are orchestrated to do so by the industry) in response to every online post that urges fighting back against the farmers.

[MrArchiebarker]

branthunter : I personally have nothing to do with the salmon industry.

[alexandramorton]

ArchieBarker

I don't understand your point. Are you saying we should not be looking at salmon farm impact on sockeye?

[MrArchiebarker]

Ms Morton : I am saying there are other factors at play and were long before salmon farms . Long before you even came to Canada. You cannot say for sure where exactly salmon 's migration takes them. Only 50 % on the Skeena ?? That's a huge only and there are NO salmon farms.

[MrArchiebarker]

ms. morton, Do you not yourself question where all your supporters were in the past when these runs collapsed ? perhaps if they had been so vocal in the 50's, 60's , 70's , 80's and 90's this wouldn't be happening now. perhaps if the federal government re-instated the fishery research set up they had up until around the 70's these events could be stopped and if ALL user groups would give the wild stocks a rest and let them rebuild naturally instead crying their group ONLY takes a small part .

[schmarly2007]

I think "MrArchiebarker" is clearly saying your past attacks on salmon farming have been dead wrong (whales are back, pink salmon doing well although you said they should be virtually extinct). And because you continually cry wolf, no one is listening to you (except for those who have invested money into you).

[cradel3]

If you really want to know what happened to the Fraer River Sockeye Runs check out Fraser River Sockeye Lice Infections by Twyla Tester on Youtube

[cradel3]

It appears this years pink salmon runs came back in higher than expected numbers because the fish farms along the pink salmon migratory routes used slice to kill lice loads on their captive farmed salmon before the pinks arrived. This gave the baby pinks safe passage past fish farms which normally act as sea lice incubators. The Sockeye smolts wern't so lucky.They migrated 2 months later when the slice pesticide had worn off and they became infested with lice again incubated by the farms..

[MrArchiebarker]

Do some research Cradel3. Sockeye stocks have collapsed numerous times over decades. 1950 collapsed and came back in record numbers in 1958. No explantation other than unknown factors of survival at sea. Did it occur to you that the DFO screwed up on their escapment numbers in the first place and their predictions were way off ? happened before. In the 70's Port Albernie sockeye collapsed due to sea lice from warm water temperatures and wiped the run out entirely. There were no salmon farms.

[cradel3]

It is now clear that fish farmers are only cocerned with making money and couldn't care less about the environmental havoc they are leaving for the rest of the people of B.C. and future generations. When told about the collapse of the Chilean fish farm industry, due to a massive disease outbreak, B.C. fish farm spokesperson Mary Walling, rather than being horrified by the implications for our coastal ecosystem, stated enthusiastically that this would give B.C. a bigger market share

[cradel3]

The stench from fish farms is becoming too foul to hide. Every scrap of research indicates that sea lice from fish farms are destroying all species of salmon along the B.C. coast. When the farms eventually crash their Norwegian owners will cut and run just like they have in Chili leaving behind abandoned rotting equipment and a devastated marine ecosystem, a barren wasteland

[kayakgal03]

Please do your research people. Alexandra Morton is a scientist who has studied and lived in the area and has the ear of the local old timers who have seen these things first hand. She has done her scientific documentation. Wouldn't you rather trust her than rich for-profit corporations? Think and read, people, before you spout off. Kayakgirl

[MrArchiebarker]

kayakgirl: She has studied them for 7 years. Do you think she has learned anything by only concentrating on pointing the finger at fish farms ?? her data is flawed because she considers NO other factors in the area such as water temp etc. She is only fixated on putting salmon farms out of business. The DFO screwed up numbers plain and simple overestimated their return just as they have many times in the past. just trying to remove public attention from her false pink salmon collapse claims.

[kayakgal03]

Bravo to Alexandra Morton who is a scientist, who has studied this issue in this area for years. If you can't trust her, who can you trust? Large corporations who are the only ones getting rich here and who are for profit? Come on, scientists in remote outposts who are alerting citizens to environmental crises are not getting rich, give me a break. Remember future generations!

[arcfiend]

DFO ingnored the east coast cod crisis, the east coast cod collapsed!!!

once again DFO is ignoring and reputiating clear evidence, that bc wild salmon stalks are in jepordy, as a direct result of open water fish farms among other factors. can anybody in bc in good conscience let DFO knowingly decimate another of our prescious natural resources? its not to late to safe our wild salmon!! lobby to have fish farms regulated provincialy rather than federaly e.t.c.

get ivolved!!!!!

C....

[MrArchiebarker]

Well what an unbelievable turnout of fools. Didn't think there were this many suckers in BC. When will people realize that alex morton is getting rich off this crap? As for the commercial fisherman making his ridiculous comments he's never seen it so bad he exaggerates. These runs collapsed in the early fifties then came back in 1958. mr. martin has a short memory or is he just trying to kid himself that he wasn't part of the problem ?

[Slavestorms]

Salmon Eleven

Swine Eleven

Economy eleven

Agenda 21 Eleven

GMO Eleven

War on Drugs Eleven

War on Terror Eleven which is based upon the false flag Nine Eleven event

We have a wide range of interests to pursue.

Divide and conquer, keep divided keep conquered. We have no real political opposition to the central banksters and our children's future debt slavery fighting an endless war against an invisible enemy created by the ciAl'Qaeda

Which lying politician should we follow as our God man leader

[crampedu2]

TheMuddyPuddle;

You sound quite confident (a labotomy can do that). Perhaps you could then explain why:

#1 - baby pink salmon have survived in record numbers (same waters, same time)

#2 - sockeye rivers within salmon farming areas have had some of the highest returns in years (Heydon River)

#3 - if the sockeye have 3 options to swim north and 2 of them are fish farm free (west coast and Johnstone strait), why didn't atleast 2/3 survive.

You've been duped, friend.

[TheMuddyPuddle]

ecogirl -

there is a direct correlation between the salmon farms and the collapse of the sockeye. The parasite infestation within fish farms leads to infestation of the salmon fry as they travel past the farms. The location of the farms mean this is inevitable... Despite the use of (questionable), strong parasite treatments the fry continue to die off... possibly they are too young to survive the parasites, the treatments or both...

Check out AM's blog for more info. it's worth it !

[ecogirl6]

Interesting talk and very dramatic but I did not understand what the salmon farms have to do with the demise...the East Coast cod demise had nothing to do with fish farms, it was overfishing. Morton needs a new mantra

[Babygodzillia]

she was talking about how DFO was watching the collapse and ignored the scientists... not about why the collapsed

[yukonchase]

Do some research then ecogirl if you don't understand.

[ldh152]

Fish farms are losing SUCH a high percentage of there (baby fish) dying off because of high levels of bacteria. If THERE FISH ARE DYING, OUR FISH ARE DYING.over-crowding, antibiotics. Farmed Fish create huge quantities of v. acidic shit falls on the ocean floor decimating shrimp/prawn populations etc. Baby fish which farmers IMPORT are foreign to our waters and they share all of these NEW bacteria, viruses, parasites (eggs of those parasites) etc. . with our fish. Spells C-o-l-l-a-p-s-e

[sputnik306]

@ecogirl6 Are you positive about that???

[sputnik306]

@ecogirl6 Maybe you should get a new mantra called research...Education..ya, you can throw enlightenment in there too. It was not just overfishing..Their is usually a few equations to do to come up with the real sum.

[3835448]

Great talk Alexandra ! Hopefully DFO will listen up and SMAR

[TheSkipper73]

DFO......Diseased Fish Operation? Nothing beats performance more than history. Come on elected people, time to speak for the voters!!

[cradel3]

The promotion of the Vancouver Olympics as the greenest most environmental Olympics ever is totally at odds with the environmental holocaust the Canadian and Provincial Government are allowing to take place on Canada's Pacific Coast