The BC salmon police did it again

The Bill 37 has been redrawn - "The BC Salmon Police" did it again.

Huge congrats from Denmark - absolutely great work.

But this is only one step on a long difficult journey. There are still lot's of problems to deal with, so please help this fantastic team of Wild Salmon Warriors.

You can help them by signing the petition using the link underneath.

(just click on this petition and it will bring you directly to the website)

...or donate to the continuing of salmon disease testing - by using this direct link...

More Salmon Culled After IHN Detected

Mail from Alex Morton - Victory - Bill 37 has been withdrawn, so far!!

Hello

Almost unbelievably Minister Don McRae's Bill 37 has been withdrawn. It remains on the order paper, but will not be revisited in this sitting of the BC Legislature!  The Liberals have cancelled the fall sitting, so it won't come up for another year. Therefore,  we are free to continue tracking these viruses, figuring out which ones are present and where and what they are doing.  The threat of prison was extremely unpleasant, but we had decided to challenge the act had it passed - a number of lawyers thought it was unconstitutional.

I want to thank all of you who wrote letters, posted comments on the Salmon Are Sacred facebook page, signed thepetition (please keep signing). Lana Popham, Michael Sather, and Scott Fraser are fantastic wild salmon warrior MLAs, Bea Olivastri of Friends of the Earth wrote a press release on this Bill from Ottawa this morning, Andrew Gage of West Coast Environmental Law wrote a powerful critique of the Bill in a letter to McRae, Elizabeth Denham, BC Information and Privacy Commissioner also wrote a powerful letter to McRae laying out the implications of his draconian bill. Karen Wristen, Greg McDade, John Davis, Jeff Jones, David Sutherland, Vince Gogolek all lawyers whose response to the bill helped us sort this out. Thank you to everyone who donated - so glad we can use the money for testing now! Thank you Ethan Baron for the fantastic reporting that first alerted us and then further reported on McRae's comments about needing this bill ASAP in case of a summer epidemic that might require limits to free speech. Thank you to all the people of this coast who have seen enough and are speaking up to tip us about the situation out on the salmon farms right now. Thank you Anissa Reed!!! You are awesome, Thank you Sabra Woodworth for always being there.

We turned this terrible thing back, it was all of us, not one person less, perhaps democracy is still alive. It is SO rare to get good news, but this is huge. We can get back to work now to turn off the viral spills. We are truly a movement now, a beautiful, inspired creative, peaceful, diverse enormous, movement not afraid to use our voices. We just want wild salmon to survive, and to protect them we have become like them we don't give up, thank you, thank you, thank you all of you!

Very important to keep the change.org petition  http://www.change.org/petitions/costco-safeway-loblaws-we-don-t-want-to-eat-salmon-flu-or-heart-viruses petition growing so the supermarkets will understand that we don't want diseased farm salmon to be sent all over the province on ice to supermarkets where the viruses could spread and people are eating them.  I realize the word is that these viruses don't hurt people, but we do know feedlot influenza is dangerous and knowingly moving it all over the place is a bad idea.

The BC Liberals were set to push this bill through and we turned it back 

Back to work

Alex

Mail from Alex - "Bill 37"

Hello

Minister Don McRae said today in the Vancouver Sun that he is "considering" an amendment to his bill 37 that will silence all of us working on disease in our salmon, as well people working on bird flu, mad cow disease, etc. 

An insider reports: "Bill 37 will probably be pushed through this week.
There are still about 20 something bills to discuss; this bill isn’t expected to get back on the floor for debate. Instead the government will just declare that by a certain point in time all debate is over and all the bills are passed."

Who knew our system of democracy is this frail?

We are headed for Victoria to look the people who would do this to us in the eye as this goes down.  I have over 600 samples in labs and I probably will not be able to tell you what is in our wild salmon, oolichans, steelhead and the fish in supermarkets without threat of two years in jail.  The salmon farmers have started a petition to restrain me, clearly there are things we learning that are making government and the salmon farm industry very uncomfortable. They have the power, we have the voice.

I have given the BC leg schedule and link to the broadcasts. http://alexandramorton.typepad.com

I list a number of ways to be heard, please also consider signing this petition to the supermarkets who are selling salmon culled from viral outbreaks. 

McRae would not be even considering making amendments to his bill if it were not the outcry to date. Please consider being heard and joining us in Victoria.

Alexandra Morton

We Don't Want to Eat Salmon with Flu or Heart Viruses

COSTCO, Safeway & Loblaws: We Don't Want to Eat Salmon with Flu or Heart Viruses

Some supermarkets are keeping a very dirty secret. 

Recently, I received positive lab test results showing that large supermarket chains are selling farmed salmon that are testing positive for salmon flu virus and the salmon heart virus. I am horrified to think that my friends are feeding their children infected fish. Food companies are required to tell you if a cookie has 2 grams of fat. Don't you think they should be required to tell you if a product is diseased?

I’ve worked as a biologist for the past 23 years and I know that hundreds of thousands of farmed salmon are crowded into pens in the ocean and this causes viruses to mutate and ‘go viral.’ Viruses spill out of these netpens and can infect the wild fish that we rely upon. We have strong scientific evidence to suggest that farm salmon viruses have led to the loss of millions, if not tens of millions, of wild salmon.

While fish viruses are not considered lethal to humans, we all saw how flu viruses in chickens and swine mutated to become a threat to humans. Viruses in feedlots are dangerous and people deserve the right to make informed choices about their food.

With hundreds of thousands of farmed salmon packed into a tight space, it is so easy for viruses to spread like "wildfire" on the farm and pouring out into the ocean infecting wild salmon threatening their survival.

Last weekend a British Columbia salmon farm killed 500,000 fish due to yet another viral outbreakand this week new major infections were reported in salmon farms in both British Columbia and Washington State. Fish from these infected farms could be sold in stores today.

If you were buying infected salmon, you would want to know, right? After next week you might not ever hear about it again. The provincial government of British Columbia, Canada is expected to pass a bill next week making it illegal for anyone to publicly report fish farm virus outbreaks in British Columbia. What country are we living in? How is it possible that it will be illegal for me to tell you that you are eating infected fish? It is Bill 37 Animal Health Act proposed by Minister Don McRae.

We must stop this. While stores like Costco, Safeway and Loblaws will not stop selling farmed salmon tomorrow, they have all the power to start labelling the fish they sell immediately.

Sign my petition asking them to label all farmed salmon with a history of viruses from the farms where they were raised or we will never buy fish from these stores again. Then ask everyone you know to sign on as well. 

A click on this image of the Petition will bring you right to the sign up section. 

C

Mail from Alex Morton - BC Government has chosen to make disease reporting punishable.

In response to the hundreds of you who wrote me about proposed Bill 37 http://www.leg.bc.ca/39th4th/votes/bills-list_hansard.htm that would make disease reporting a punishable offense, I have set up a petition athttp://www.change.org/SalmonFlu 

By working with change.org we have the opportunity to reach the world.  Because not everyone on earth is as attached to wild salmon as we are, I raised the human health aspect of this that has been dangerously over-looked. So many people, particularly my First Nation family and friends, are asking me about what these viruses are doing to us.  I don't know, but several nurses and doctors have taken me aside after lectures a to share their concerns that influenza viruses are unpredictable and nasty. So I have simply asked COSTCO and Safeway to label farm salmon with the viruses in them, because the BC Government has chosen to make disease reporting punishable.

If Minister Don McRae gets his way and silences me and others, there is no way we will ever know what viruses are spilling into BC waters.  The epidemic in Clayoquot has been quickly followed by announcements that the Ahlstrom site near Sechelt Inlet, owned by Grieg and stocked with coho is being "quarantined" for a viral outbreak, as well as, farms in the US. I have no idea how big this is going to get. I have no reason to believe any of the reports that this is IHN, we have not seen a single test result, but either way IHN is not good news.

Please donate to http://www.gofundme.com/SalmonDiseaseTestingFund if you want to participate in the testing or in the legal fees depending which way this thing goes.

I am updating my blog frequently to keep people informed about the epidemics alexandramorton.typepad.com

Please do everything you can to distribute the change.org petition.  We clearly have no impact on the BC government - but COSTCO and Safeway will.

Thank you,

Alex

Mail from Alex Morton - Are we dammed to hell?

IHN infected farm salmon transported through Alberni Inlet - one of the last farm-free migration routes left

I wanted to know what Mainstream is doing with their virus infected salmon so we tracked the boat electronically from the area near the infected farm at Dixon Bay where the boat was seen loading yesterday morning.

The boat arrived in Port Alberni at 2 am heavily loaded.

At 8 am trucks started coming alongside the boat, pumping out the dead Atlantic salmon infected with a disease the company is saying is IHN. However, I have not seen any tests to back that up I have been taught distrust of government and industry so not at all sure what these fish are infected with.

There was no containment around the boat, so if a pipe connection fails all the young salmon coming out of the rivers right now will be bathed in the virus. The Mainstream crew were hostile. However, after I told them several times that blood water was dripping from the hoses as the trucks pulled away, they used the caps and sealed them.

We followed the trucks and found they were dumping them nearby at the Earth, Land and Sea "organic" composting plant. Perhaps there is containment that is not visible in this picture to prevent it from flowing into the inlet, or being carried by the birds.

We alerted the local First Nation fishery biologist. Les Sam, the ex-chief and a councilman requested some of these fish for testing, to find out exactly what virus is in these fish and thus have the capability to track it in their fish. They had not been notified that their territory was being used to dump diseased Atlantic salmon. The mayor also showed up, apparently he had not been contacted by Mainstream either. Mainstream spent a lot of time speaking to him.

As we were going to ridiculous lengths just to find out where these fish are being dumped and what virus is actually in them, I got news that British Columbia is making this kind of ground-truthing illegal. In two weeks, I will be breaking the law if I inform you about a reportable disease like IHN and ISA. The lab reports will have to remain secret from you, and this Animal Health Act being proposed by Christy Clark's government seeks not only to override Access to Information, she also seeks to override the Offence Act opening the door to harsher penalties. The offence for failing to keep information confidential will draw the highest penalty.

We are headed for Dark Ages of pestilence and war lords. If this corporate dream legislation passes you won't be hearing from me anymore. Mainstream, Marine Harvest and Grieg, the three Norwegian operators in BC will have won. They can have massive epidemics of mutating viruses and you won't be allowed to know that you are consuming a side order of viruses in every bite.

I am in shock. We could try using democracy to stop this, but far far more people would have to engage than is typical.

As I write this the Ocean King Mort Packer is on her way for another helping of diseased farm salmon. Are we dammed to hell?

Sourse : Alex Mortons blog

PLEASE Help Dr. Alexandra Mortons Testing Fund 

...it's urgent we find out how bad this situation really is.

Last fall we began testing salmon in BC for European viruses spreading worldwide in Atlantic salmon farms, which import millions of eggs into places like BC and Chile. We are using two of the top labs in the world and they are reporting a Norwegian heart virus in nearly 100% of the farm salmon (piscine reovirus) and two of the most deadly salmon flu mutations known in farm and wild salmon (ISAv). Because the Norwegian salmon farmers will not allow access to their fish, we are buying them in supermarkets. The heart virus can wash down your drain and enter your watershed. Canada,  BC and the Norwegian salmon farming industry in BC continue to refuse to acknowledge our test results, allowing these viruses to spread and mutate. This type of behavior caused the $2 billion ISA outbreak in Chile that was eventually traced to a Norwegian hatchery. We need to continue this work to learn the spread and source of these Europen viruses. Extrememly expensive testing is required because we not only have to detect the viruses, we have to catch them alive to meet the legal framework in Canada. Our first lab bill was $25,000. These viruses spill out of salmon farms on Canada's biggest wild salmon migration routes where wild salmon are collapsing. We are testing farm salmon, Oolichans, steelhead, and as many salmon runs as possible to provide answers.

We are not funded by any foundation or corporations. We do this work simply because we know how important wild salmon are and that their fate is tied to our own. Please know that every dollar makes a difference.

More information at www.salmonaresacred.org

Fundraising Ideas

All the water on earth - in one place

If all the water on earth were collected in one place this is how much space it would take to shoe it - not much compared to the rest of our planet and yet we dump so much waste into it - a very strange behavior.

Therefore we should - TREAT IT WITH RESPECT!!!

Ilustration: Jack Cook, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution; USGS.

Alexandra Morton - The Facts On Fish Farms

HATCH - is out now, don't miss it

HATCH documents the worlds most extraordinary insect hatches and the fantastic fly fishing that accompanies them.

There are massive hatches of mayfly on the chalkstreams of England, trout eating ants off bridges in Slovenia, huge cicadas eaten by equally huge trout in the streams of NZ, mayfly spinners plucked out of the air by acrobatic trout in Tasmania's Western Lakes and even a feeding frenzy after a hatch of krill in the ocean.Narrated by Greg French, the film explores remote corners of the world for hidden fly fishing treasures, while seamlessly highlighting the pivotal role fly fishers play as guardians of the water.DVD Duration 43mins plus bonus sections 

Australia & NZ Site - Buy it Now

European Site - Buy it Now

UK Site - Buy it Now