New HSMI Study Does Not Find Harm to Wild Salmon

Liǧʷiłdaxʷ TERRITORY/CAMPBELL RIVER, BC — A new study claiming piscine orthoreovirus (PRV) causes disease in B.C. farm-raised salmon fails to show that farmed salmon become ill, transmitted the virus to wild salmon or caused disease or population declines in wild fish, the BC Salmon Farmers Association says. The association also challenges the certainty of the paper’s disease diagnoses, citing disagreement among reviewing pathologists.

The paper identifies 50 fish as “unambiguous” cases of heart and skeletal muscle inflammation (HSMI). Only nine of those fish were sent for independent verification by external reviewers, and only three unanimously found to show signs consistent with an accepted definition of HSMI. At one farm, two reviewers hand-selected by the study authors classified none as HSMI.

The findings in the paper do not support the sensational title nor the fearmongering claims in associated media releases.

Separate assessments by board-certified veterinary pathologists of the same samples further disputed Di Cicco’s HSMI interpretations and identified potential alternative explanations, including systemic infection by bacteria that occur naturally in the Pacific, and nonspecific inflammation.

Di Cicco’s interpretation also departs from a population-level diagnostic pathway developed during DFO’s Indigenous and multi-stakeholder advisory process. After reviewing scientific evidence and international practices, 17 aquatic veterinarians and veterinary pathologists from Canada, Norway, and the United States voted in support of that pathway. The study instead used a definition that did not require confirmed PRV infection, accompanying clinical signs or attributable mortality. Its diagnoses should not be presented as established veterinary consensus, but as an interpretation based on diagnostic criteria that differ from the cited veterinary pathway.

This independent publication of a small set of findings years after the completion of a larger joint project, presented in a sensational manner, and relying on ad hoc interpretation of data is part of a long-term activist strategy to keep old, often disproven or unproven narratives relevant to donors and funders.

Licenced veterinarians have repeatedly raised concerns about the lack of scientific standards in the methodology of these studies, from how samples are collected, through analyses, to interpretation of results.

Most importantly, the research did not demonstrate transmission from farmed fish to wild salmon, establish an infectious dose, or measure resulting disease or population consequences in wild salmon. Viral genetic material detected in surrounding water cannot establish those outcomes. Furthermore, the type of PRV that occurs in BC does not cause the same inflammatory heart lesions even under controlled laboratory conditions as in Norway.1 BC PRV also lacks the genetic markers that contribute to HSMI in Norway.2

“Protecting wild salmon requires careful research and accurate reporting. The public deserves a clear explanation of what this study measured, where reviewers disagreed, and which questions remain unanswered,” says Brian Kingzett, Executive Director of the BC Salmon Farmers Association.

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ABOUT THE BC SALMON FARMERS ASSOCIATION

The BC Salmon Farmers Association represents nearly 60 businesses and organizations throughout the value chain of finfish aquaculture in BC. Our members account for over 95% of the annual provincial harvest of farm-raised salmon in British Columbia.

Farm-raised salmon generates over $1.17 billion for the provincial economy, supporting 4,560 well-paid full-time jobs. Additionally, farm-raised salmon provides a nutritious and sustainably produced protein with a low carbon footprint that contributes to Canada’s food security and Blue Economy.

BC salmon farmers are committed to reconciliation. All farms operating in BC are currently in agreement, negotiation, or established partnerships with First Nations in whose territories we operate. These agreements are founded upon recognizing First Nations’ right to exercise jurisdiction over the land, resources, and waters within their territories.

For more information, visit bcsalmonfarmers.ca

MEDIA CONTACT

Andrew Nixon
Andrew@bcsalmonfarmers.ca
250-895-1761