An open letter directed to Federal Fisheries and Oceans (DFO)害羞草研究所檚 minister Joyce Murray is calling out the ministry for what it says is inconsistencies in the federal department害羞草研究所檚 latest report from January, stating that there was 害羞草研究所渘o statistical relevant association害羞草研究所� between sea lice and fish farms.
Signed by 16 scientists, including ones from the University of British Columbia (UBC), Simon Fraser University (SFU), the University of Victoria and the University of Toronto, the letter identifies several inconsistencies in the report. Among them, the selective nature of the review, according to documents from Access to Information (ATIP) requests and emails; an invalidated infestation model; and, the lack of what they say is basic scientific process, which includes a formal peer review.
害羞草研究所淎s scientists, it害羞草研究所檚 our job to analyze data. We害羞草研究所檒l make conclusions from it and write it up in a manuscript and send it to a scientific journal,害羞草研究所� said Sean Godwin, a post doctorate fellow at SFU and assistant professor at the University of California, Davis, one of the scientists that signed the letter. 害羞草研究所淚t will go to other scientists in the field and go back and forth and when it gets accepted, it will be published.
害羞草研究所淚n this case, in the peer review process, there was no independent scientists. Even in the authorship. They had one reviewer of the report and that reviewer is an industry associated professor that advises B.C. salmon farms.害羞草研究所�
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Another scientist which signed the letter, Dr. Chris Darimont of UBC, says that DFO should have pointed out the key flaws within the report, and this is why the group brought it to the attention of the minister.
害羞草研究所淭he stakes are extremely high for this industry and the communities which depend on this precious resource,害羞草研究所� said Darimont in an email to the Mirror. 害羞草研究所淭hey deserve to be by the best available science. The DFO has not provided that.害羞草研究所�
Executive Director of the BC Salmon Farmers Association (BCSFA), Brian Kingzett, however, disputes the allegations these scientists have levied against the DFO organization.
Kingzett states that while science should always be scrutinized, the direct allegation that the DFO and the BCSFA are working together to mislead the public, simply is not true.
害羞草研究所淭he DFO is our regulator,害羞草研究所� said Kingzett. 害羞草研究所淲e stand by the science, whatever way it drops. I think it is highly irresponsible for scientists to take that approach to say 害羞草研究所榳e don害羞草研究所檛 agree with your science害羞草研究所� and accuse the DFO of misleading the public. I feel that if (the DFO) did find a direct link in the results, they would have said something.害羞草研究所�
An announcement about the future of fish farms on the B.C. coast, which was expected to come from Murray in January, is expected to be announced soon.
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Edward Hitchins
edward.hitchins@campbellrivermirror.com
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