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
May 26, 2012
May 23, 2012
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
May 15, 2012
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
May 13, 2012
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.
May 7, 2012
HATCH - is out now, don't miss it
HATCH documents the worlds most extraordinary insect hatches and the fantastic fly fishing that accompanies them.
April 30, 2012
April 29, 2012
Salmon health alert
Salmon health alert
By SEAN POULTER, Daily Mail
Scientists Issued a devastating new warning last night about the safety of Scottish farmed salmon.
They said the fish is so contaminated with toxic chemicals it should be eaten no more than three times a year.
The chemicals, which have been linked to cancer and birth defects, come from the feed used in fish farms. The findings could have a shattering impact on the £700million-a-year Scottish salmon farming industry, which supports some 6,500 jobs.
Sales of salmon soared as farming brought prices down and the health benefits of oily fish emerged. It has overtaken cod as the best-selling fresh fish in Britain - and 98 per cent comes from Scottish farms.
Salmon farmers there branded the latest study "deliberately misleading" last night while the Food Standards Agency said the levels of pollutants were within safety limits used by Britain, the EU and the World Health Organisation.
Its chairman Sir John Krebs said the health benefits of eating oily fish outweighed any risk.
But Dr Jeffery Foran, an American toxicologist involved in the study, said neither he nor his family would eat farmed salmon again after what he discovered.
Poullutants
The project - based at the University of Albany in New York state - looked at pollutant levels in farmed and wild salmon bought in Britain, Europe and North America.
Previous small-scale studies had identified a contamination risk, but this is by far the biggest and most comprehensive study.
Researchers measured the levels of industrial pollutants - PCBs and dioxins - and agricultural pesticides such as toxaphene and dieldrin.
They examined 700 fish, some bought in London supermarkets and some direct from Scottish farms. The highest concentrations were found in fish from Scotland and the Faroe Islands.
Dr Foran said this may be because their feed contains oil recovered from the ground-up bodies of tiny sea life harvested in the North Atlantic - a dumping ground for decades for manmade toxins. Fish from Norway also performed badly.
The study, published in the respected U.S. journal Science, concluded: "The consumption advice is that no more than one meal every four months should be consumed in order to avoid an increased risk of cancer." Even smaller amounts, it suggested, could trigger harmful effects to brain function and the immune system.
Dr Foran said: "All the compounds we were looking for are classified as probable carcinogens. The evidence from comprehensive animal studies points to a range of cancers including liver, breast, lymphatic and thyroid.
"There are a variety of other health effects, particularly in relation to PCBs.
"They include reproductive and developmental effects. There are also neurological, brain function effects and immune system effects."
All the fish tested was in fillets, but the findings apply equally to smoked salmon. Almost all tinned salmon, however, is produced from wild fish which have only low levels of pollution.
"Benefits outweigh risks"
Despite the startling results of the survey, the FSA said it was sticking by its advice to consumers. Sir John Krebs said: "People should consume at least two portions of fish a week - one of which should be oily like salmon.
"There is good evidence that eating oily fish reduces the risk of death from heart attacks. We advise that the known benefits outweigh any possible risks."
Scottish Quality Salmon, which represents farmers, said the researchers had been wrong to use strict guidelines drawn up by the U.S. Environment Protection Agency rather than those used elsewhere in the world.
Technical consultant Dr John Webster said: "PCB and dioxin levels in Scottish salmon are significantly lower than the thresholds set by international watchdogs".
The organisation said its members apply "the most stringent independently inspected quality assurance standards in the world".
It said feed suppliers had taken steps to minimise PCB and dioxin levels, including sourcing fish meal and oils from seas which are less polluted and switching to plant oils.
But Don Staniford of the Salmon Farm Protest Group said: "This scientific study blows out of the water the myth that farmed salmon is safe, nutritious and healthy.
"It's official - salmon is now the most contaminated foodstuff on the supermarket shelf."
Dr Dan Barlow, head of research for Friends of the Earth, said: "We have long known that farmed salmon were more heavily contaminated with toxic pollutants than their wild relatives.
"We now know Scottish-raised salmon are among the most contaminated and that the levels of contaminants may be so high as to possibly detract from the health benefits of eating fish."
Pollutants are not the only problem facing salmon farmers. Recent studies have found contamination with radioactive waste from the Sellafield nuclear plant, while there are concerns about the use of malachite green to kill parasites and infections.
There are also health fears over feeding the fish chemicals which colour their flesh pink.
Scotland's estimated 300 salmon farms produce some 160,000 tonnes of salmon a year.
Almost three-quarters of the jobs in the industry are in remote rural areas with fragile economies.
These are boosted by an estimated £1million a week in wages alone.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-205547/Salmon-health-alert.html#ixzz1tS98WrtF
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Nobody likes my blog....
...but if you show some "big boobs" then you will see some serious changes!!!! - strange world we live in these days....it seems like we are getting more and more insignificant as a race!!!!
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