The Value of BC Farmed Salmon

Back in December, a publication called The Straight Goods ran a story about the wild salmon population in British Columbia. Yesterday, the publication ran Mary Ellen Walling's response to the piece:

As Stephen Leahy considers "the real price of farmed salmon" (December 15) he raises some important points about the need to protect wild fish.

Mr Leahy takes issue with salmon farming but for those concerned about the protection of wild fish and the environment a few more facts about aquaculture are in order.

Today, around the world, consumption of fish is on the rise. This is a good thing as fish is a healthy and nutritious component of a good diet. However, the roughly 85 million tons a year of commercially caught fish has brought many species to the point of collapse and is no longer sufficient to meet growing global demand. For many, the best way to meet increasing demand without putting undue pressure on wild stocks to eat sustainably farmed fish, such as those raised in British Columbia, Canada.

Farmers recognize the marine environment is their most valuable asset and must meet stringent regulatory requirements for the siting and operating of ocean farms. Farm stocks are carefully monitored to ensure both fish health and protection of the environment. In combination with fallowing, underwater inspections help to make sure the marine environment under the farms is in good condition. Mr Leahy describes himself as an environmental "journalist" but sadly there is little evidence of the basic tenets of journalism — accuracy and balance — in this piece.

For example, while it is true that some First Nations do not support salmon farming, others do. This year Marine Harvest celebrated the 10th anniversary of its partnership with the Kitasoo First Nations in Klemtu. As a result of salmon farming this remote First Nation community has seen unemployment levels drop dramatically and many young people now have both jobs and opportunities within their traditional territory. The 6000 men and women who work in British Columbia's sustainable aquaculture sector take great pride in raising a healthy, nutritious fish that is in demand around the world. And as residents of the coast they are some of the strongest, most knowledgeable, stewards of the environment. That's how we measure the real value of farmed salmon.

Mary Ellen Walling
Executive Director,
BC Salmon Farmers Association
Campbell River, BC

2009 Looks Good for BC Salmon

From the Business Examiner:

Sales of B.C.’s farmed salmon remain brisk. “We have not been able to meet demand for several years now, especially in the U.S. market, our largest customer, with about 85 per cent of the product we grow in B.C. heading across the border,’ says Mary Ellen Walling, executive director of the B.C. Salmon Farmers Association, based in Campbell River. “2008 has seen fair prices for farmed salmon with a slight drop in the last quarter,” she says. Production and staffing levels, moreover, are expected to remain unchanged throughout 2009.

Taking Issue with Mark Hume on BC Salmon Farming

An article/column by Mark Hume, printed in the December 26, 2008 edition of the Globe and Mail, lays the blame for declining wild salmon stocks on salmon farming. Unfortunately, he fails to look at this critical issue in the context of all factors that affect wild salmon populations and have resulted in declines along the entire west coast of North America. Our wild salmon and their protection deserve a more thorough assessment of all factors that influence wild salmon populations – anything less is a disservice to wild salmon and to Mr. Hume’s readers.

Here’s how we responded to Mr. Hume. In a letter to the editor of the Globe and Mail, Mary Ellen Walling, BCSFA Executive Director, writes the following:

Mark Hume flags an important issue for BC: the protection of wild salmon. It is unfortunate that his passion is not matched by a willingness to look a little deeper at the causes of the current problem.

The easy thing is to blame salmon farming for wild fish declines. But the reality is much more complex. All up and down the coast, from Alaska to California, in areas with farms and in many areas without farms, salmon populations are in decline. The causes appear to include increased salinity, changes in water temperature, loss of habitat, urbanization and a host of other factors.

As Mr Hume correctly notes, salmon farmers can mitigate the impacts of farming to ensure we raise a healthy nutritious and sustainable product. A lot more work on the part of the larger population will be required if we are to move beyond rhetoric and take a hard look at making changes to address the larger environmental issues. To read Mr. Hume’s Globe and Mail article/column click here.

A February 2008 report from the BC Pacific Salmon Forum “Broughton Archipelago: A State of Knowledge” reviews all impacts of human development and industry during the past 50 years in this ecosystem. To read this report click here (Note: file size is >20 MB). Not all scientists agree with Mr. Hume. To read a commentary from the December 2008 issue of Science magazine click here.

Just Who is Monterey Bay Aquarium Connected To?

Yesterday we took a closer look at some background information about Monterey Bay Aquarium and the Seafood Watch Program. After going over yesterday's information, I think it's pretty clear that Monterey Bay isn't exactly an outsider organization, but rather a firmly established member of the environmental activist community.

What it all comes down to is money. And while Monterey Bay Aquarium and its Seafood Watch Program have become self-sustaining over the years, the Packard Foundation has plunged ahead to fund an extensive Web of eco-activist groups that work together formally and informally, share information and coordinate activities.

While Monterey Bay Aquarium doesn't directly fund these organizations, the Packard Foundation more than makes up for it. The following is a list of organizations that received grants from Packard in the fiscal year ending December 31, 2006 under the category of “Oceans and Coasts”. Most prominent must be the over $1.5 million in grants provided to the Marine Stewardship Council, an “independent” NGO chartered to establish a global environmental standard for sustainable fisheries:

American Littoral Society
Blue Ocean Institute
Center for Environmental Law and Policy
Center for Resource Economics (Island Press)
Community Conservation Network
Conservation International Foundation
Coral Reef Alliance
Coral Reef Research Foundation
Environmental Defense Fund
Environmental Law Institute
Environmental Media Services (now Science Communication Network)
Friends of Moss Landing Marine Laboratories
Global Greengrants Fund
International Center for Journalists
International Community Foundation
Living Oceans Society
Marine Conservation Biology Institute
Marine Science Institute
Marine Stewardship Council
National Environmental Trust
Nature Conservancy
NatureServe
New England Aquarium
Ocean Conservancy
Pacific Marine Conservation Council
Pfleger Institute of Environmental Research
SeaWeb
Surfrider Foundation
Sustainability Institute
Sustainable Fishery Advocates
Trust for Conservation Innovation
Union of Concerned Scientists
Wildcoast
Wildlife Conservation Society
World Resources Institute
World Wide Fund for Nature (World Wildlife Fund in the USA)

An Inside Look at Monterey Bay Aquarium

As a followup to the letter from the BC Salmon Farmers Association to Monterey Bay Aquarium (MBA), we thought it might be a good idea to take a closer look at MBA and how they operate. For the most part, non-profit organizations like MBA are seen as scrappy underdogs taking on evil corporations. But if you take a closer look at MBA and their operations, you'll find that it and its Seafood Watch program aren't scrappy underdogs at all. Instead, they're really a very powerful eco-lobbying organization backed by one of the largest non-profit foundations in the world.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium (MBA) is one of the best-connected and funded charities in North America, if not the world. It was initially endowed by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, which was established by the late Hewlett-Packard co-founder. The Packard Foundation owns more than 70 million shares of Hewlett-Packard and is the company's largest shareholder with several family members serving on the Board of Directors. The Packard Foundation's endowment totals about $6.3 billion, making it one of the top 20 charitable foundations in the world.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium was founded in 1978 by the Packards at the behest of their daughters Nancy and Julie with an initial contribution of $55 million. To this day, Julie Packard serves as the Aquarium's Vice Chairman and Executive Director and draws a salary. A third sister, Susan Packard Orr, is chairman of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and serves on the board of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation. The aquarium opened in 1984.

For tax purposes, MBA is broken into three distinct, but affiliated organizations:

• Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation – concerned with the day-to-day operations and financing of the aquarium itself. The Seafood Watch Program is an initiative of this arm of the Aquarium;

• Monterey Bay Aquarium Support Services – which manages the real estate upon which the aquarium resides; and

• Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute – an oceanographic research center based in Moss Landing, California. It was founded in 1987 and immediately endowed with a $13 million grant from the Packard Foundation. It has a staff of 200 and an operating budget of about $40 million per year and operates a fleet of three ocean-going research vessels.

In 2006, the last year that the Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation filed an IRS Form 990, total revenue for Monterey Bay and its affiliates totaled well over $55 million – over $9 million in contributions, more than $339,000 in government grants, more than $26 million in program services, and over $12 million in investment income.

The largest single line item in financial support comes from admissions to the aquarium. For all intents and purposes, through a combination of paid admissions (2 million visitors per year), special events, charitable giving, membership dues and prudent management of its investment portfolio, the Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation is a self-sufficient entity financially.

Despite spending almost $45 million in 2006, Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation was still able to end the year with a surplus of almost $10.5 million. For the tax year ending December 31, 2007, the Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation boasted over $307 million in total assets, $55 million in revenues and more than $13.5 million in investment income .

The David and Lucile Packard Foundation is the major funding source for the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute. In the fiscal year ending December 31, 2006, the Packard Foundation distributed grants to the Research Institute totaling nearly $41 million.

Also of note are the extensive links between the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute and the U.S. Government. Several large agencies, including the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), NASA, the National Science Foundation, the Office of Naval Research, the Department of Energy and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory made contributions totaling nearly $5.5 million to the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in the fiscal year ending December 31, 2006. In 2004, NOAA awarded the Research Institute a $530,000 grant to tag and track tuna in the Pacific Ocean.

In addition, a review of the Research Institute’s tax returns reveals that outside of grants to Stanford University to support a collaborative research program, it does not provide direct financial support for any outside organizations.

While the Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation does bestow grants on a number of outside organizations, the total dollar amount is a mere fraction of its overall budget. For the most part, these grants have been distributed to organizations engaged in direct marine biological research (white sharks, squids and sea otters).

More details, later.

25 Years of Salmon Farming in British Columbia

Click here for more from the Vancouver Sun.

First Nations Delegates Impressed By Norwegian Aquaculture Experience

A Canadian group of First Nations Chiefs and delegates from Vancouver Island recently joined staff from Marine Harvest and Grieg Seafood to attend Norway’s Aquavision 2008 and to visit numerous aquaculture facilities. "The purpose of the trip was to share information about global aquaculture and to visit the birthplace of salmon farming," says Ian Roberts of Marine Harvest Canada.

Veteran commercial fisherman James Walkus was one of the guests on the tour. "I found it very fascinating," said Walkus. "Their science efforts, of studying the Atlantic salmon, was very good. It is truly remarkable how much effort they put into fish farming to make it a success in their country."