Mowi blames climate change for latest salmon die-offs on Newfoundland's south coast
Mowi Canada East is reporting 166,262 salmon have died because of repeated sea lice infestations is says was exacerbated by climate change. (Northern Harvest Sea Farms)
There’s been another large salmon die-off at a Mowi Canada East aquaculture operation in Newfoundland, and the company says the culprit is repeated sea lice infestations exacerbated by climate change.
Mowi announced on Thursday at least 166,262 salmon had died at two of its farming operations near Chaleur Bay on Newfoundland’s south coast.
Mowi refused to do an interview with CBC News, but in an email spokesperson Aaron Bennett pointed to a company social media post written on Thursday.
The statement said the die-off is due to “repeated sea lice infestations” from long periods of high water surface temperature, a lack or rainfall of freshwater run-off into the fjords as well as no winds to drive surface currents. All of which makes for ideal conditions for sea lice to “flourish.”
“It is an unfortunate fact that all livestock farmers will encounter and must manage challenges resulting in the mortality of stock from time to time. All farmers (terrestrial or water) are continuing to see the effects of climate change on their livelihood,” reads Mowi’s statement.
The news of this die-off comes a little over a month after Mowi reported the mass mortality at three of its Newfoundland sites on Aug. 31, where approximately 400,000 fish died at a Harbour Breton aquaculture operation.
The company said that die-off was a result of deep, cold, low-oxygen seawater to the warmer-water ocean surface — known as a thermocline inversion — at its Harvey Hill East, Harvey Hill South and Broad Cove marine sites.
In July, the company also reported a mass die-off at Little Burdock Cove, near Rencontre East. Mowi said that incident was caused by “a period of increased water temperatures in association with decreased oxygen levels.”
Thursday’s statement said sea lice aren’t a risk to human health or food safety, and the company monitors for sea lice regularly. The die-offs were also reported to the provincial government.
“The mortality was not observed in a singular event but rather observed over a period of recent weeks during which time the fish were being treated using Health Canada approved products to remove sea lice,” the statement said.
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