Sea lice sparks salmon showdown in N.L.

A new analysis blames a surge in sea lice for driving up the price of salmon while its global population declines — sparking a war of words between the Newfoundland Aquaculture Industry Association (NAIA) and a salmon researcher.

A report published in The Guardian says wholesale salmon prices increased by 50 per cent due to the parasite, which eats the blood and tissue of salmon.

But just how much havoc is being wrecked by it is up for debate.

"Sea lice and parasites are just nature's way of overcorrecting a population problem and the collateral damage from that is [the use of] antibiotics and pesticides," says salmon advocate Bill Bryden, who lives in Lumsden.

He said salmon, which are a migratory fish, are "crammed into a density that's unnatural" and that's his concern regarding sea lice.

But Mark Lane, executive director of NAIA, sees the situation involving the marine parasite differently.

"[Sea lice] is an issue we have to deal with, but it's no different to compare for example, the potato bug in terrestrial farming or parasites that might exist at a poultry plant," he told CBC's The Broadcast.

"Parasites and disease, it's the nature of the beast of farming any type of animal or plant."

Lane said NAIA has several ways to deal with sea lice, including introducing lumpfish with the salmon since it eats the parasites. The association also washes the farmed fish in hydrogen peroxide and drops them back into the sea.

Land versus sea 

But Bryden, who is an outspoken supporter of land-based fish farms, says there is a reason why fish farms out of the sea are catching on. 

• N.L. aquaculture industry working to reduce farmed salmon escapes
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"Virtually no antibiotics, no sea lice, none of the issues. No predator attraction, no escapes, all those issues would vanish," he said.

But Lane argued the logistics simply won't work for a land-based fish farm in this province.

"In Newfoundland alone, we're poised this year to do about 25,000 metric tonnes of Atlantic salmon only. The two or three operations that exist in Canada, that are completely land-based, are only 400 metric tonnes," he said.

"So the capability is not there."

Lane said the carbon footprint to move from sea to land would require "four billion litres of fresh water to fill the tanks" and the equivalent of electricity produced by "two more Holyrood generating stations."