Clarifying The Issue Of Salmon And Sea Lice

The Vancouver Sun
December 28, 2004
By R. J. Lewis

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Consumers deserve to know what is happening in the production of all of our food sources -- not just a targeted group of salmon producers -- and the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, through its website and other methods, is making efforts to provide that information. The safety of our food supply is paramount.

Release of emamectin benzoate to veterinarians for the treatment of sea lice is made within the guidelines and under the full authority of Health Canada with residue tolerances equivalent to or more stringent than those in countries in which the drug is fully approved.

While the drug has not yet been fully approved in Canada, its use is strictly controlled through Health Canada's Emergency Drug Release Program. Each use is thoroughly monitored, recorded and reported to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, which also conducts spot audits for residues.

All salmon have tested well below the established residue limit; in most cases, no residue has been detected.

Emamectin benzoate is superior in all aspects to other drugs that have been used to treat sea lice and its increased use reflects this enhanced effectiveness and minimal harm to the environment compared to previous products.

Sea lice have not presented themselves as a production problem in B.C. farmed salmon except for a few isolated cases. Farmed salmon here appear more tolerant of lice than are salmon on the East Coast or Europe. In many cases in B.C. treatments are used not because of any clinical impact on the farmed salmon but, rather, as a mechanism to minimize lice in the environment.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries website correctly states that there are no hormones or pesticides used in fish farmed for human consumption in B.C. Emamectin is a drug, not a hormone or a pesticide.

R. J. Lewis is the chief veterinarian/director of the Animal Health Branch, Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries

NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for research and educational purposes.

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