Statement of Agreement

Based on the weight of evidence approach, participants generally agreed on the following statements as a reflection of their understanding of the impact and significance of sea lice for wild salmon

1. Salmon farms contribute sea lice to wild fish.
2. In Central British Columbia there are more sea lice (Lepeophtheirus spp) on juvenile wild fish near farms.
3. Sea lice can kill juvenile fish, even at low infestation levels. The lethal load varies with environmental conditions, fish size and cumulative stress. Limited evidence suggests that levels that appear to be lethal are found near fish farms.
4. The risk factors (e.g., geographic, channel morphology, salinity and temperature, presence of large and healthy runs, size of wild salmon population) contribute variability to sea lice incidence and lethality.
5. There is suggestive evidence of population impacts.
6. Raw data (temperature, salinity, stocking density, sea lice incidence, treatment regimens) from fish farms are crucial to research and management and we need to be able to verify those data.

The weight of evidence came primarily from the current knowledge of salmon and sea lice in Europe, Atlantic Canada and the Broughton Archipelago shared in the day’s discussions.