I'm shocked, shocked I tell you....
'A scientific sin': 16 Canadian salmon scientists claim DFO sea lice report was manipulated
16 scientists slam a recent DFO report that found salmon farms had an "insignificant" impact on wild salmon infestations — claiming the report's authors cherry-picked data, ignored scientific consensus and failed to consult with experts outside the department.
A group of over a dozen leading fish scientists are slamming a federal study that found “no statistically significant association” between infested salmon farms and sea lice in nearby wild salmon.
The
letter, signed by 16 scientists from the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, and the University of Toronto, among others, said the Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) Science Response Report, published last month, contained “serious scientific failings,” including cherry-picked data and a lack of consultation with leading experts outside DFO.
The biggest flaw in the report, says Gideon Mordecai, a research associate studying salmon viruses at UBC who signed the letter, comes from evidence the report's authors ran multiple statistical analyses, picked the answer that suited their bias and only reported that.
“It's a scientific sin,” Mordecai said.
After the release of DFO's Canadian Scientific Advisory Secretariat
(CSAS) report last week, the B.C. Salmon Farmers Association released a statement saying sea lice “naturally occur in the Pacific Ocean” and that industry “diligently practice precautionary management measures to minimize sea lice transmission from farmed to wild salmon.”
The industry group said the CSAS report is just the latest to conclude that open-net salmon farms have minimal impact on wild salmon in terms of transmitting disease.
“This comprehensive CSAS report adds to the nine previous CSAS science reviews (2020) on salmon aquaculture in B.C. that concluded ‘minimal risk’ to Fraser River sockeye salmon from all relevant fish pathogens of concern,” the association said in a
press release.
But the open letter pushed back against the B.C. Salmon Farmers Association's claims, stating the report “in no way overturns the accumulated scientific evidence that salmon farms are one of the primary drivers of sea louse infestations on nearby wild juvenile salmon” and that “given the report’s major flaws, its findings are not suitable to feed into the upcoming CSAS 'risk assessment of sea lice in B.C.' or policy decisions concerning B.C. salmon farms.”
Federal documents show data omissions, lack of scientific oversight, claims open letter
In documents released through federal access to information and privacy laws, Mordecai said he and his colleagues looked at the data and methods the DFO researchers used.
In contrast to the DFO study, a simple analysis of the report’s own results indicated an “overall significant association” between sea lice infestations on salmon farms and the probability of infestations in wild juvenile chum and pink salmon, said the 16 scientists in their open letter.
The government-backed report also relied on an unvalidated and out-of-date model of infestation, failed to report all the analyses and omitted “statistically significant results,” claimed the letter.
16 scientists slam a recent DFO report that found salmon farms had an "insignificant" impact on wild salmon infestations — claiming the report's authors cherry-picked data, ignored scientific consensus and failed to consult with experts outside the department.
www.timescolonist.com