Report of the 2005 ICES/NASCO Symposium on Interactions ...

NINA SPECIAL REPORT 34
encouraging. But Per Gunnar Kvenseth is quite
convincing and it would certainly be an ideal
solution.
The Way Forward - General Principles
I think we’ve come a long way since Bath and both our
understanding <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> interactions and our management <strong>of</strong>
<strong>the</strong>m have improved significantly. But we have a lot more
work to do toge<strong>the</strong>r and we need to fur<strong>the</strong>r encourage
cooperation between scientists, <strong>the</strong> farming industry,
governments and <strong>the</strong> wild sector. We must regularly
remind ourselves that <strong>the</strong>re is a lot more that joins us
than separates us - we are, in <strong>the</strong> end, all working with
<strong>the</strong> same species. Being aware <strong>of</strong> this will inspire us to
constantly seek win-win solutions.
6. Øyvind Walsø
First <strong>of</strong> all I would like to support what has already been
said during this symposium that in recent years we have
seen positive developments with regard to some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>
factors in aquaculture that cause negative impacts on wild
salmon stocks. We have also taken a huge step forward
in developing a common understanding <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> implications
<strong>of</strong> escapes <strong>of</strong> farmed fish for <strong>the</strong> wild salmon stocks and
in recognising that it is necessary for <strong>the</strong> industry to
increase its efforts to prevent escapees. At <strong>the</strong> same time
it is clear that <strong>the</strong>re is still some way to go before we can
say that all <strong>the</strong> issues we have been discussing for more
than 15 years now can be said to have been addressed.
The continuing escape <strong>of</strong> farmed salmon is regarded as
<strong>the</strong> most serious problem when we consider <strong>the</strong> negative
impacts from aquaculture on <strong>the</strong> wild stocks <strong>of</strong> Atlantic
salmon. This has been a key topic at <strong>the</strong> previous
meetings, held in Loen, Norway in 1990, and in Bath,
England in 1997. It has also been an important topic at
this symposium. It seems that both <strong>the</strong> fish farming
industry and <strong>the</strong> wild salmon interests now share
common ground when it comes to <strong>the</strong> importance <strong>of</strong>
minimising escapees.
In spite <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> effort that has been invested in improving
containment in net pens we see that <strong>the</strong> number <strong>of</strong> fish
escaping has been fairly stable in recent years. While <strong>the</strong>
proportion <strong>of</strong> farmed fish that escape may be declining,
that improvement has until now been counteracted by
<strong>the</strong> increase in <strong>the</strong> scale <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> production <strong>of</strong> farmed
salmon. As I said, <strong>the</strong> number <strong>of</strong> escapees remains too
high and when it comes to <strong>the</strong>ir impact on wild salmon
populations it is <strong>the</strong> number <strong>of</strong> escapees that is important.
The numbers remain far too high.
Much has been said about physical containment measures
- less about <strong>the</strong> possibilities <strong>of</strong> biological containment, for
example through <strong>the</strong> use <strong>of</strong> sterile salmon. The possible
use <strong>of</strong> triploid fish was discussed at <strong>the</strong> previous meetings
as well as this week in Bergen. The issue was also
discussed at <strong>the</strong> <strong>NASCO</strong>/North Atlantic salmon farming
industry Liaison Group Workshop held in Trondheim in
August this year. I feel that <strong>the</strong> answers concerning how
well triploid salmon can perform in aquaculture are
somewhat confusing. The answer you get can vary from
triploid salmon can perform as well as diploids to <strong>the</strong>ir
performance is so poor that <strong>the</strong> industry will not accept
<strong>the</strong>m. There was also a suggestion that more effort
should be invested in research into alternative methods
for sterilizing fish. To my mind this is a good idea that
deserves fur<strong>the</strong>r consideration in <strong>the</strong> future.
When it comes to sea-lice, it seems that <strong>the</strong> effort that
has been put into addressing this problem has paid <strong>of</strong>f.
We now know much more about how this problem can
be addressed and how it should be followed up both
regarding future research and <strong>the</strong> management <strong>of</strong> farms.
Yesterday we heard a number <strong>of</strong> excellent presentations
on this topic and from my point <strong>of</strong> view <strong>the</strong> results from
this research were <strong>the</strong> most positive news from this
symposium.
And it also shows that if <strong>the</strong>re is a challenge to be
addressed and if <strong>the</strong> wild fish interests and farming
interests really share common ground and work toge<strong>the</strong>r
<strong>the</strong> probability for success is high and certainly much
higher than if we were not working toge<strong>the</strong>r.
So that, ladies and gentlemen, ends my personal summing
up from this symposium. Presumably <strong>the</strong> next meeting, in
seven years’ time, will be as interesting as this meeting has
been. Thank you very much!
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