Sharing Salmon interviewed fisheries scientist and Vancouver Island University science & technology dean Dr. Don Noakes to find out whether, and how, aquaculture is protecting wild fish in British Columbia.

In these first four videos, Dr. Noakes explains that in his opinion there is no credible science to show a negative impact of salmon farms on British Columbia’s wild salmon populations. In video 2, Dr. Noakes speaks about credibility being a major hurdle to the BC salmon farming industry.

In video 3 Dr. Noakes describes fish farmers caring about healthy fish and a science based approach. Finally, in video 4 he explains how a transition to land based Atlantic salmon farms is not currently feasible in terms of efficiency, energy or economics.

First Nations are becoming more and more involved in Canadian aquaculture, especially salmon farming. It’s more than any other industry, says Dr. Noakes in the first video here. It’s part of a greater trend of indigenous involvement in deciding resource issues.

In video 2, you will learn why salmon farmers have a great interest in preserving wild stocks. In video 3, Dr. Noakes discusses his paper, Oceans of Opportunity, that lays out some of the principles for dealing successfully with climate change, human demand for food, and sustainability concerns. The fourth video is a succinct primer on fish disease, which is looked at in more detail in the next video section.

Fish immune systems are designed to fight off viruses, explains Dr. Noakes in video 1, very similar to the way a human immune system works. In video 2, learn why vaccines are common and widespread in food production, including farmed salmon.

All salmon farms have veterinarians on staff all the time says Dr. Noakes in video 3. In the final video in this series, learn about how students from Canada and abroad are coming to Vancouver Island University to prepare for careers in aquaculture.