Dear Dr. Marty, Part II

Here is Dr. Marty's response to my letter:

Dear fellow wild salmon advocates,

I fully support the investigation by CFIA to determine the significance of the PCR results reported by Dr. Kibenge's laboratory. Once we have those results, then we can decide on the best course of action.

Sincerely,

Gary Marty

What wild salmon advocate Dr. Marty does not say is why such an investigation is necessary, how long it will take or what potential costs such a delay might have. I predict that if the CFIA has their way, they will find their investigation results "inconclusive" and that they "warrant further study" before any decisions are made— and no decisions that affect the corporate bottom line will be made.

As a fisheries biologist friend of mine said after reading Dr. Marty's email this evening:

"Marty's answer is so lame, I can't even believe it. Next we're going to hear ISA came from sticklebacks! Delay, distract, deny all over again."

Here is my reply to Dr. Marty:

Dear Dr. Marty,

Thank you for your response.

With respect, when there are repeated indications from a research lab of Dr. Kibenge's caliber—the OIE Reference Laboratory for ISA at the Atlantic Veterinary College— that we are seeing multiple infections across salmon species, wouldn't part of determining the "significance" of such findings be immediate testing of all salmon farms?

AS SFU's Rick Routledge said, "The potential impact of ISA cannot be taken lightly. There must be an immediate response to assess the extent of the outbreak, determine its source, and to eliminate all controllable sources of the virus."

In the public interest, a top-priority regime of tissue collection, testing and any necessary quarantine/culling must be imposed immediately and with complete transparency.

Sincerely

Tyee Bridge