A scientist leading a study into how sea lice infect wild B.C. salmon says he is hopeful that a project co-funded by fish farmers and NGOs can overcome the “your data versus my data” battles that so often cloud the issue.
Dr. Crawford Revie, an epidemiologist at the University of Prince Edward Island, said the Broughton Archipelago Monitoring Plan (BAMP) is the only sea lice study that brings together B.C. fish farmers and environmental groups.
As a research scientist, Dr. Revie said heading the project has been a bit of a challenge.
“I’m not really a diplomat,” he said, laughing. “I probably spend nearly half my time making sure that nobody’s feathers are ruffled too much.”
Over five years, BAMP researchers will track how many pink and chum salmon get infected by sea lice as they migrate through the Broughton Archipelago — an island group in the Haida Gwaii that is home to 15 salmon farms. Four times a year, the researchers drop seine nets at about 100 sites in the island chain and observe how infected salmon are in each catch.
