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Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s (DFO’s) conditions of licence for marine finfish aquaculture contain monitoring and intervention requirements to minimize the potential exposure of wild and farmed fish to sea lice. The Industry Sea Lice Abundance Counts report is updated monthly. It shows which Atlantic salmon farms were actively raising fish during the month and the results of industry's monthly sea lice monitoring. Please see the Open Data page for DFO sea lice audits of BC marine finfish aquaculture sites to see data from 2011 to 2015.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s (DFO’s) conditions of licence for marine finfish aquaculture contain monitoring and intervention requirements to minimize the potential exposure of wild and farmed fish to sea lice. Licence holders must submit a Health Management Plan to DFO that includes sea lice management. The results of industry’s sea lice assessments of Atlantic salmon are provided to DFO monthly and posted to this website quarterly. DFO biologists and veterinarians conduct regular assessments throughout the year to verify the accuracy of licence holders’ procedures and reporting.

Fish health on British Columbia salmon farms is managed throughout the production cycle to maintain healthy fish populations and to identify and address disease occurrences as soon as they arise. Aquaculture licence conditions set out mandatory monitoring and reporting requirements to ensure any potential impacts are appropriately mitigated at salmon farms. A central component of on-farm fish health management is a Fish Health Management Plan (FHMP). FHMPs are approved by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) and describe the fish health principles that the licensee must follow to maintain fish health and biosecurity at the farm.

This report provides a summary of fish health events reported by aquaculture companies to Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO). A fish health event is any suspected or active disease that occurs within an aquaculture facility that requires the involvement of a veterinarian and warrants mitigation measures (e.g., treatment, quarantine, reduction in density). As a condition of licence, company veterinarians must notify DFO within seven days of any fish health event on a farm and provide a preliminary or confirmed farm-level diagnosis as well as details on any sampling, monitoring or mitigation measures planned or performed. Historical data are available from 2016 to the present.

Mortality at salmon aquaculture facilities is closely monitored. If the amount of dead fish at a farm exceeds thresholds outlined in conditions of licence, a mortality event is said to have occurred and must be reported to DFO within 24 hours of discovery. Facility managers and veterinarian(s) must determine the probable cause of the event and develop a plan to mitigate ongoing harm to the farmed fish and reduce any risk to wild fish. Companies must continue to update Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) every 10 days for the duration of the mortality event, including daily mortality counts, mitigation applied, determination of the cause(s) of the event and any updated plan.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada requires operators of active marine finfish aquaculture sites in British Columbia to monitor for benthic (seabed) impacts. The benthic monitoring program is designed to limit the location, area and intensity of impact created by fish farms to the seabed and to support sustainable aquaculture by maintaining healthy ecosystems. All operational sites must be monitored at peak production, when the greatest environmental impact is most likely to occur. If the thresholds outlined in Aquaculture Activities Regulations are exceeded, the site must be fallowed (left empty) until further monitoring shows the seabed has sufficiently recovered.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada requires operators of active marine finfish aquaculture sites in British Columbia to monitor for benthic (seabed) impacts. The benthic monitoring program is designed to limit the location, area, and intensity of impact created by fish farms to the seabed and to support sustainable aquaculture by maintaining healthy ecosystems. In addition to the monitoring and reporting required of licence holders, DFO staff biologists conduct field audits to collect and assess sediment samples and take video of the seafloor. This information is used to determine compliance and learn more about benthic impacts during different times of the production cycle.

This report provides summary fish health data collected by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) from randomly selected licensed marine facilities culturing salmon in British Columbia (BC). Results of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) screening are provided, as well as a list of the bacterial pathogens isolated by culture, and whether a pathogen or disease has been confirmed by histopathology (microscopic examination). DFO veterinarians provide a farm-level diagnosis and identify any conditions of note based on these laboratory findings and any other information collected during the fish health audit or reported by companies as a condition of licence. The terminology used in the report’s column headings can be found in the terminology file below.

Mortality at salmon aquaculture facilities is closely monitored. As in any population of wild or farmed animals, there are a number of causes leading to death. While in-depth diagnostic testing takes time, carcasses are routinely assigned to a number of defined categories which can help facility operators and Fisheries and Oceans Canada staff quickly assess whether disease may be present. Facility operators report mortalities in a number of categories that describe either the cause of death or the condition of the carcass.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s (DFO’s) Conditions of Licence for finfish aquaculture include requirements to minimize harm to wild fish that swim into facilities. Facility operators must also maintain an incidental catch log, which is a record of wild fish caught at the facility during harvest and transfer events. This information is submitted to DFO and public reports are posted quarterly. The tables provided list the reported incidental catch of dead wild finfish and the year and month in which they were captured from B.C.