The Kristi Miller Fund: already $6,000 raised

The Kristi Miller Fund

Last January a study by Dr. Kristi Miller, a scientist at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, was published in the journal Science. Her research has identified a genomic signature which may link the decline of the Fraser sockeye to a viral infection.

In particular, her candidate virus may account for the high levels of salmon mortality observed in the Fraser before spawning. Her study is said to be one of the most important to come from DFO in years.

Yet the federal government has cut Dr. Miller’s funding, undermining her ability to continue her critical research. In particular, while she was on the witness stand at the Cohen Commission, Dr. Miller said that she put forward a proposal to test farmed salmon for her virus.

But her funding request – which only amounted to $18,750 – was denied by DFO.

To complicate the matter, Dr. Miller testified that the Prime Minister’s office in Ottawa barred her from talking to the media about her research into the sockeye salmon decline.

These curious actions by government have not gone unnoticed by Wild Salmon People, and have sparked suspicion of blatant political interference. Once again, it’s up to the people to rise to the task. Together, we will raise the money that DFO denied to Dr. Miller to test farmed salmon for the salmon leukemia virus.

The monies donated by concerned citizens for this urgent and critical research will be presented to DFO. By doing this, we will send an uncompromising message that the public will take no further excuses to stall Dr. Miller’s research, and that the federal government must allow those critical tests to take place without further delay.

And if DFO refuses to take the money, then we will use it to conduct disease tests independently of government and industry. Those tests will focus on the alarming pre-spawn mortality, the exotic ISA virus and possible jaundice epidemic currently affecting the 2011 Fraser River salmon run.

A jaundiced pink salmon found last week in the Fraser, apparently killed by liver disease

You have a chance to be a part of a direct action that can make an ocean of a difference.

No gift is too small. Whether you can afford to give $10 or $1000, help us send a message to government, and support good people working hard for the preservation of our wild salmon for generations.

Visit the Salmon Are Sacred website and click on their PayPal button. *Please add a note (in PayPal’s “Add special instructions for the Recipient” box) indicating that your donation is for the “Kristi Miller Fund”

If you send a cheque [att: Pacific Coast Wild Salmon Society or PCWSS - Box 399, Sointula BC V0N 3E0], please add that mention as well.

Have you ever seen a bright yellow salmon before? With shock and horror, we give you one.
This photo was taken on October 5 by Dr. Alexandra Morton and wild salmon activist Anissa Reed on the banks of the Fraser river.
They found several such dead yellow Pink salmon during a recent field study. Those salmon clearly died of jaundice. And when Alex opened one fish, she found a severely diseased liver, one which appeared to be covered with tumor-like growths.
What is causing this deadly disease in so many of our salmon? Is it a virus? We don’t know. But we need to find out, right now. [...]

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“Earlier this month, the Cohen Commission of Inquiry Into the Decline of Sockeye Salmon in the Fraser River, saw an e-mail by Dr. [Kristi] Miller in which she complained about being kept away from a workshop because her DFO masters “fear that we will not be able to control the way the disease issue could be construed in the press.”
Dr. Miller, who suspects a virus is killing millions of sockeye salmon in the river, had a paper published in the prestigious journal Science earlier this year. But [...]

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Are you opposed to open-net fish farming and violations of a UNESCO biosphere reserve site?
Salmon farm corporation Mainstream Canada has applied for an enormous net-pen salmon farm. This farm would cover 1.25 hectares, and in terms of biomass—600,000 farmed salmon eating and excreting directly into the water— is equivalent to installing a town of about 40,000 people in the midst of a wilderness area. Plover Point is within the boundaries of the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and like the rest of Clayoquot Sound, it is a gem that needs our support.
Learn more about this proposal and Plover Point.

Are you opposed to open-net fish farming and violations [...]

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Should we compromise our organic labeling system for farmed salmon? We didn’t think so. Recently a proposal from the Canadian General Standards Board has claimed that farmed salmon could be labeled as organic in supermarkets. This means that 100% non-organic synthetic parasiticides could be used and still be considered “organic.” This is not only troubling that farmed salmon could reach new levels of credibility but it devalues our current standards for organic labeling elsewhere, which could lead to larger issues in the future. The comment period has now closed but there is still time to send letters to your MP and/or MLA to indicate your [...]

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