Sea Lice and Pink Salmon Declines: A Response to Brooks and Jones (2008)

Abstract

In this article, we respond to concerns raised by Brooks and Jones (2008) about recent advances in sea lice and salmon population dynamics in the Broughton Archipelago, British Columbia. We show that the assessment by Brooks and Jones (2008) is thoroughly mistaken and that their conclusions are based on a combination of obfuscation, misrepresentation, and fundamental misunderstandings. The extinction hypothesis is not actually a hypothesis at all, but rather an inevitable consequence of sustained population decline. Local extinction of Broughton Archipelago pink salmon can be prevented if population declines are turned around, and the data and models suggest this can be achieved if the infestations are stopped. We have organized our responses in an itemized manner according to the headings and subheadings in Brooks and Jones (2008).

Keywords:

• aquaculture
• conservation
• population dynamics
• transmission
• salmon
• sea lice

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank several colleagues for helpful comments. Funding came from the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada and a Canada Research Chair.

Notes

*This year corresponds to the pink salmon cohort whose juvenile outmigration occurred during the fallow year 2003.