Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) is being investigated yet again, but this time, it’s personal.

The Public Sector Integrity Commissioner has decided to launch an investigation into specific personnel at DFO who were allegedly involved in violating the Values and Ethics Code for the Public Sector. The specific complaint, made in a “disclosure” filed by Tony Allard of Wild Salmon Forever, is that staff wrongfully buried science being conducted into the impacts of salmon aquaculture on wild salmon.

It has long been public knowledge that Dr. Kristi Miller-Saunders was put on a very short leash by her supervisors—told not to speak publicly about her work, to give media interviews about papers she published or even to testify beyond prescribed areas when giving evidence at inquiries. The disclosure makes it clear that far more was going on than has yet been made public.

Dr. Miller-Saunders heads the molecular genomics lab at the Pacific Biological Station, where her research examines the impacts of salmon farming on wild salmon. It would be safe to say that this is the only place within DFO where any serious attempt is being made to investigate and quantify harm to wild salmon from the salmon aquaculture industry. In the disclosure document, evidence is presented that shows a pattern of suppression of evidence from this lab and attempts to control Dr. Miller-Saunders’ communications.

As a result of the actions being investigated, ground-breaking research showing the impact of a salmon farm virus on Chinook salmon was kept from publication for over a decade. Successive Ministers of Fisheries were advised that salmon farms posed ‘no more than minimal risk’ to wild salmon and were not the cause of precipitous declines in Pacific salmon populations.

“It’s unfortunate that an investigation of this sort is required to bring some transparency and accountability to bear on decisions about salmon farming being made by this Department,” said Karen Wristen, SeaChoice Steering Committee member for Living Oceans Society. “But it’s plain that the regulator is captured and that doesn’t happen unless someone’s values and ethics are compromised.”

SeaChoice’s partner organization, Living Oceans Society, has coordinated a campaign reminding Prime Minister Trudeau that his government needs to fulfill its promise and transition all open-net pen salmon farms out by 2025.