Pesticide use and lobster deaths probed in Canadian waters

Parasites, pesticides, sick salmon and dead lobsters.

These four things have become an issue in Passamaquoddy Bay, and no one seems to be happy about it.

Not the salmon aquaculture operators, who are using pesticides to combat a damaging outbreak of sea lice at their fish pens in Passamaquoddy Bay and adjacent Cobscook Bay. Not environmentalists, who are concerned about the effect the pesticides might be having on surrounding marine life. And not lobster fishermen, who fear the use of pesticides has contributed to widespread lobster deaths in the past.

Officials in Canada are looking into the use of pesticides in and near Passamaquoddy Bay as part of separate investigations into the deaths of lobsters off Grand Manan Island in late 2009 and off Deer Island in early 2010. Both islands are located directly across the international border within easy eyesight of Maine.

Lobsters and sea lice, both crustaceans, are highly vulnerable to pesticides that salmon farm operators have been using and then disposing of in coastal waters, according to officials.

As part of the investigation, Environment Canada executed a search warrant in November at eight facilities in New Brunswick owned and operated by Cooke Aquaculture, a salmon aquaculture firm that also operates salmon farms in Maine. Cooke officials have said they are cooperating with the ongoing investigations.

According to media reports, cypermethrin, a pesticide that is licensed for use in Maine but banned in Canada, was detected on the dead lobsters found off the two Canadian islands.

In a Dec. 29 e-mail, Henry Lau, a spokesman for Environment Canada, declined to specifically verify whether cypermethrin was detected on the dead lobsters found a few miles away from Maine’s border. He wrote that the Canadian federal agency is investigating the lobster deaths under the authority of Canada’s Fisheries Act, which bans fish-harming substances from being deposited into fish-bearing waters.

“Cypermethrin is considered to be harmful to crustaceans including lobster and shrimp,” Lau wrote.

There have been no reports of dead lobsters or of other immediate ill effects in Maine from the use of pesticides in the two bays, but state and lobster industry officials in Maine are keeping tabs on the Environment Canada investigations and on the use of pesticides on both sides of the border to make sure Maine’s lobster indus-try, the largest commercial fishery in the state, and Maine’s marine environment are not harmed.

In 2009, the total statewide landings of lobster in Maine had an estimated cumulative value of $228 million, according to official Maine Department of Marine Resources statistics. Farmed salmon, the second most lucrative fishery in Maine, brought in $38.7 million in direct revenue to the state’s economy the same year. Official estimated financial values for the two fisheries in 2010 are not yet available.

Lobster and pesticides

The presence of pesticides in waters off the East Coast has been a concern for lobster fishermen since at least 1999, when the Long Island Sound lobster population plummeted after anti-mosquito pesticides were sprayed in the New York City area to fight the spread of West Nile virus. Long Island Sound fishermen later sued the pesticide manufacturers and then settled out of court for more than $16 million.

Patrice McCarron, executive director of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association, said recently that lobstermen have good reason to be wary of pesticide use in or near coastal waters. If not used properly, she said, “a pesticide for salmon lice would be extremely dangerous to lobsters.”

McCarron said, however, that many aquaculture farmers in Maine have close connections to the lobster industry and take pains to avoid harming the marine environment. Still, the use of pesticides in salmon aquaculture operations needs to be very precise and tightly controlled, she said.

“It’s a fine line to make sure you use the proper amount,” McCarron said. “We have to find the right balance of sharing the ocean so industries can coexist.”

Jon Lewis, aquaculture environmental coordinator for DMR, said recently that besides monitoring the use of cypermethrin in state waters, Maine officials also have noted that a pesticide called AlphaMax, which contains the chemical deltamethrin, recently was used for the first time at salmon farms on the Canadian side of Pas-samaquoddy Bay. AlphaMax has not been licensed for use in Maine because no one has sought state approval to do so, he said.

But that has not prevented DMR officials from consulting with their Canadian counterparts about the toxicity and use of AlphaMax, Lewis said. DMR has not performed any studies or testing of deltamethrin on its own, he said.

According to Lewis, Canadian officials have told DMR that AlphaMax weakens and disperses in the water so that, 15 minutes after it has been released, it cannot be detected within 100 meters of the pens where it was used. With those results in mind, he added, testing for AlphaMax miles away on the American side of Passama-quoddy Bay would not appear to be a worthwhile use of DMR resources.

But Lewis said he understands why lobstermen might take an interest in the presence of pesticides in the ocean and in the dead-lobster investigations in New Brunswick.

“I don’t blame the lobstermen for being concerned,” Lewis said. “Obviously, it targets crustaceans.”


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