There was some bad news this month for the Norwegian fish feedlot industry in Canada: their own trade magazine featured the following headline:
The Critics Are Right: It’s Time To Close Down Salmon Farms
(link to text only version)
The future of fish farms in British Columbia is uncertain. On June 7, Judge Paul Favel supported the Ministry of Fisheries decision to not renew the licenses of 15 fish farms in the Discovery Islands, and denied a joint application by industry and the Laich-kwil-tach Nation for a judicial review. At the end of this month the licenses of the remaining 66 fish farms still operating in this province will expire.
Continue reading The Uncertain future of Salmon Farms in British ColumbiaOriginally published by the Parliament of Canada
On 1 February 2022, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans (the Committee) agreed to undertake a study to “examine how the Department of Fisheries and Oceans prioritizes, resources and develops scientific studies and advice for the department, how the results of scientific study are communicated to the Minister and Canadians, and how the minister applies data and advice provided by the department and other government departments to ministerial decisions.”The Committee heard from 57 witnesses over nine meetings held between 26 April 2022 and 7 October 2022.
Continue reading Report of the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans
Editor’s note: The transcript that Alexandra Morton refers to, in the following open letter, is actually the transcript of my January 27 radio program. While extremely quote heavy, it is highly edited, considerably shorter, and not a word for word transcript of the meeting.
To the Strathcona Regional District Board,
I read the January 25, 2023, transcript of your Members’ Report on the Open Net Pen Transition. Thank you for the care and thought you are putting into this. The statement that logging, tourism and fish farming are critical to Campbell River’s existence must be a serious concern given all of these are facing challenges.
Continue reading Alexandra Morton: Open Letter to Strathcona Regional District Board
National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Critics and supporters of West Coast fish farms are at odds over a recent Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) study suggesting sea lice infestations among juvenile wild salmon aren’t strongly tied to aquaculture operations.
Using industry-reported data, the aquaculture division of DFO analyzed the likelihood that sea lice from salmon farms are causing sea lice outbreaks in wild fish in four areas on the coast.
There’s a trend showing a positive relationship between the amount of sea lice on farms and on juvenile chum and pink salmon in those areas between 2016 and 2021, but it’s “statistically insignificant,” the study said.
Continue reading Tussle over sea lice science unfolds as a federal decision on Discovery Islands salmon farms looms
