National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Aquaculture companies have won a court victory that appears to overturn aspects of a recent federal government decision to phase out contentious fish farms in the Discovery Islands.
Continue reading Salmon farms win court victory: can restock pensBy Carl Meyer, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter — With files from Emma McIntosh
Parliament acted constitutionally when it passed the federal government’s carbon pricing law, the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled.
Continue reading Canada’s carbon pricing law constitutional, court rulesThe virtual injunction hearing, for three fish farms in the Discovery Islands, began yesterday.
Continue reading Virtual injunction hearing for three fish farmsBy Roy L Hales
Canada’s $2 billion Aquaculture industry is embroiled in controversy. While there may be some debate as to whether wild salmon spread more infections to British Columbia’s penned stock or vice versa,[1] there have been incidents like the Queen Charlotte Strait’s 2015 sea lice epidemic.[2] On May 20, 2016, Dr Kristi Miller, from Fisheries and Oceans Canada, announced that there is “a potential Heart and Skeletal Muscle Inflammation (HSMI) in farmed Atlantic salmon samples” collected from a aquaculture facility off the coast of Vancouver Island. In Norway, where HSMI is more common, this disease is “associated with generally low mortality on farms, generally between 0 to 20%.”[3] The stress (and thus mortality rate) is undoubtedly greater on wild salmon, which need to capture prey, escape predators and swim upstream to spawn. So, acting on behalf of marine biologist Alexandra Morton, ECOjustice is suing Canada’s Ministry of Fisheries for putting wild salmon at risk. Some argue the best answer is to bring salmon farms on land.
Continue reading Bring Salmon Farms On LandBy Roy L Hales
The first meeting of what Environment Minister Catherine McKenna calls our “pan-Canadian team on Climate Change” is now over. She has been closeted with environmental ministers from the provinces and territories, McKenna called it “the most positive meeting that has taken place in a very long time. Though short on details, the Minister said “We all know we have to act together”and alluded to “real opportunities” in the clean tech sector. To distill her message down to the three words which she did not actually use, McKenna asks Canadians to trust the Government
