Tag Archives: Fish Farms

Rivers & Oceans

‘Writing on the wall’ for West Coast fish farms, conservationists say

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Open net-pen fish farming on the Pacific coast took a one-two punch after operations closures were announced in both B.C. and Washington state this week. 

The shíshálh Nation said Wednesday that aquaculture giant Grieg Seafood is removing salmon farms from the nation’s waters along B.C.’s Sunshine Coast by February 2023. Meanwhile, on Monday, Washington state’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) said it’s not renewing Atlantic Canada’s Cooke Seafood’s last two open-net pen leases in Puget Sound and farm operations will end by Dec. 14. 

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Parks, Rivers & Oceans

A deeper dive into the marine protected network plan on Canada’s West Coast

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

There’s much to celebrate in the proposed plan to create a string of marine protected areas stretching Canada’s West Coast from northern Vancouver Island to Alaska, experts say. 

But the lack of information on specific protection measures for the BC Northern Shelf MPA Network means the blueprint to preserve sensitive ocean ecosystems risks becoming a string of “paper parks” — legally designated areas that don’t actually have effective conservation or stewardship measures. 

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Rivers & Oceans

Controversy over the 2022 Ahta River Run

More than 11,000 Pink Salmon are said to have returned to the Ahta River this September. This is more fish than the river has seen for many years and Alexandra Morton believes this is because Glacier Falls and Burdwood salmon farms were removed from their migration route.

She is not the only one suggesting that this year’s numbers are a result of removing salmon farms from the Broughton Archipelago. In August, Chief Bob Chamberlain of the First Nations Wild Salmon Alliance told the Vancouver Sun they haven’t seen these numbers in decades. 

Ruth Salmon, Interim Executive Director at the BC Salmon Farmers Association, calls this statement a mixture of ‘misrepresentation’ and ‘speculation.’ 

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Rivers & Oceans

Ottawa is scaling back its promise to phase out open net-pen salmon farms, critics say

National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Environmental groups worry Ottawa is backtracking on its commitment to phase out open net-pen salmon farming in B.C. waters after approving expansions to three operations off the west coast of Vancouver Island. 

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) has permitted Cermaq Canada to significantly increase the volume of Atlantic salmon produced at three farm sites in Clayoquot Sound, said Bonny Glambeck, campaigns director for Clayoquot Action. 

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Rivers & Oceans

What role will semi closed containment system fish farms have after 2025?

(Part 2 of 2, click here for Part 1)

The fish farm industry does not want to leave British Columbia’s coastal waters in 2025. 

In a recent press release Andreas Kvame, CEO of Grieg Seafood, said, “Our industry is in continuous development with new technologies and innovations, and in Grieg Seafood we are committed to improvements that strengthen biological control and reduce interactions with wild salmon.” 

David Kemiele, Managing Director of Cermaq emailed Cortes Currents, “Our new protocol extends to the end of 2025 and we are using that time to refine what our operations will look like moving forward beyond 2025 and definitely innovation plays a critical role in that plan.”

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