This is the second in what has turned out to be a series of interviews about the need for a plan to help the 1,500 fish farm workers who will allegebly be losing their jobs because of the decision to phase out fish farms in the Discovery Islands. Stan Proboszcz, Science Advisor with the Watershed Watch Salmon Society, is questioning the numbers.
Fish farm opponents on the West Coast are jubilant after Ottawa’s announcement Thursday that operations in the Discovery Islands are being phased out over the next 18 months.
The licenses for 19 salmon farms in the Discovery lslands expired today. Bernadette Jordan, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) is reissuing licenses for 18 months, during which time “no new fish of any size may be introduced into Discovery Islands.” “Fish at the sites can complete their growth-cycle and be harvested,” but “all farms be free of fish by June 30th, 2022.”
Opponents of open-net salmon farms are disputing this week’s finding by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) that farms in Discovery Island waters pose little risk to wild salmon.
There has been a lot of talk about sea lice infestation of fish farms lately. According to a recent article from the North Island Gazette, there were more than the ‘acceptable’ number of parasites on fourteen sites this Spring. The President of Cermaq Canada just sent an industry perspective of this issue to the Strathcona Regional District Board. I decided to take a closer look at the sea lice on 15 salmon farms.
