Advocates press DFO to move faster on plan to phase out B.C. fish farms
Global News
A coalition of Frist Nations, environmental groups, scientists and tourism operators want the government to move more quickly on its pledge to phase out B.C. open-net salmon farms.
A coalition of First Nations, tourism and hospitality operators and scientists is calling on the federal government to move faster on a pledge to remove open-net salmon farms from the B.C. coast.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised during the 2019 election to phase out the controversial Atlantic salmon fish farms in B.C. by 2025.
Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) was ordered to have a transition plan ready by 2023, but there is no indication whether it’s in place.
At a press conference in Vancouver Wednesday, the coalition argued the wild Pacific salmon economy is on the verge of collapse, making elimination of the farms critical.
“We want to ensure the new minister of fisheries and oceans understands that there are 123 First Nations in B.C. that support the removal, that the broader economy of B.C. that relies on healthy and abundant wild salmon stand with First Nations in that support,” First Nations Wild Salmon Alliance Chair Bob Chamberlain said.
“And its time we start to reach out and touch the opportunities we can to safeguard wild salmon, and fish farms are certainly one of those biggest stressors and impacts that must be dealt with.”
There are currently 57 salmon farms operating in B.C. Last February, the DFO closed 15 open-net Atlantic salmon farms in the Discovery Islands.
But activists and First Nations say it’s not enough, and that the facilities put the survival of wild Pacific salmon and other ecological niches that rely on them, and more than 100,000 jobs at risk.
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