Pollution spurs call for investigation into experimental salmon farm

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 29, 2025

Tofino, B.C.—Clayoquot Action and Watershed Watch Salmon Society are calling for answers from the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and Cermaq about what appears to be large quantities of an oil, fat and salmon-coloured sludge emanating from Cermaq’s experimental semi-closed containment system (SCCS) fish farm at Millar Channel, in Clayoquot Sound UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. The pollution was documented over the past two months by Clayoquot Action. The images are similar to die-offs witnessed at other open net-pen salmon farms.

Federal documents accessed by Watershed Watch reveal some farmed salmon died in a transport vessel in November that was moving fish from the SCCS to the nearby open net-pen fish farm. However, this does not explain the images of polluting substances arising from inside the SCCS and around the area of the fish farms at the Millar Channel site for months.

Questions arising from this incident include:

  • Did fish die in the SCCS fish farm, and if so, what level of mortality occurred?
  • What are the substances arising in and near the SCCS fish farm, and why have they persisted for so long?
  • Did the SCCS experimental fish farm have a technological failure?

“We have been observing the classic signs of a mass die-off at Cermaq’s experimental semi-closed fish farm for two months now,” said Dan Lewis, executive director, Clayoquot Action. “Clayoquot Sound is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve—and wild salmon here are on the brink of extinction. The public has a right to know what is happening—DFO must investigate”.

“Given the federal government is scheduled to release its B.C. fish farm transition plan soon, and is entertaining alternatives to open net-pen salmon farming,” said Stan Proboszcz, senior science and policy analyst, Watershed Watch Salmon Society, “knowing exactly what happened with this experimental technology is paramount.”

A federal multi-agency task force is finalizing a transition plan to ban open-net pen salmon farms in British Columbia by July 1, 2029. It is crucial to assess the effectiveness of experimental semi-closed containment systems operating in public waters, such as the one at Millar Channel. Transparency around their performance will help prevent future failures and ensure a successful shift away from marine-based fish farms.

Video and stills of pollution at Millar Channel site

Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) document (see page 4 for fish mortality details)

Media Contacts:

Dan Lewis – Executive Director, Clayoquot Action dan@clayoquotaction.org

Stan Proboszcz – Senior Science and Policy Analyst proboszcz@watershedwatch.ca

Background Information:

Difference between Semi-closed Containment System (SCCS) & standard Open-Net Pen

Open-net pen salmon farms typically raise Atlantic salmon in ocean-based pens made of suspended nets. This system allows the unrestricted flow of pathogens, parasites, waste, and uneaten feed into the surrounding marine environment. The SCCS uses a patented material to form a barrier around the system and purports to eliminate lateral interaction between wild and farmed salmon. Water is pumped into the system from a depth over 20 metres.

More on the SCCS

A previous trial of the SCCS ended in failure

Federal aquaculture transition:

The federal government has enacted a ban on open-net pen salmon aquaculture in British Columbia, to take effect 1 July 2029. The Transition Task Force is currently considering what to replace it with. Cermaq’s semi-closed system is one option being considered, but this is experimental technology which has never grown market-sized fish, anywhere in the world. Land-based recirculating systems are currently being built and operated around the world.

More information on B.C.’s aquaculture transition

Timeline of observations at Millar Channel site:

  • November 25 2024: blobs of oil bubbling up inside and outside of the SCCS, creating a large oil slick, pans of congealed fat, strong stench of rotting fish
  • December 4 2024: strong stench and an extensive sheen of oil that surrounds the SCCS, clumps of floating fat, few fish left in SCCS, much less floating fat inside.
  • December 18 2024: staff re-stocking SCCS with new juvenile Atlantic salmon, gulls feeding on pink/orange slick (perhaps mashed salmon flesh)
  • January 8 2025: small salmon jumping in SCCS, large pink slick all around SCCS, blobs of fish fat and chunks of fish flesh, strong stench
  • January 22 2025: pink slick and strong stench, workers using shop vac on inside edge of SCCS pen—possibly to remove pink scum from the SCCS
  • January 29 2025: next scheduled site visit

Media Inquiries

For inquiries or to join our media list, please contact:

Meghan Rooney
Science and Communications Coordinator

meghan@watershedwatch.ca
604-762-5608

Pollution spurs call for investigation into experimental salmon farm

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 29, 2025

Tofino, B.C.—Clayoquot Action and Watershed Watch Salmon Society are calling for answers from the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and Cermaq about what appears to be large quantities of an oil, fat and salmon-coloured sludge emanating from Cermaq’s experimental semi-closed containment system (SCCS) fish farm at Millar Channel, in Clayoquot Sound UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. The pollution was documented over the past two months by Clayoquot Action. The images are similar to die-offs witnessed at other open net-pen salmon farms.

Federal documents accessed by Watershed Watch reveal some farmed salmon died in a transport vessel in November that was moving fish from the SCCS to the nearby open net-pen fish farm. However, this does not explain the images of polluting substances arising from inside the SCCS and around the area of the fish farms at the Millar Channel site for months.

Questions arising from this incident include:

  • Did fish die in the SCCS fish farm, and if so, what level of mortality occurred?
  • What are the substances arising in and near the SCCS fish farm, and why have they persisted for so long?
  • Did the SCCS experimental fish farm have a technological failure?

“We have been observing the classic signs of a mass die-off at Cermaq’s experimental semi-closed fish farm for two months now,” said Dan Lewis, executive director, Clayoquot Action. “Clayoquot Sound is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve—and wild salmon here are on the brink of extinction. The public has a right to know what is happening—DFO must investigate”.

“Given the federal government is scheduled to release its B.C. fish farm transition plan soon, and is entertaining alternatives to open net-pen salmon farming,” said Stan Proboszcz, senior science and policy analyst, Watershed Watch Salmon Society, “knowing exactly what happened with this experimental technology is paramount.”

A federal multi-agency task force is finalizing a transition plan to ban open-net pen salmon farms in British Columbia by July 1, 2029. It is crucial to assess the effectiveness of experimental semi-closed containment systems operating in public waters, such as the one at Millar Channel. Transparency around their performance will help prevent future failures and ensure a successful shift away from marine-based fish farms.

Video and stills of pollution at Millar Channel site

Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) document (see page 4 for fish mortality details)

Media Contacts:

Dan Lewis – Executive Director, Clayoquot Action dan@clayoquotaction.org

Stan Proboszcz – Senior Science and Policy Analyst proboszcz@watershedwatch.ca

Background Information:

Difference between Semi-closed Containment System (SCCS) & standard Open-Net Pen

Open-net pen salmon farms typically raise Atlantic salmon in ocean-based pens made of suspended nets. This system allows the unrestricted flow of pathogens, parasites, waste, and uneaten feed into the surrounding marine environment. The SCCS uses a patented material to form a barrier around the system and purports to eliminate lateral interaction between wild and farmed salmon. Water is pumped into the system from a depth over 20 metres.

More on the SCCS

A previous trial of the SCCS ended in failure

Federal aquaculture transition:

The federal government has enacted a ban on open-net pen salmon aquaculture in British Columbia, to take effect 1 July 2029. The Transition Task Force is currently considering what to replace it with. Cermaq’s semi-closed system is one option being considered, but this is experimental technology which has never grown market-sized fish, anywhere in the world. Land-based recirculating systems are currently being built and operated around the world.

More information on B.C.’s aquaculture transition

Timeline of observations at Millar Channel site:

  • November 25 2024: blobs of oil bubbling up inside and outside of the SCCS, creating a large oil slick, pans of congealed fat, strong stench of rotting fish
  • December 4 2024: strong stench and an extensive sheen of oil that surrounds the SCCS, clumps of floating fat, few fish left in SCCS, much less floating fat inside.
  • December 18 2024: staff re-stocking SCCS with new juvenile Atlantic salmon, gulls feeding on pink/orange slick (perhaps mashed salmon flesh)
  • January 8 2025: small salmon jumping in SCCS, large pink slick all around SCCS, blobs of fish fat and chunks of fish flesh, strong stench
  • January 22 2025: pink slick and strong stench, workers using shop vac on inside edge of SCCS pen—possibly to remove pink scum from the SCCS
  • January 29 2025: next scheduled site visit

Media Inquiries

For inquiries or to join our media list, please contact:

Meghan Rooney
Science and Communications Coordinator

meghan@watershedwatch.ca
604-762-5608