It’s never a dull moment, when it comes to our salmon farming campaign. In December, an agreement between First Nations and the province of B.C. was announced right before the holidays. The ‘Namgis, Kwikwasutinuxw Haxwa’mis and Mamalilikulla First Nations, along with the province, announced a plan to remove salmon farms from the Broughton Archipelago.
Watershed Watch has a long history of providing technical and science support to First Nations on the harmful risks and impacts of salmon farms to wild fish. We’ve been asked to provide technical and science support to help develop and support an Indigenous Monitoring and Inspection Plan (IMIP) to oversee the phase out in the Broughton Archipelago. The IMIP will provide a new window into the industry. For the first time ever, First Nations will have access to testing farmed salmon for viruses and monitoring parasitic salmon lice on the farms. And we’re thrilled to help them develop their plans!
The removal of salmon farms in the Broughton is already having impacts on the ground. Marine Harvest Canada’s (the company recently re-branded to “Mowi Canada”) Glacier Falls salmon farm has not been restocked! This is huge! This spring, juvenile pink and chum salmon will finally be free of parasitic lice from this farm, and plans are already being drawn to monitor their progress through this area. Stay tuned to our Facebook page for more on this exciting project and if you haven’t already, sign the www.SafePassage4salmon.ca petition today!
I think our Provincial and Federal governments should offer incentives to open net fish farm companies to change to closed closed containment.
who gets to monitor the removal of the farms and document the effects on the seabed?
According to the announcement in December, the First Nations in the Broughton will have access to monitoring the removal.
The Provincial and Federal governments have failed to follow the Fisheries Act. There should be no capitulation for the fish farm companies. They should be moved to land based pens or be shut down. Why does Canada always have to follow the U.S. lead on something as simple as this?
My father in the 1960s railed against fish farms and educated us. Thank you I am part of this movement