The long campaign to remove the open-net pen fish farms that threaten our wild Pacific salmon is generating some positive results! To find out about a recent win in federal court, and about an investigation into the integrity of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, click here.
While floating open-net pen fish farms continue to threaten our wild Pacific salmon, the long campaign by First Nations and other organizations like our Wild Salmon Action Team to remove them from our coast is generating some positive results!
On June 9, a federal court upheld a 2023 decision by former federal Fisheries Minister Joyce Murray to not renew the licences of 15 farms around the Discovery Islands, a vital migration route for juvenile salmon heading to the Pacific Ocean. The decision had been challenged by two First Nations and three fish farm companies. The judge found that her decision met the “requirement of the duty to consult” and “did not breach the operators’ rights of procedural fairness.” From more than 100, the number of farms on the BC coast is now reduced to less than 60!
WSAT and others have long protested that the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), which manages farm licences, ignores peer-reviewed science that the farms are an existential treat to wild Pacific salmon. In early May, we learned that the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner is investigating allegations that senior fisheries officials attempted to silence scientists involved in research related to the threat of open-net pen fish farms to salmon. The Commissioner is concerned that department officials may have seriously attempted “to silence scientists through reprimands [and] to dissuade them from communicating with the media and the public about their research.” She will also be looking into whether the officials attempted to obstruct or influence the testimony of department scientists before the House of Commons standing committee on fisheries and oceans.
A federal government decision about renewing the farm licences, and about a plan to transition away from open-net pen farms, is due by the end of June.