Natives asking for fish farm to be relocated
An application by Mainstream Canada to renew a salmon farm licence in the Clayoquot Sound on the west coast of Vancouver Island is meeting opposition from the local native band. While the band supports salmon farms, they are concerned that the farm may have something to do with very low returns of wild salmon to a nearby river this summer, reports The Westcoaster.
There has been much negative press in British Columbia over the issue of sea lice on farmed salmon and its effect on outmigrating wild salmon smolt. Most of the criticism has been raised about the situation in the Broughton Archipelago which is located between Vancouver Island and the B.C. mainland. While scientists from the federal fisheries department has failed to show significant effect of sea lice on wild salmon despite years of monitoring in the area, local biologists and researchers from the University of Alberta have claimed that some stocks of wild salmon are in jeopardy of being wiped out due to sea lice from salmon farms.
The two salmon farming companies operating in the Clayoquot Sound have been monitoring for sea lice together with the two local First Nations in a program run by the area's First Nation Tribal Council and overseen by a local registered professional biologist. They have been collecting sea lice samples since 2003, but the data still need to be analyzed. Intermediate findings show sea lice levels in Tofino Inlet being so low that this area has "pretty much been dropped from the program", the biologist stated at a recent meeting of the Central Region Board, which is hearing the application for the licence renewal, among other governmental authorities.
One board member suggested that "we should be very, very careful about fish farms, particularly those raising Atlantic salmon, a species that is not native to B.C.". Other board members criticized the federal fisheries department for not doing enough to protect wild salmon. It was also pointed out during the meeting that salmon are exposed to significant commercial fishing pressure in the Gulf of Alaska, and as they move down the west coast of Vancouver Island they also come under pressure from B.C. commercial and sport fishermen. Some 11 salmon farms have already been relocated in B.C. due to environmental or other concerns.
