Opposing farms proves popular pastime
A few years ago, Canada’s most famous environmentalist - David Suzuki- stood up at an event near Toronto and voiced his opinion about farmed salmon: “It’s poison - I wouldn’t feed it to my kids”. Among saner minds and professional scientists, this statement severely damaged any credibility that Suzuki might have previously enjoyed.
Another member of his organization at the time - Ms Lynn Hunter - suggested that “Tormenting fish farmers is fun - it really, really is”. A series of doomsday projections by Suzuki’s BC-based foundation and others about the predicted negative effects of the salmon farming industry in BC due to such issues as sea lice outbreaks and disease transfer to wild fish have all failed to materialize, but the campaign continues.
Today, a petition apparently signed by people from all over the world was allegedly presented to the BC government in Victoria. A half a dozen applications for new production sites for farmed salmon have been lingering in government offices for a year or more awaiting decisions. And, while the BC government is the body that deals with land tenures, the main decision on licensing rests with the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
Larry Pynn of the Vancouver Sun wrote about today’s spectacle, where people have signed a petition opposed to any expansion of BC's salmon farming industry;
A petition signed by more than 100,000 people opposed to expansion of B.C.'s salmon farming industry has been presented to the legislature in Victoria. More than 100 conservation groups, industry organizations, and business owners also supported the petition. Concerns relate to the potential for disease transfer and lice outbreaks to impact wild salmon.
John Werring, policy advisor with the David Suzuki Foundation, said Thursday that the petition "weighed over 40 pounds and stood about two feet high" and included strong support from tourism and recreation sectors, including the Tofino-Long Beach Chamber of Commerce. "In my 25 years of working on environmental issues, I have never seen such a strong level of opposition to a single issue like this — the planned expansion of open net pen fish farming in B.C .waters," he said.
The B.C. Salmon Farmers Association says the industry contributes $1.1 billion (~€ 808 million) to the provincial economy but could grow to $1.4 billion (~€1.0 billion) by 2020 and $3.5 billion (~€2.6 billion) by 2035 with government support.
