Six-figure anti-farm petition presented

According to the Living Oceans Society, the petition has also received the endorsement of more than one hundred conservation organizations, industry associations, independent business owners and the Tofino‐Long Beach Chamber of Commerce.

MLA Andrew Weaver (Oak Bay-Gordon Head) will present the petition in the BC legislature today.

Despite decades of controversy and recommendations to the contrary from the $37-million Cohen Inquiry, the federal government wants to move ahead with industry expansion plans. However, the BC government has the power to curb that growth by withholding approvals for new farm sites and amendments to existing farm tenures that would see them grow in size, Living Oceans asserts.

The issue has gained renewed attention because of a recent federal court decision that raises concerns about disease impacts on wild fish from this industry and recent reports of outbreaks of sea lice on juvenile wild salmon now migrating past salmon farms on their way out to sea.

“Control of sea lice was the one issue I thought this industry could fix, but apparently not,” said Alexandra Morton, who has been documenting sea lice outbreaks for 14 years. “Furthermore, the recent federal court ruling on use of diseased salmon in salmon farms has raised significant questions that need to be answered before this industry can even think of growing."

“Millions of wild juvenile salmon are now migrating through an area that contains the highest density of fish farms on our coast, from Campbell River to Port Hardy,” said Karen Wristen, Executive Director of Living Oceans Society. “We are calling on Premier Clark to protect BC’s iconic wild salmon from federal recklessness and stop the planned expansion of this industry.”