War over two new salmon farms in British Columbia
A planning process for marine use activities was carried out by the Provincial Government of British Columbia a few years ago, covering most of the area between Vancouver Island and the mainland north of Campbell River. The purpose- among else- was to identify areas that could be suitable/acceptable for salmon farming. Everybody participated or had an opportunity to participate. At the end of this process, a couple of small areas were identified as o.k. for fish farms. When an application by Grieg Seafood for a farm site at Bennett Point- smack in the middle of one of these areas- was proposed following the sign-off on the plan, environmental groups raised all kinds of hell to try to stop the approval process. The farm was eventually approved.
The same company- Grieg Seafood- is now applying for two salmon farm licenses in one of the other acceptable locations for farming, and again a massive campaign is launched to try to influence government decisions. One would think that the charitable status of some of these environmental groups would be in some state of jeopardy when witnessing their tactics. The Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform (CAAR) issued a press release recently, calling for the removal of five fish farms in an area north of Georgia Strait- the area between southern Vancouver Island and the mainland- "in order to protect thousands of juvenile salmon from sea lice and other potentially fatal diseases".The press release appeared in a Campbell River newspaper today, while another article from a second Campbell River paper, showing a picture of a 33 pound Chinook salmon caught just outside the town last week started "Salmon fishing has been great in the Strait of Georgia this year".
"It is imperative that the five open-net cage farms be removed from this narrow migration channel as an emergency measure to protect these critical salmon runs from the unnecessary risk posed by the open net-cage farms", Ruby Berry of the Georgia Strait Alliance was quoted in the press release. Meanwhile, a report from the BC government-appointed BC Salmon Forum stated that based on their findings from laboratory and extensive field surveys, they had not found any juvenile pink salmon in the Broughton Archipelago over the past two years that were infected with sea lice to the point of being lethal.
Still, the CAAR release insists that "Industry has dragged its feet on transitioning to closed containment far too long, and while the government delays, wild salmon populations are being impacted by sea lice," David Suzuki Foundation's Corey Peet says. As an example of CAAR's ultimate motives, the release also states that "CAAR also demands that the four inactive tenures at the south end of this channel be relinquished". The ultimate reason for the press release becomes evident by the final statement; "Meanwhile a decision is pending on two fish farm sites at Yorke Island which is a small neck of ocean through which most fish stocks must pass on their northerly migration". Yorke Island is in the middle of one of the few areas previously approved as a suitable location for salmon farms.
