First Nations make fresh push to scrap incoming salmon farm ban
First Nations that support salmon farming on their territories in British Columbia have started an email campaign to persuade Canadian prime minister Mark Carney and other MPs to scrap a planned ban on open net pen fish farms in the province.
The Coalition of First Nations for Finfish Stewardship (FNFFS) wants Liberal PM Carney, a former governor of the Bank of England, to reverse his party’s decision to ban net pens in BC from the end of June, 2029.
“Coastal First Nations have a plan to lower grocery bills, keep good jobs in Canada, and feed Canadians with Canadian grown salmon. Federal policy is blocking it,” the FNFFS states in a press release.
Squeezed at the store
“Families are squeezed at the grocery store. Coastal towns are losing pay cheques to outsourced food. Canada already has the people, the waters, and the science to grow affordable salmon at home, and First Nations ready to lead it.
“The Carney government says it wants affordability, building Canada, and taking care of Canadians. Reversing the 2029 net-pen ban delivers all three. One decision. Three wins. Made in Canada.”
Reconciliation
The FNFFS lists five benefits of reversing the net-pen ban, which was introduced by former Liberal PM Justin Trudeau’s government:
- Keeping farmed salmon in BC instead of flying it in from Norway, Chile, and Scotland would help keep protein affordable at a moment when families need it most.
- Reversing the closure plan would also ensure First Nations were being treated equally. “Ottawa talks about food security and economic reconciliation, then blocks Indigenous-led domestic food production while seeking to expand natural resource sectors along the same coast. One standard for everyone,” says the FNFFS.
- Scrapping the ban would also offer a path to Nations issuing their own licences and own-source revenue funding housing, mental health, and community services.
- Science would also benefit from an Indigenous Centre for Aquatic Health Science (ICAHS) under the FNFFS plan. The centre would bring together peer-reviewed research and ancestral knowledge to monitor wild and farmed salmon on the same coast.
- The fifth benefit is the continuation of year-round employment in remote communities with no replacement industries. “Reversing the ban protects the careers of young people and families and unlocks hundreds of millions in new Canadian investment,” argues the FNFFS.
No sense in closure
“My community now has 99% employment and 51% of our income comes from salmon farming. It makes no sense to shut it down. There is no industry that can fill that space," says Isaiah Robinson, deputy chief councillor of the Kitasoo Xai'xais Nation, based in remote Klemtu, 800 kilometres from Vancouver.
Visitors to the FNFFS website are being asked to send a pro forma email to their MP which asks the polticians to support reversing the Trudeau-era 2029 ban.
"Canadian families are paying more for groceries every month. This ban will make it worse. BC salmon farms produce 380 million meals a year for Canadians. If the ban goes ahead, that food doesn't disappear - it gets replaced by imports from Norway, Chile, and Scotland, at higher prices," states the email.
"This isn't just about fish. It's about whether Canada is serious about producing more of its own food.
"Reversing the ban is a practical step your government can take right now to keep Canadian food affordable and Canadian food supply secure."
