Bc Salmon Farming

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Passing along some info from Bob Jones

 

Public opposition to open net-pen salmon farms on the West Coast is currently higher than ever before, and the recently formed Wild Salmon Alliance (WSA) is girding up to force this branch of the aquaculture industry into closed containment pens once and for all.

 

Formed last January as a not-for-profit organization, the WSA is dedicated to fighting all levels of mismanagement of Canada’s saltwater fisheries on the west coast of British Columbia. The litany of abuse includes management based on political decisions made in Ottawa that are aimed at benefitting the bureaucracy rather than decisions based on good science to benefit fish and their habitat; severe cutbacks to field-level enforcement staff, fisheries technicians and biologists; the closure of local Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) offices; curtailment of the Salmonid Enhancement Program; closing salmon hatcheries; and permitting open net-pen salmon farms to flourish along the outward migration routes of juvenile pink, chum and sockeye salmon, which has resulted in severe depletion of entire year classes and is leading to their potential extinction.

 

While the WSA intends to address all of these problems, their first priority is to force the saltwater aquaculture industry to eliminate open net-pens in favour of closed containment. Founding member and president Terry Anderson said while they recognize that fish farms can be viable and a much-needed source of income to many communities, they cannot exist at the expense of continued habitat degradation and rampant abuse of wild salmon stocks.

 

Anderson said the WSA will wage a "war of words" against open net-pen fish farms based on the findings of scientists who have impeccable qualifications, and base their results on unbiased facts, honest evaluation, and common sense. He said the WSA intends to inform and educate Canadians -- and visitors to our country -- about the devastation that open net-pen salmon farms are having on various juvenile Pacific salmon stocks, and even upon juvenile herring on which the salmon feed. The general public can then inform the government that they expect the aquaculture industry to be operated in a manner that creates the least amount of impact as possible to fish and their habitat.

 

As Pacific salmon are a national resource that belong to all Canadians, I am taking it upon myself as a founding member of Fly Fishing Canada, to inform as many of you as possible about the WSA and ask that you consider joining as a show of support. It’s all voluntary so there is no money involved, and your vote of confidence will be greatly appreciated.

 

You may contact Terry Anderson at silversaw@telus.net, and please mention your home town and FFC affiliation.

 

For a close look at fish farming and the sea lice problems, please visit www.callingfromthecoast.com. Several videos detail studies being conducted by Alexandra Morton and Raincoast Research. There is neither hyperbole nor embellishment concerning their efforts, simply straight talk about what they are doing, along with plenty of visual support. Another excellent source of information is available on Rafe Mair’s Web site -- www.rafeonline.com -- and his blogs are well worth reading to see which bungling bureaucracies and/or inept politicians BC’s favourite fire-breathing dragon is currently attacking.

 

Finally, I am attaching a cluster of recent correspondence. Some of you on my local BC mailing list will have received these previously, but might find them worth re-reading in order to get you in the right frame of mind to join the Wild Salmon Alliance.

 

If you would like to view the attachments, let me know (PM me an email address) and I'll send them your way.