Bc Fish Farms

[TimSmith]

Good morning to all.

 

I know that most discussions on this board centre around trout but I

thought some might be interested in the fight Alexandra Morton et al has been waging around

the devastation inflicted on salmon fry from 'in ocean' located fish farms. If you wish to lend

some support please visit her site at www.adopt-a-fry.org. I have posted her latest request

for support for your consideration. This is a lack of enforcement at the federal level so provincial

status should not matter. We certainly seem to have lost are way on this one.

For those wishing to contact the Minister of DFO Gail Shea via 'E' min@dfo-mpo.gc.ca

Her bio is here http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/minister-ministre/bio-eng.htm

 

Please consider participating.

 

Alexandra Morton's request follows:

 

Hello

 

The Courier Islander paper in Campbell River is asking for us to vote again, this time to on whether or not we think the two Grieg fish farm applications in Johnstone Strait should be approved or not. They are two of the largest fish farm applications made on this coast and will be placed opposite one another in a narrow channel where it meets Johnstone Strait. In years when there is warm water off shore 1/3 of all BC wild salmon will pass these farms on route to their southcoast rivers. In spring millions of juvenile salmon will have to run through or along these farms to reach open water.

 

The two most vulnerable moments in a salmon’s life are saltwater entry and seawater entry and these farms and the many farms east of them expose a significant percent of BC’s wild salmon to whatever pathogens are in the farms from sea lice to viruses.

 

No other feedlots are allowed to come into such close contact with wild species and no other farmers in Canada are allowed to never deal with their wastes and simply release them into one of Canada’s most valuable fishery.

 

Despite the science and resistance form local communities, the same three Norwegian companies just keep applying for more and bigger fish farms in BC.

 

The voting box is on the upper right hand side of the page at http://www2.canada.com/courierislander/index.html

 

The public has never been given this opportunity to voice its opinion such before format.

 

If you have not done so please sign my letter (www.adopt-a-fry.org) asking that the Fisheries Act be applied to fish farms as it is to all other marine activities. If there are enough people raising their voices reason will be brought to bear on this situation. The solution is simple apply the laws of Canada, support the Canadian fish farmers who want to reinvent their industry on land and restore the wild salmon using their own remarkable biology.

 

Alexandra Morton