Squamish Environment Society

Sea Lice from Fish Farms: Initiative to close some farms

The Georgia Strait Coalition (www.GeorgiaStrait.org) has an initiative “The Wild Salmon Narrows Declaration” which asks that some of the operating fish farms be closed, and that licenses for others not currently being used be revoked to protect a major wild salmon migration route:

Support for this initiative is being sought, please consider writing ane email/letter. Squamish Environment Society is supporting this campaign as our local river ecosystem is directly impacted by the lack of abundance of salmon, a keystone species. Our local Bald Eagle population relies on a healthy annual salmon run for food.

Attached is a suggested form email/letter, as well as a map showing the locations of the fish farms.
Please send to :

The Honourable Gordon Campbell, Premier of BC

CC: The Honourable Gail Shea, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Canada
CC: The Honourable Barry Penner, Minister of Environment
CC: The Honourable Steve Thomson, Minister of Agriculture and LandsPremier Campbell, and cc to Ministers Shea (DFO)

Alternatively, an email is available for you to modify at
http://www.georgiastrait.org/urgent-action-message-form.php?urgent=migra… it will automatically go the above Ministers.

There now is documented evidence, particularly by Alexandra Morton, that sea lice from fish farms attack small wild salmon as they swim from the rivers where they are hatched out to sea.

The routes for the wild salmon have endured for ages. The introduction of fish farms along these routes has resulted in the breeding of sea lice within the caged farms. The chain walls of the cages permit sea water in for the farm fish, but also permit the small sea lice to escape. Then the sea lice attack the passing wild salmon, killing some and wounding others- thus making them more vulnerable to other predators.

Many people now believe that this is a major reason for the poor returns of the Fraser Sockeye salmon this year, and a major contributor to declines in wild salmon numbers elsewhere.

Several protests about fish farms were held in 2009, in Vancouver, and online.

Most of the fish farms (85%) are owned by Norwegian companies. Their negative responses and inaction on this problem has been documented in “Farmed Salmon Exposed”, which is available on Youtube. The companies are shown to have decimated parts of the Chilean coasts.

Western Canadian and other coasts are under threat from these open-caged fish farms. The wild Pacific salmon need your support.