British Columbia fish farms must go.

[SteveK]

FWT. You have obviously missed the point on this topic.

Fish farms do produce a needed supplement to the food supply of the world. But, the current problem is that it is scientifically proven that they were built mostly along migratory routes of the wild stock. That is the problem to resolve. The Pacific wild stock is being infected and diminished by the non native Atlantic salmon used in farms. There is video evidence of the fry feeding under the pens on their way to the open sea. The food fed to farmed salmon is inadvertently fed to the departing wild stock as it passes through the pen.

They must be removed & relocated to an off the beaten path of the migrating wild stock. The administration knows this and has agreed to target 2025 for removal but is seen to be waffling under pressure from the fish farm lobby.

[Hippocampus]

Thanks steve. Makes sense. Still taste like crap unless eaten as lox.

[SteveK]

Originally Posted by Hippocampus

Thanks steve. Makes sense. Still taste like crap unless eaten as lox.

Ever try to BBQ a pink salmon, taste just like that. Yes have had farmed and prefer the wild, but then, have not had wild Atlantic so cannot compare properly.

[Ken E.]

Originally Posted by Hippocampus

Thanks steve. Makes sense. Still taste like crap unless eaten as lox.

I'm no fan of farmed fish and never buy it. Except.....Costco sells a farm-raised lox-type smoked salmon product from Norway that is really good, if you like nearly-raw fish with high oil content, which I do.

[Alaskan Sea-Duction]

Originally Posted by SteveK

Ever try to BBQ a pink salmon, taste just like that. .

Meaning it taste like crap?

Pinks are ok (just ok) when put on the BBQ fresh, within a few hours after being caught. Otherwise they taste like crap.

[FWT]

"FWT. You have obviously missed the point on this topic."

Yeah, I kinda did, as I was mostly focused on later comments.

But to respond to the point. I used to know a reasonable amount about the topic but am 20 years stale. But what I used to know is that efforts to grow most kinds of fish in an aquarium setting distant from natural water sources (like rivers and bays) pretty much failed. Fish like the kind of water real fish live in. Tap water doesn't cut it for them. Apparently a few can tolerate most anything. Relocation to distant inappropriate waters may not be a workable solution for salmon. Maybe. Just a thought.

[SteveK]

FWT quit while you are ...........
look at charts all around Vancouver island, there are dozens, & then some of non migratory routes farms can occupy.

[Portage_Bay]

Originally Posted by SteveK

Ever try to BBQ a pink salmon, taste just like that. Yes have had farmed and prefer the wild, but then, have not had wild Atlantic so cannot compare properly.

I have found fresh wild caught atlantic salmon to be delicious. I had it when working in Scotland a few years ago. It was interesting to learn the Scots were as troubled by escaped farmed pacific salmon damaging the wild runs as we on the west coast of North America are concerned about farmed atlantic salmon escapement. I was told the escaped fish were from Russian fish farms, if I remember correctly it was pink salmon.

[Northern Spy]

But the petition says:

"I want all salmon farms removed from B.C. coastal waters as soon as possible and no later than 2025. "

That's a far cry from removing pens from migratory routes; which is something I could get behind.

[SteveK]

Originally Posted by Northern Spy

But the petition says:

"I want all salmon farms removed from B.C. coastal waters as soon as possible and no later than 2025. "

That's a far cry from removing pens from migratory routes; which is something I could get behind.

True, but one side is backing out on the agreement to move from current locations so it escalates. Open up negotiations to solve the issue that started this. you live closer than I do so you must have heard about this over the years.
But you don't care one way or the other.

[Northern Spy]

Originally Posted by SteveK

True, but one side is backing out on the agreement to move from current locations so it escalates. Open up negotiations to solve the issue that started this. you live closer than I do so you must have heard about this over the years.
But you don't care one way or the other.

There was no agreement. In 2019 Trudeau issued a mandate letter to the (former) Fishing Minister to order them closed and not renew their licenses. Since then, companies sued the federal government. Separate federal court justices on separate occasions have found that the closures were unfair and with inadequate reason to justify them.

The DFO's own Cohen Commission found that the common conclusion of the nine separate reports submitted to the commission was "that aquaculture in the Discovery Islands poses no more than a minimal risk of harm to the Fraser River Sockeye salmon".

On the other side, NGOs say that the Cohen Commission reports are flawed, and their reports are correct.

It's a typical "he said/she said" situation, that has become way too politicized. Correction. It started as a political issue, and it remains a political issue. I guess it's not so easy to "follow the science" when it goes against one's agenda, and your own court system rules against one's mandates.. Now they rely on the plea to emotion and influencing opinion. I have many issues with Alexandra Morton's methodology of demonizing the fish farm industry.

The $1.5 billion dollar industry employs 6,000 people, many in remote locations. It employs a lot of First Nations people.

I never said I didn't care. I said I have no strong feeling for or against them. Fish farms, like grain and oilseed farming, animal husbandry, logging, mining, and oil production, are a real and (mostly) necessary ugly part of the Canadian economy.

Like others, I dislike clear cuts, I dislike open pit mines, I dislike the generator noise and location of many fish farms. (Somehow agriculture in the prairie provinces gets a pass. Spoiler alert, the prairies have been extensively modified by farming.) Lets include hydropower dams too. But I recognize that these industries are large drivers and providers of Western Canada's economy.

I don't buy into the Pollyanna myth that Canada is not a resource country and remain skeptical of pronouncements from urban dwellers about the evils that exist outside of the city and how they can make them better.

Anecdotally, salmon fishing has never been better since I've lived here for 20 years, and many locals say it is the best it has been in 40 years.

I'm OK with letting the court system, albeit slow, find the right compromise. I think they can do it without meaningless petitions from a largely uninformed or influence biased populace.

That said, I respect your difference of opinion and your right to it.

[Hippocampus]

NS educational post. Thanks. Perhaps I was wrong to transfer the local experience to your area.

[SteveK]

NS, suppose I told you I had intel that DFO personnel were put under a gag order if they revealed what they knew, threatened with loss of jobs. Ever since I got that info from a reliable source I have been against fish farms in there present locations and perhaps ignore the source I am following now with their other agendas. Like in most situations he said/she said is all we hear in peasant land.
1.5 billion, no wonder the lobby carries weight.

[Northern Spy]

Originally Posted by SteveK

NS, suppose I told you I had intel that DFO personnel were put under a gag order if they revealed what they knew, threatened with loss of jobs. Ever since I got that info from a reliable source I have been against fish farms in there present locations and perhaps ignore the source I am following now with their other agendas. Like in most situations he said/she said is all we hear in peasant land.
1.5 billion, no wonder the lobby carries weight.

I would surmise that the order is not to discuss their papers and finding when it is likely one piece of a (yet unsolved) puzzle. Generally, they are allowed to publish, just not comment. One paper, or one person's findings shouldn't attempt to direct government policy by leveraging their opinion in the public domain. No different than any other employer. Plus, the DFO are in the middle of a court battle. May not be the best time to comment, as it may be used against them.

If they had any real damning information they would be welcome with open arms by the opposition and could certainly swing a deal. Sounds like hearsay or at least hyperbole from a disgruntled employee. Either that, or government jobs and pensions are worth more than their own personal ethics.

I find it interesting that DFO scientists claimed to be gagged under Harper, and now they are being gagged under Trudeau? But only the gagged under Harper makes the CBC news? Same ones or different ones?

Plus it still doesn't correlate with the DFOs own mandate from the Prime Minister to "Continue to work with the province of British Columbia and Indigenous communities on a responsible plan to transition from open net-pen salmon farming in coastal British Columbia waters by 2025 and work to introduce Canada’s first-ever Aquaculture Act."

This would imply that the DFO and the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard is working against the Prime Minister?

[Cargile]

Originally Posted by SteveK

Any Canadian who is in agreement with the following letter please go here
and add your name before October 27th, 2022
British Columbia’s wild salmon drive recreational fishing industries and wilderness tourism. They’re integral to aboriginal culture. Ocean-based factory fish farms threaten wild salmon and everyone that depends on them. Open-net salmon farms amplify parasites, viruses and bacteria and spread them to wild salmon, according to numerous peer-reviewed scientific studies published in independent journals. I want all salmon farms removed from B.C. coastal aters as soon as possible and no later than 2025.
The current federal government committed to transitioning open-net salmon farms by 2025. I expect them to do so without delay or half-measures. In recent DFO communications, semi-closed containment salmon farms have been mentioned as a possible solution or avenue for the transition despite any publicly available evidence that shows this technology is viable. Progressively minimizing or eliminating interactions between farm and wild salmon has also been touted by the federal government as a solution. We don’t have time for a protracted transition period. The open-net salmon farming industry had decades to clean-up their act. It’s time for them to transition completely out of coastal B.C. waters.
Another half-measure being touted by DFO as a solution is known as area based aquaculture management. This vague term suggests some unknown level of communication or coordination among open net salmon farms in a region will protect wild salmon. The time for stalling is over. All open net salmon farms must be removed by no later than 2025.
In addition, the open-net salmon farm transition should not just focus on shifting fish farm workers to another form of aquaculture. The transition should include shifting workers to other fields of employment that are currently in great need in British Columbia.
Wild salmon do not have time to spare. I call on you to do everything you can to remove factory fish farms from B.C. coastal waters by 2025 and keep your government’s promise to Canadians.
Thank you.

"Political comments, government policy, weaponry, religious and social issue discussions are off-limits in this forum."?

[rwidman]

Fish farms?

I tried fish farming once but it didn't work out. I think I planted them too deep!

Seriously though, if people keep on having kids and the population increases, we can't keep on relying on mother nature to provide all of our food. Farming fish, much like farming cattle and pigs will help to provide a source of fish for humans.

[SteveK]

Pinch me, am I awake. Were they illegally dumping in a DNZ

Last week, Washington State Commissioner of Public Lands, Hilary Franz, made a historic announcement, banning open net-pen salmon farms from Washington’s waters forever. This announcement came after Swinomish tribal leaders told the Washington Department of Natural Resources that fish farms were impacting wild fish and one of their sacred sites.

B.C. is now the last jurisdiction on the west coast of North America to harbor factory fish farms.

“As we’ve seen too clearly here in Washington, there is no way to safely farm finfish in open sea net pens without jeopardizing our struggling native salmon. Today, I’m announcing an end to the practice. We, as a state, are going to do better by our salmon, by our fishermen, and by our tribes,” said Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz. “Commercial finfish farming is detrimental to salmon, orcas and marine habitat. I’m proud to stand with the rest of the west coast today by saying our waters are far too important to risk for fish farming profits.”

[Greg S]

Originally Posted by SteveK

Pinch me, am I awake. Were they illegally dumping in a DNZ

Pure politics driven by public opinion.

Other studies show it isn’t harmful.
He said said this. She said that. In the end a politician decides on which way the voters will swing in the next election.

[kthoennes]

Originally Posted by Cargile

"Political comments, government policy, weaponry, religious and social issue discussions are off-limits in this forum."?

Apparently not.