Help Stop the Expansion of Open Net Pen Farms

Fish farm companies in B.C. are seeking approval from the provincial government to roughly double current licensed production on several farms in critical wild salmon migration routes such as the Broughton Archipelago and the northern Georgia Strait. Some farms could triple, quadruple, or increase six-fold their current licensed production levels. Click here to see maps.

This is happening at the same time that we are on the verge of real progress towards closed containment solutions. Recently the British Columbia Finance Committee recommended that the B.C. government make a financial commitment to a closed-tank salmon farm industry. We support this fantastic recommendation; however, it will take time to achieve and we cannot support expanding open-net cages in the interim.

Please ask Premier Campbell to stop this expansion and support long-term solutions. The British Columbia coast needs immediate protection from the negative impacts of current salmon-farming methods.

The B.C. government is considering amendments to existing salmon-farming licences that would significantly increase production by the salmon-farming industry in the Broughton Archipelago and northern Strait of Georgia, both key salmon habitats.

Recently, scientists predicted that pink salmon could go extinct in the Broughton Archipelago, a rich salmon nursery off the central coast of B.C., because of the activities of open net-pen salmon farming. This finding is not surprising as many other studies have demonstrated that salmon farms pose a risk to migrating juvenile salmon.

Instead of allowing unsustainable practices to expand, the government should take the lead and provide immediate protection to wild fish and support a transition to closed systems that separate farmed fish from the wild environment.

B.C. could be a leader in the creation of a sustainable salmon-farming industry.

Send a letter to Premier Gordon Campbell and tell him that you want his government to reject the amendments for increased open net-cage salmon farming. TAKE ACTION HERE!

Thanks in advance for being a champion for our oceans.
With your help we can stop the expansion of harmful salmon-farming practices and support the development of a sustainable industry.

For More Information:
Backgrounder, November 19, 2008
News Release, November 19, 2008