Media Releases

VANCOUVER/UNCEDED xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (MUSQUEAM), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (SQVANCOUVER/UNCEDED xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (MUSQUEAM), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (SQUAMISH), AND səlilwətaɬ (TSLEIL-WAUTUTH) TERRITORIES:  Conservation groups are calling on federal ministers to recommend that Cabinet issue an emergency order immediately to protect Southern Resident Killer Whales. According to a November 29 assessment by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) and Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), these whales face imminent threats to their survival and recovery despite existing protective measures.

VANCOUVER: traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations - In a decision released yesterday, Fisheries Minister Diane Lebouthillier expressed the government’s intention to “ban” the open-net pen salmon farm industry by 2029. Living Oceans is pleased to see the Minister making an appropriately precautionary decision to protect wild salmon, but expresses concern for its implementation.

Vancouver, On the traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) First Nations: Corporate salmon farming giant MOWI is so concerned about the federal government’s decisions “removing 192 million salmon meals from the dining tables of Canadian households” that it has decided to begin exporting its product from eastern Canada to Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, with plans to expand into China.

Tofino BC, 26 April 2023—As fish farms are being closed around British Columbia, Cermaq Canada has requested a fourth permit to expand their operations near Tofino. Cermaq now has only 14 fish farms left in British Columbia—all in the Clayoquot Sound UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Twenty-two conservation and Indigenous groups have co-signed a letter to Fisheries Minister Joyce Murray, calling on her to stop the expansion of salmon farms near Tofino, and to remove all fish farms from BC waters by 2025.

Vancouver, traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations:  Fisheries Minister Murray announced today that salmon farms in the critical migration routes of Fraser River salmon, through the Discovery Islands (DI) area near Campbell River, will remain free of Atlantic salmon. Living Oceans welcomes the news that Minister Murray has decided to protect wild Pacific salmon from the harmful effects of salmon farms in the Discovery Islands.

Vancouver/Clayoquot Sound, traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, səlil̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ /hiškwiiʔatḥ, ʔaahuusʔatḥ, and ƛaʔuukwiiʔatḥ First Nations:

VANCOUVER/UNCEDED xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (MUSQUEAM), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (SQUAMISH) AND səlilwətaɬ (TSLEIL-WAUTUTH) TERRITORIES –A federal judge has set aside a December 2020 decision by the federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard to phase out open-net fish farming in B.C.’s Discovery Islands by June 2022.

VANCOUVER/UNCEDED xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (MUSQUEAM), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (SQUAMISH) AND səlilwətaɬ (TSLEIL-WAUTUTH) TERRITORIES – Ecojustice lawyers are back in court this week and next to support former Fisheries and Oceans Minister Bernadette Jordan’s decision to phase out salmon farms in B.C.’s Discovery Islands by June 2022.   Ecojustice is representing the David Suzuki Foundation, Georgia Strait Alliance, Living Oceans Society, Watershed Watch, and independent biologist Alexandra Morton. 

September 17, 2021 VANCOUVER: A new alliance of citizen activists known as Global Salmon Farm Resistance issued an open letter to Canada’s political leaders today, calling for immediate action to protect wild salmon and herring from open netpen salmon farms. The alliance has representation from all of the countries where salmon farming threatens wild stocks of fish and other marine life and displaces traditional coastal economies.