Salmon Farming

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.