Friends of Clayoquot Sound: News 020103

Immediate Release - January 3, 2002

Eight Thousand Atlantic Salmon on the Lam in Clayoquot Sound

TOFINO - Eight thousand Atlantic salmon escaped from a Clayoquot Sound fish farm late on January 2, 2002. A winter storm dragged the net cages over rocks tearing the nets open. Pacific National Aquaculture, the Norwegian company that owns the Saranac fish farm, has had a streak of calamities in the last year. In August hundreds of fish from another of their farms in Clayoquot Sound escaped and in September a toxic algae bloom magnified in the net cages killing over 100,000 of the penned salmon. Several fish boats have been sent out to try to catch the Atlantic salmon.

Department of Fisheries and Oceans employees reported finding 90 Atlantic salmon in three of Clayoquot's major salmon spawning rivers this past fall. The salmon farming industry has rationalized for decades that Atlantic salmon will not survive in the wild and do not pose any threat to wild salmon. In fact, in the past three years Atlantic salmon have been found spawning in Vancouver Island rivers. The introduced Atlantics pose a serious threat to the ecosystem, as they do not die after they spawn, as do Pacific salmon. The Pacific spawn and die cycle provides stream nutrients which feed bugs which feed the baby salmon which grow, in turn, to feed the bears and the ocean predators such as Orca's and sea lions.

"This confirms, yet again, that the presence of Atlantic salmon in net cages in the Pacific ocean is a stupid idea which should be eliminated" says Valerie Langer, FOCS spokesperson. "How many million Atlantic salmon need to escape, how much damage needs to be done before someone in government wakes up to the facts staring them in the face. Farmed salmon is not healthy for the ocean environment or for people. Don't eat it until it's safe," says Langer.

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Friends of Clayoquot Sound
PO Box 489, 331 Neill St., Tofino BC V0R 2Z0
Tel: 250-725-4218 Fax: 250-725-2527
Email: info@focs.ca