Caption: DFO’s approval of Cermaq’s salmon farm expansion contradicts the Canadian Government’s stated direction. Recent mandate letters to the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans commit DFO to “transition from open net-pen salmon farming in coastal British Columbia waters by 2025.” What kind of confused message does it send when DFO approves the expansion of new infrastructure mandated for removal. #DEFENDWILDSALMON #FISHFARMSGETOUT
Image: FOCS Library @friendsofclayoquotsound
The Government Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) quietly approved the expansion of 3 Cermaq salmon farms within Clayoquot Sound. The total expansion size – at Millar Channel, Bawden Bay, and Dixon Bay – add the equivalent of an additional salmon farm. With 20 salmon farms temporarily licensed by DFO, it is common knowledge locally that the survival of wild salmon in Clayoquot Sound is threatened by the diseases, viruses, bacteria, and parasites spreading from salmon farms along wild salmon migration routes.
The Clayoquot Salmon Roundtable has spent years conducting a Marine Risk Assessment, assessing the risk factor for why wild salmon are returning at 1% of numbers from a hundred years ago. So while this critical Marine Risk Assessment is finalizing results, DFO approves 3 salmon farm expansions for this high risk salmon farming industry. And to make matters worse, the Clayoquot Salmon Roundtable was not informed or consulted about 3 salmon farm expansions from DFO or Cermaq.
