Fish farms’ closure to help wild salmon recover

VICTORIA All 17 fish farms in British Columbia’s Broughton Archipelago will either be closed or moved in an effort to create a migration path for wild salmon.

The agreement between the federal and provincial governments, First Nations and two fish farm companies, Marine Harvest Canada and Cermaq Canada, was announced Friday with a goal to protect and restore wild salmon.

Opponents to open-net pen fish farms in the Broughton Archipelago have conducted protests and occupations on some of the farms.

Experts and First Nations in the area have long complained the farms spread disease, viruses and sea lice, harming the wild juvenile salmon that migrate through the same waters. The B.C. Salmon Farmers Association has said there is no evidence that farmed salmon negatively impacts wild salmon.

Friday ’s agreement was prompted by provincial government guidelines announced in June that meant fish farm operators had to get First Nations’ approval to operate in their territory. The guidelines also said operators needed to satisfy Fisheries and Oceans Canada that their operations didn’t have an adverse impact on the wild stock in the area.

The First Nations included in the agreement are the Namgis, the Kwikwasut’inuxw Haxwa’mis and Mamalilikulla.

Bob Chamberlin, chief councillor of the Kwikwasut’inuxw Haxwa’mis First Nation, said Indigenous Peoples have long demanded justice for the wild salmon in their territories.

“What we’re witnessing today is critical to Canada’s development. We’re seeing a jointly defined government, First Nations process come to shared recommendations.”

The plan is for four farms to close next year, two in 2020 and four more in the two years after that. The agreement says the remaining seven tenures will end unless they have First Nation approval and Department of Fisheries licences.

The agreement includes the implementation of new technologies to address risks on the farms, such as sea lice, and steps to restore wild salmon habitat in the Broughton Archipelago.