Argument over the farms shutdown con�nues

The Federal government, fish farmers and First Nations are at loggerheads over salmon

“What is clear is that a substantial number of jobs will be lost in Surrey”

The reprieve granted to Mowi and another producer, Saltstream, by a Canadian Federal court over the Discovery Islands, may not be as much of a victory as it first looked. Mowi had brought an injunction against Bernadette Jordan, Canada’s Fisheries and ceans Minister, over her ban on restocking the company’s two sites in the Discovery Islands region of British Columbia with smolts.

In December, Jordan surprised the industry with an order that all open net fish farms in the Discovery Islands – the region is also known as the Campbell river – must close by the end June 2022. This is being contested by the industry and is e pected to come to court later this summer, but in the meantime Mowi had also contested the ban on restocking, arguing that it had been given no notice and would have to destroy 1.2 million juvenile fish that would have nowhere to go.

As reported last month, Federal Justice Peter George Pamel found in favour of the farmers. He ruled: “The harm to Mowi and Saltstream, as well as their employees, their families and other businesses in the community, in particular First Nations businesses, will be real and substantial if the injunction is not granted, and if Mowi and Saltstream are not permitted to proceed with the transfer of fish they require to undertake as part of their operations.”

Dean Dobrinsky, HR and Communications Director, Mowi Canada West said following the federal court ruling: “This is a great relief to our employees and communities as it should allow us- in the short term- to continue growing these fish and operating these two sites.”

The same federal court has also granted a similar injunction to Saltstream, a smaller business and which mainly breeds Chinook rather than Atlantic salmon.

SeaWest News, however, reports that Bernadette Jordan has required that Mowi will have to reapply for permission to transfer stock to its Philips Arm site and further, that the Department of Fisheries and ceans DF has also increased its service standard for such applications from the current 20 days to 40 days, meaning that any denial or approval for the transfer of salmon smolts to be grown to harvest size at Phillips Arm might only come in June.

Since Mowi reportedly needed to transfer up