Salmon Talks wants to know who is capable of ordering the three farms, all Norwegian-owned, to harvest and empty their pens of Atlantic salmon. Along with that, we asked what role the mid-Fraser Conservation and Protection office could take in ensuring safe passage for outmigrating sockeye smolts past these fish farms.
Supervisor Tom Grantham came out of the office to speak to the crowd, receive their letter, and make some response. “We all have the same concerns when it comes to the salmon and our future,” he assured the group, while insisting that neither did he know about the problems with fish farms nor could he take a position on them, nor could he say exactly who would be in a position to order the emergency closures. “I think it’s a very complicated system,” he advised; “I’ll ask, and if I get a response I will let you know.”
We now wait while Mr. Grantham forwards our letter and question to the Director of Aquaculture in Vancouver, the head of Conservation and Protection, and local Habitat branches of the Department. It is not the first such request to his office for action: “This subject comes up in all our meetings with First Nations.”
The group, comprised of young and old, St’át’imc and non-native, fisheries technicians and lay-people, delivered the office a stack of educational material on the impacts of the coastal net-cage fish farms on wild Fraser salmon. Primary concerns include the fact that the penned Atlantics eat the outmigrating smolts, and transfer disease and sea lice to them. The collection of documents included letters from leading biologists to the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Canada; a petition with 3,222 names on it demanding the immediate closure of the key three farms; documentation of scientific studies showing the decline in wild salmon – globally – is positively associated with the increase in fish farming (Ford-Myers, 2008); a statement from the Intertribal Treaty Organization demanding the same removal of farms from salmon migration routes; reports from the latest presentations at SFU’s Speaking for the Salmon dialogue, March 30 and 31; and maps and pamphlets produced by activists to promote awareness of the problems caused by fish farms.
The letter delivered to Grantham included the following statements: “We have concluded that one of the simplest and most easily accomplishable forms of protection of the salmon is to remove open-net-cage fish farms from the juvenile salmon's outmigration route along the coast of BC. One third of BC salmon migrate through the Georgia Strait and Discovery Islands or Broughton Archipelago. There are 80 tenures for Atlantic fish farms, in open-net-cage operations, between the mouth of the Fraser and the northern tip of Vancouver Island - the Inside Passage - which outgoing Fraser smolts must migrate through.”
One of the three farms being targeted for removal is ready for harvest now, and two of them only months shy of optimal harvesting. It takes up to two weeks to process the fish from a farm, if employees work round the clock shifts. At normal pace, it can take six weeks.
“Having just returned from the Summit on Fraser Sockeye Salmon held at SFU's Harbour Centre last week, and having witnessed presentations given by Michael Price and Alexandra Morton, we are more convinced than ever that said fish farms are impacting the mid-Fraser sockeye runs,” the letter continued.
“We of Salmon Talks Lillooet have come to your office to find out who can order the emergency closure of the three fish farms most precisely in the way of the 2010 outmigrating sockeye. We want Sonora, Cyrus Rocks, and Venture Point farms harvested and emptied by the earliest possible time, with mid-May being the latest date of acceptability. These three farms hold adult Atlantic salmon, which are the greatest threat to smolts, and are all very close to harvest. These farms are placed in a seaward bottleneck that the smolts must pass, and so have been shown to be in the place of highest risk to wild Fraser salmon outmigrations. Who can order their immediate harvesting and fallowing?”
Salmon Talks gratefully acknowledges the presence of Chief Bradley Jack of Xwísten (Bridge River), St’át’imc at the meeting this morning. He is pictured in ball cap and sunglasses, sixth from the right in the photo above.
For more information:
salmontalks@gmail.com
or
Kerry Coast – 250 256 2435
Hi there Salmontalks Member, I am new to this whole blogging bit and am trying to catch up. Did they answer your direct question, "Who can order their immediate harvesting and fallowing?" Reason I ask is because I have never heard a direct answer from the powers that be and have become convinced that they will always give a brushoff first and then drop any effort at answering at a later date. I wonder, did your letter get forwarded to it's intended addresses and did they respond?
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