This should open their eyes!

[phearless]

Looks some folks have had enough.
The lice epidemic has spread to include Fraser sockeye.
If something is not done soon, it is not if, but when will the salmon be gone.

The Pacific Salmon Forum, appointed by the Provincial Government will have a release today regarding the fate of wild salmon including the impact of fish farms.


The Daily News, 5th February 2009



First Nation sues province over impact of Broughton fish farms



By Robert Barron, Daily News



The province has been slapped with a class-action lawsuit over the impacts of fish farms in the Broughton Archipelago.

The archipelago is within the Guilford Island First Nation's traditional territory and it has deep concerns about the impacts to the environment, particularly on the wild salmon stocks in the area, from the 29 open net fish farms that are authorized by the province to operate there.

Chief Bob Chamberlin said the decision to take the government to court was not entered into lightly, but has become a "last resort."

Ron Cantelon, B.C.'s new minister of agriculture, said he "appreciates and understands" Chamberlin's frustration, but he would rather try to deal with the issue through continuing negotiations rather than litigation.

"We have been patient and respectful, attending countless meetings while damage continues to be inflicted on the wild salmon by open-net salmon farms," Chamberlin said in Vancouver Wednesday as he officially launched the lawsuit.

"We have waited for provincial support for closed containment technology and we have advanced farm fallowing plans and schedules to no avail."

Critics of open-net fish farming in the Broughton Archipelago claim the sea lice that they say proliferate in the salmon farms are transferred to wild salmon as they pass by the pens, and has caused dramatic declines in their populations.

Chamberlin said the First Nation has tried to work with Victoria "at a government-to -government level" to deal with the their concerns with the fish farms, "but we are out of time."

"Wild salmon stocks throughout the entire Broughton Archipelago are in a sustained and serious decline," he said.

© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service



http://www.canada.com/First+Nation+s...249/story.html

The Vancouver Sun, 5th February 2009



First nations sue over salmon

Class action cites damage caused by aquaculture to wild fish stocks



Larry Pynn



Aboriginal people in the broughton archipelago off northeastern vancouver island launched a class-action lawsuit wednesday against the b.C. Government for damages caused by salmon farming to wild stocks.



"We are focusing on the health of the wild salmon," Chief Bob Chamberlain of the Kwicksutaineuk Ah-Kwa-Mish First Nation said in an interview. "We have an obligation to look after our resources."



Chamberlain said the B.C. Supreme Court class-action suit involves a total of eight first nations in the area concerned about the detrimental impact of open-net salmon farming on wild stocks.



He said the class action is a last resort based on years of frustration over the province not addressing aboriginal concerns about salmon farms, 29 of which are authorized in the area.



"The province's approach can be characterized by three words -- delay, deny, distract," he said.



The salmon-farming industry has been the subject of long-standing concerns related to issues such as transmission of sea lice and disease to wild stocks, as well as pollution, and the escape of non-native Atlantic salmon into the wild.



The class action is seeking:



- A declaration that the way the province has authorized and regulated salmon farms has contributed to a significant decline in the wild salmon stocks and infringed on natives' constitutional fishing rights.



- An injunction prohibiting the issuing of salmon aquaculture permits in the Broughton Archipelago pending adequate consultation and accommodation with natives.



- A declaration that the province must remediate the impact of salmon farms on wild salmon.



B.C. Wilderness Tourism Association president Brian Gunn applauded the class-action suit, saying senior governments "refuse to accept that salmon farms, as they currently operate, are causing irreparable damage to our wild salmon stocks."



Gunn said association members have observed grizzly bears seeking to bulk up for hibernation unable to find enough salmon to eat. "The B.C. tourism industry relies on healthy wild salmon populations to sustain their businesses, whether they are fishing lodges or wildlife viewing operations."



The class-action lawsuit precedes the release today of a report by the Pacific Salmon Forum, a body appointed by the provincial government, on the fate of wild salmon stocks, including the impact of aquaculture and sea lice.



Release of the forum's report had been delayed out of respect for the Jan. 20 death of Stan Hagen, the minister of agriculture and lands, who had responsibility for aquaculture.



Hagen's replacement, Ron Cantelon, MLA for Nanaimo-Parksville, said he found the timing of the class action curious -- one day before the forum report -- and said he would prefer negotiation over lawsuits.



Mary Ellen Walling, executive director of the B.C. Salmon Farmers Association, could not be reached for comment.



http://www.canada.com/First+Nation+s...249/story.html



Dog-gone Democracy, 4th February 2009



No more PCBs or Sea Lice? Salmon farming spawns aboriginal class-action suit against B.C. government



Here's a backgrounder on the issue, which prompted this action....



http://whemedia.blogspot.com/2009/02...th-salmon.html





BCSFA, 4th February 2009



HOT TOPIC: Common Ground Needed to Protect Wild Salmon



The Kwicksutaineuk/Ah-Kwa-Mish First Nation announced yesterday that it is initiating a class action lawsuit against the Government of BC to seek "remedies" to declining wild salmon populations in their traditional territories. The launch of the lawsuit coincides with the anticipated release of the Pacific Salmon Forum’s report on wild salmon.

It is clear that all British Columbians – especially those of us who live and work on the coast - are concerned about wild salmon. Over the years, many of our members have formed strong working partnerships with First Nations and we regret that the Kwicksutaineuk/Ah-Kwa-Mish First Nation feels it necessary to take this step.

We respect the right of the First Nation to launch a class action; however, we feel lawsuits are not the way to protect wild salmon. There is common ground here -- we all want to see wild salmon protected but it is simply not effective to look only to the aquaculture industry for solutions to the problem. To save the salmon we need to address all causes of adverse impacts.

The Pacific Salmon Forum's report, to be released February 5, 2009, and the provincial Auditor General’s Report, issued in October 2004, both documented the numerous risks to wild salmon: among the leading contributors are climate change, agriculture, forestry, urbanization and water impoundments. We know aquaculture can play a role and our industry has worked – and will continue to work hard – to minimize its impact.

Salmon farming in BC operates in the most stringently regulated jurisdiction of any salmon producing region in the world; we work in partnership with many First Nations, with coastal communities and other stakeholders; we support research; we employ more than 6000 people; and we have made -- and we can document -- a strong commitment to sustainable farming. And we firmly believe that sustainable farming is the way to meet increasing global demand for BC salmon without putting pressure on our wild stocks.

http://www.salmonfarmers.org/rss.php?#anc1

[geoffvl]

I sure hope they win. Go natives.

[knotnot]

I sure hope this action turns the tables on the government.
The politicians should have to raise salmon in their bathtubs.

[btree]

Funny you mention raising bathtubs. There is a prof at SFU who has found a way to farm sockeye in fresh water on land (not in lakes). There have been a few stories on the news (Global/BCTV & CBC last year and the year before).

According to his studies, Sockeye are the hardest to farm because they are so sensitive to so many factors, he found a way to raise them with great success and very little environmental impact.

the following is taken from this website http://www.sfu.ca/aq/archives/Nov200...ish_story.html

Larry Albright is proposing a daring alternative – freshwater-farmed salmon. The professor emeritus is the first salmon farmer in North America to raise Pacific sockeye salmon through several sequential life cycles in enclosed freshwater facilities.

At a Langley salmon and trout freshwater fish farm that he co-owns, Albright plucks a four-pound sparkling sockeye from a tank fed from an Artesian well and cradles it in his arms. The fish is one of 3,000 domesticated descendants of several wild sockeye that Albright started culturing in fresh water 16 years ago.

The jury is still out on whether any scientist can design the definitive life raft to rescue diseased and diminishing fish stocks.

The showpiece in Albright’s arms, and its siblings, went on to spawn in the summer. Last year Albright became the proud adoptive father of 50,000 juvenile freshwater sockeye hatched from the eggs of another group of freshwater-reared sockeye.

At SFU, Albright ’s lab was the first to describe the complete life cycle of the sea louse, but today the marine microbiologist admits to having the heart of a businessman beating beneath his lab coat. His success at growing disease-free sockeye that need no antibiotics (something that remains a challenge for ocean-based fish farms) may just help Albright turn a profit in his retirement.

But Albright’s success goes far beyond any financial gain. As he told the provincial special committee on sustainable aquaculture, there are other benefits to freshwater farming besides rearing problem-free salmon. “It makes a smaller ecological footprint – occupying less than an acre of land compared with the larger areas of coastline consumed by seawater farms,” said Albright, who is currently chair of the B.C. Freshwater Aquaculture Association.


So, back to me again- Looks like there is hope on the horizon, and perhaps there should be a moritorium on salmon farming until the issues of disease can be solved. Obviously people need to eat, and people like to eat salmon- that market demand will not go away.
Ideally, one day people will consume mostly farmed salmon (ones not pumped full of drugs and crap) and leave the wild ones for the bears and sportfishers.

any way, just thought it would be an interesting tidbit.

bt