The Minister’s decision to not reissue licences for Discovery Islands fish farms must stand if the Pacific salmon are to survive. VANCOUVER/UNCEDED xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (MUSQUEAM), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (SQUAMISH) AND səlilwətaɬ (TSLEIL-WAUTUTH) TERRITORIES: Ecojustice lawyers — representing the David Suzuki Foundation, Georgia Strait Alliance, Living Oceans Society, Watershed Watch Salmon Society and independent biologist Alexandra Morton — are back in court to support…
Read more »Press Category: Salmon Aquaculture
GSA responds to removal of Discovery Islands fish farms
DFO Minister announces licences for 15 open-net pen fish farms not renewed
Today, the federal Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard Joyce Murray, announced she will not renew licences for 15 open-net pen fish farms in the Discovery Islands, upholding the previous direction that former minister Bernadette Jordan established but was set aside – a ruling based on procedural fairness – by a federal judge. In response, Georgia Strait…
Read more »GSA responds to DFO Minister renewing BC fish farm licences for two years
Today, the federal Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard Joyce Murray, announced a two-year renewal of licences for marine finfish aquaculture facilities in B.C., outside of the Discovery Islands, which were due to expire on June 30, 2022. In response, Georgia Strait Alliance’s Biodiversity Campaigner Lucero González Ruiz, said: “Wild salmon are in a state of emergency…
Read more »Judge sets aside federal decision to phase out salmon farms in B.C.’s Discovery Islands
A federal judge has set aside a December 2020 decision by the federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans to phase out open-net fish farming in B.C.’s Discovery Islands by June 2022. Ruling on primarily procedural grounds, the judge outlined the proper approach the Minister should follow to make such a decision to remove open-net salmon farms from this area, based…
Read more »DFO’s engagement report on transitioning from open-net pen fish farms: Georgia Strait Alliance responds
Today, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) released a summary of its engagement findings regarding the federal government’s commitment to transition open-net pen fish farms in waters off the coast of B.C. to closed-containment facilities on land by 2025. In response, the Executive Director of Georgia Strait Alliance Christianne Wilhelmson, says: “We appreciate that DFO has shared their engagement…
Read more »GSA responds to federal court dismissal of aquaculture operator injunction
Image by David Stanley, Flickr. Today, a federal court dismissed an injunction request from aquaculture operator Cermaq, which sought to reverse the decision by Fisheries and Oceans Minister Bernadette Jordan to negate two transfer applications that would restock farmed fish at Cermaq facilities in the Discovery Islands. In response to today’s decision, the Executive Director of…
Read more »Georgia Strait Alliance responds to judge ruling in favour of allowing restocking of three fish farms in the Discovery Islands
Image by Bureau of Land Management. Yesterday, the Federal Court ruled in favour of the two fish farm operators seeking an injunction to allow the continued stocking of farmed Atlantic salmon into open net-pens in three fish farms in the Discovery Islands. Georgia Strait Alliance was an intervenor in the judicial review in late March, as…
Read more »Environmental organizations, scientist, in court to fight for fish farm phase out in Discovery Islands
Image by NPS Climate Change Response. On behalf of environmental organizations and an independent scientist, Ecojustice will be in court today to argue that aquaculture companies should not be allowed to transfer farmed fish into Discovery Islands fish farms, all of which are set to shutter by June 2022. The David Suzuki Foundation, Georgia Strait Alliance,…
Read more »Georgia Strait Alliance responds to the phasing out of all 19 fish farms in the Discovery Islands
Today, the federal government committed to phase out all 19 fish farms in the Discovery Islands, which is a critical migration route for wild salmon, by June 30, 2022. During the 18-month transition period, industry is to complete the harvesting of existing fish, while no new fish of any size can be introduced into open net-pens in this region. In…
Read more »Community-business-Indigenous leaders launch ‘Declaration in Defence of Wild Salmon’
Asks BC-ers to support removal of open net-pen fish farms
Today in Vancouver, a diverse group of B.C. community, Indigenous, and business leaders announced the launch of the “Declaration in Defence of Wild Salmon”. The declaration seeks to draw together the growing number of voices calling on the B.C. government to take action on salmon farming by refusing to renew fish farm leases when they expire in June, 2018. The…
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