Open Net Cages
Agriculture & Food, Animal Welfare, Biodiversity, Health, Open Letters, Water Add commentsDear Premier Campbell, Minister Shea, Eric Foster MLA Vernon-Monashee,
Colin Mayes MP Okanagan-Shuswap
Similar to other forms of “factory” farming, wherever in the world salmon is farmed in open net-cages, disease outbreaks cannot be controlled. The Chilean industry has been devastated by Infectious Salmon Anemia (ISA) for two years and both Scotland and Norway continue to discover new cases. North America is not immune to viral diseases.
The constant threat of a disease running rampant through the industry’s open net-cages puts our wild fish at unacceptable levels of risk.
This week, governments around the world are being asked to take responsibility for making salmon farming safe for wild fish stocks and ocean ecosystems. Please let me know what specific actions your governments are taking to address the impacts of open net-cages.
Sincerely,
Russ Collins and Huguette Allen,
130 Shuswap River Dr
Lumby V0E 2G6
250-547-0272
One Response to “Open Net Cages”
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November 19th, 2009 at 4:51 pm
Colin Mayes replies:
Russ,
Thank-you for your comments and suggestion to post this response on Huguette`s blog.
As I stated in our telephone conversation, it was just a few months ago the court determined that the responsibility for licensing Fish Farming lies in the jurisdiction of the Federal Government. Up until this revelation, the province issued licenses for aqua-culture (Fish Farming) on the Pacific Coast.
Previously, the Federal Department of Oceans and Fisheries only monitored the waters and fish habitat in the ocean whereas the province licensed the use of the ocean floor (similar to land-use licensing). The court has reversed this understanding and now DFO is scrambling to address this new responsibility with new regulations and guidelines to protect fish and fish habitat in and around the fish farm operators.
You must realize there is much work to be completed before adequate and comprehensive regulations are forwarded.
The Honourable Gail Shea, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, has consulted with various west coast fishers, stakeholders, as well as the science community, to make certain all factual information is available for the new regulations.
Furthermore, the Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Stephen Harper, on November 6th announced the appointment of the Honourable Bruce Cohen, Justice of the Supreme Court of British Columbia, to conduct an inquiry into the decline of sockeye in the Fraser River.
Once again our government has acted in a competent manner. We want answers based on documented and accredited science.
Colin Mayes MP Okanagan Shuswap