The commission had been mandated to discover why wild Fraser River Sockeye salmon stocks were declining and what their long-term future might be. The DFO’s Discovery Island closures and subsequent measures to stamp out BC’s open-net salmon farming industry are seemingly based on an application of a landmark study that leaves much to be desired - and willful ignorance on subsequent studies providing evidence contrary to DFO’s desired outcome: the end of open-net salmon farming.īack in 2012, the Cohen Commission (“The uncertain future of Fraser River Sockeye”) released its conclusions and recommendations to the federal government. Fortunately, it’s one that has largely been answered. Are interactions between these two groups introducing risks to the wild salmon population? It’s an important question. The core issue, however, is the supposed link between interactions involving farmed salmon from open-net pens and wild salmon. “Advancing innovation and growth in sustainable aquaculture” sounds good, and it’s something that Resource Works has championed. This might sound reasonable to those who haven’t been following this saga since the federal government’s arbitrary closures of 19 salmon farms in BC’s Discovery Islands. The framework’s stated vision is to: “Advance innovation and growth in sustainable aquaculture in British Columbia that progressively minimizes or eliminates interactions between salmon open-net pens and wild salmon while also taking into account social, cultural and economic objectives.” Yet the discussion paper suggests the DFO has already decided the end goal for salmon aquaculture. Salmon farming is largely regulated by permits from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), a federal entity, meaning that decisions impacting coastal BC will be made in distant Ottawa - making local and provincial input especially important. The federal government recently released its discussion paper on a transition from open-net salmon farming in BC, which it has been pushing for the last several years. The Federal government’s nonsensical policy about salmon farming in BC only hurts local communities and First Nations, while failing to do anything to address the real causes of population decline in wild stocks
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