The Liberal government intends to move ahead with its 2019 campaign commitment to put an end to open-net salmon fish farms in coastal B.C. waters but the industry has been given five years to adapt to the plan, three sources say.
Conservationists and most Indigenous groups had mounted a public-relations campaign to push the government to honour the Liberal campaign promise in the face of intense pressure from the fish-farm industry. During the 2019 federal election, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledged to phase out ocean-based pen farms in B.C. by 2025, because of the risks to the health of wild Pacific salmon.
Chief Bob Chamberlain, chair of the First Nation Wild Salmon Alliance, said he regards the move to honour the Prime Minister’s commitment as a huge win, although he is concerned about the long phase-out period. However, the B.C. Salmon Farmers Association has warned that the province could lose more than 4,700 jobs and up to $1.2-billion in economic activity annually if the open-net industry cannot continue.
In March, the fisheries committee released a report, accusing the department of favouring the “interest of the salmon-farming industry over the health of wild fish stocks.” Mr. Kennedy called the findings “unbalanced and prejudicial.”