As the legal battle to control British Colombia’s waters continues, the salmon producing giant is hopeful for a constructive end to the ongoing saga…
The Province of British Columbia announced today that salmon farming tenures in the Broughton area will continue on a month-to-month basis in a blow to the industry. Furthermore, First Nations – some who are opposed to the practice of salmon farming – have now been given the power of veto with all aquaculture operations necessitating permissions by June 2022 all in their territories.
Marine Harvest holds 55 licensed ocean salmon farms in B.C. About one-fifth of Marine Harvest Canada’s workforce is of aboriginal descent according to it’s site.
In a press release today Marine Harvest Canada Managing Director Vincent Erenst said:
“We share people’s concern for wild salmon. The Prime Minister has asked his Chief Science Advisor to look closely at this issue, and DFO is currently conducting important risk assessments on wild and farmed salmon interactions – we believe this work will add much needed context to the discussion.”
“We were not asked for our opinion before this policy was developed, nor were we asked for our feedback on the impacts to our business. In the Broughton, given the position of First Nations this policy change may have a significant impact on coastal communities, we will do everything we can to make sure that’s not the case” added Erenst.
Marine Harvest added that it “directly employs 600 people in British Columbia in salmon farming and processing with an annual harvest of 45,000 tonnes of sustainable Atlantic salmon each year. The company has been farming in B.C. for over 30 years and our production is certified to a number of international third-party standards that show B.C. to be one of the world’s most sustainable salmon farming regions.”
