Canadian First Nation seeking to expand its salmon farming operations
Grieg Seafood has farmed in Tlowitsis Nation territory in Clio Channel since 2014. Now, in cooperation with the Nation, the Norwegian fish farm giant is seeking to expand its salmon farming operations in the area, some 200km north of Vancouver.
This is the latest indicator of a deepening partnership between the Norwegian company and the Tlowitsis: In May, the First Nation signed a five-year net cleaning contract with Grieg’s three existing salmon farms in the area.
Chief John Smith of the Tlowitsis Nation said in a statement on Grieg’s website: “We have built a solid relationship with Grieg Seafood over more than ten years of many meetings, visiting their farms and travelling to Ottawa, Vancouver and Victoria to speak to regulators about our views of aquaculture.
“Our guardians are on the water monitoring the farm activities as well as our members employed by Grieg. We have taken a lot of time to learn about the industry and our partner before we decided to become involved more directly and for us, adding more farms in our territory is the clear way forward.
“Our net-wash service company will also benefit from additional work for our members at a new farm.”
Some 20 British Columbia First Nations now have partnership agreements for farming salmon in their territories, accounting for 80 per cent of all salmon farmed in the Canadian province.