By Alexandra Morton
Today, B.C. Supreme Court ruled in our favor once again.
Justice Christopher Hinkson granted the federal government a suspension order until December 18, 2010 so that Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) can further prepare to assume control of regulating salmon farms. (Editor's note: Straight.com will post a link to the decision when it becomes available on the B.C. Supreme Court Web site.)
However, Justice Hinkson forbade any expansion of aquaculture during that period. Specifically, the province cannot issue any new fish farm licences and cannot expand the size of any tenure. He recognized the First Nation interest in this matter by granting the Musgamagw-Tsawataineuk Tribal Council intervenor status, which is essential as this case is based in their territory.
On the matter pursued by Marine Harvest at the Court of Appeal and sent back to Justice Hinkson to reconsider (that is whether the fish in the farms are privately owned by the companies and whether the Farm Practices Protection Act (FPPA) is still in force, Hinkson confirmed that the FPPA will no longer apply to finfish aquaculture and thus no longer protects farms from nuisance claims.
On the question, does Marine Harvest own the fish in their pens?, Justice Hinkson found that this is not the case for this to be decided. Marine Harvest will have to bring this before the courts itself. For now, we know that the aquaculture fish are now part of the fisheries of Canada.
Today’s decision is met by the unrelated announcement by U.S. box store chain Target that it has eliminated all farmed salmon from its fresh, frozen, and smoked seafood offerings in its stores across the United States, because of farm salmon's environmental impact on native salmon.
There is an enormous amount of work ahead to translate any of this into better survival of our wild salmon, but the courts seem consistently interested in bringing reason, the constitution, and the law to bear on the Norwegian fish farm industry in British Columbia.
While I am truly sorry that jobs will be lost in ocean fish farming, bear in mind the industry is in deep trouble with mother nature herself in the fish farming strongholds of Chile and Norway. Trying to hold this nomadic fish in pens is never going to work because it causes epidemics, unnatural sea lice infestations, and drug resistance. Salmon farming is not sustainable and ultimately we are better served by our wild fish.
Related article: Fish farming court order confounds federal government
Most Popular
- 1. J.C. Penney and Ellen DeGeneres stand up to One Million Moms
Comments (4) - 2. B.C. government changes rules to allow liquor licensed venues to screen movies Comments (29)
- 3. The Georgia Straight's 2012 sex survey: The lust and thrust report Comments (1)
- 4. Vancouver musicians get to the heart of sex, love, and rock ’n’ roll Comments (2)
- 5. Your horoscope for February 9 to 15, 2012
- 6. What’s the most unusual location where you’ve masturbated? Comments (5)
- 7. Rio Theatre owner says liquor licensing change is not a real fix Comments (9)
- 8. Sex plays key role in health
- 9. What’s the most unusual place where you’ve hooked up in the Lower Mainland?
- 10. Valentine's dinners for real-life relationships
Comments
Fish farms are one example of why provincial governments should not have unilateral say over environmental assessments--sometimes those governments--like Gordon Campbell's cannot be trusted to look after the public interest.
I certainly wouldn't trust this government to look after the environment without the courts or other level of government keeping matters in check.
Why is it no one cares that we eat farmed everything else? Because there are no wild chicken stocks? No wild cow populations?
They neither care about their employees who handle these chemicals or the enviroment. We as owners of the ocean leases have to standup,time to sue all levels here involved,it been going since the nineties the dumping of chemicals,but from the begining this industry filled with government corruption
Sustainable farming is necessary to supplement the growing demand for salmon and prevent over fishing of wild stock. There has to be a balance and farmers in BC are at the forefront of sustainable practices. All salmon farms in BC are required to run a sea lice monitoring program, which they manage under strict protocol and sea lice levels are continuously low.
The inquiry by the DFO is a very important issue as the salmon farming industry represents over 6000 jobs and is worth almost half a billion dollars to BC's economy. I look forward to the inquiry findings and I hope both the Salmon Fishing and Salmon Farming industries both comply to increase the sustainability of the wild Salmon Stock.
As for the un-related Target decision. Please it’s time to put your swords away because the wool is being pulled over our eyes.
Target is jumping on the green bandwagon for some cheap PR. But has anyone questioned Target’s consideration of a long-term strategy towards sustainable salmon supplies? Billion dollar conglomerates cannot be allowed to make unfounded policy decisions over an endangered species. It’s ridiculous to think that wild salmon stocks will be over fished without sustainable farming.
Unfortunately, the environmentalists leading the publicity of this campaign forgot to think about both Biology & Economics. They are naí¯ve to think that Target is doing this for the environment. We are naí¯ve to blindly follow any environmentalists that have not thought about the economics behind this decision. STOP! Go back it’s a trap!
Please stop the internal bickering between Wild vs Farmed Salmon and consider why Target would become so environmentally friendly all of a sudden. There are many more actions that they could be pursuing that would have a much more dramatic impact.
Thanks and let hope the DFO can return Salmon stocks to a sustainable level for the long term.
Only an emotionally super-charged pseudo-scientist would claim causal relationships so prematurely.I think that by now we all now how Alex Morton feels about fish farms.Maybe its time to look at the issues more objectively.
Take all the emotion out of these issues and forget about the idea of the pristine environment that once was.If one takes a look at the source for anti-salmon farming sentiment in this province; it all comes back to one main source. Alex Morton and her ever-increasing bandwagon of pseudo-scientists that are willing to forego the rigors of performing good science . Science that is biased from the getgo by setting out to prove the alarmist/sensationalist dribble she has been spouting for decades. Maybe just for one minute we should take an objective look at what our provincial and federal governments are doing and saying about the issue of sea-lice. Can we really keep on believing that MAFF and DFO pander to corporate greed in a conspiracy so large as to include hundreds,possibly thousands of bona fide scientists and bureaucrats.Wake up and smell the fish.....Bob Milne