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Alex Morton Launches Petition

Putting your hopes with any agreement marked 'UN' is not wise. First off in this case only 59 nations have signed the agreement. Second it is an agreement; it is not law, the UN has no mandate to govern and make laws. Third even if Canada signed the agreement that is not binding on our government to pass the items as law. Fourth the UN has no ability to enforce the agreement without getting nations to provide units capable of the task.

Proof is in the implementation. Its been there since 1996 and the fish stocks are still collapsing.

Makes a good argument for why BC should not have jurisdiction over coastal waters though. How else could the feds sign an agreement when the Province doesn't agree.
 
This just in from Alexandra:

Hello

The Terms of the Judicial Inquiry called by Prime Minister Stephen Harper into the demise of the Fraser sockeye are both sweeping and specific enough to get to the bottom of what happened to the Fraser sockeye and recommend the changes to how Fisheries and Oceans Canada is run to benefit all wild fish in Canada. We have made HUGE progress!

I posted a link to the Terms on my blog http://alexandramorton.typepad.com/

This means we are no longer on the outside but we cannot abandon this process, we cannot rest assured it will do what we want if we don’t stay with it. Please make your concerns known to me and the Inquiry.

This Inquiry will take 2 years and in the meantime we still need to push as hard as we can to get the Fisheries Act applied to the fish farms right now. The recent revelations around the farm salmon escape at Port Elizabeth highlight the importance of this (see most recent blog post).

So I have embedded a flyer on my blog that you can download and post. We need to see the Fisheries Act applied ASAP. I will continue to lay charges under the Fisheries Act with your financial help, but this is a stop gap effort. The government should be doing this not us! We need 100,000 signatures on our letter at http://www.adopt-a-fry.org/

Next week is a Global Week of Action on salmon farms http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/even ... amp;ref=ts

Please view the film trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eggrGn0V0fg

The entire film will be posted in a week. If you would like to get a CD of this film to set up a viewing please contact the filmmaker Damien Gillis damien@slingshotcommunications.com. If you are in Vancouver there will be a showing at:

Date: Thursday, November
Time: 7-9 PM
Location: SFU Segal Centre - Room 1500-500 Granville St. (Downtown Vancouver - Granville & Pender)
Cost: $10 for Public / $5 for Students & Seniors

For more information on the global issues with salmon farms: http://www.farmedsalmonexposed.org/

Thank you all for staying with this..... We are in the homestretch!

Alexandra Morton
 
As much as I may be extremely anti-conservative I am applauding MP John Cummins efforts to call this inquiry and putting some teeth to it. As I posted on another forum with regards to this issue...

"This is an absolute disgrace of public policy. Someone pulling the strings with DFO needs to be charged with breach of public trust and any DFO collusion with the fish farm industry should be investigated by an independent auditor."

Now it seems the DFO's lack of intellectual ethics with regards to their sea lice research about come under a microscope and, if wrongdoing is found, I will expect to see some heads roll... and rightly so.

Thank goodness for people like Alexandra Morton...!
 
Monster said:
Thank goodness for people like Alexandra Morton...!
Click to expand...
I echo your words.

A short while back, I met Chief Bob Chamberlain (a First Nations chief in the Broughton's) -- we spoke about the salmon, Alexandra, and what she's doing -- he referred to her as a "warrior". I tend to agree with him.

She's certainly got my support and admiration.

*****
 
“Even the EVIL need a Place to Live”

“Even the Evil need a Place to Live”
Wild Salmon, Salmon Farming, and Zoning of the Icelandic coastline

ABSTRACT: In this article, we provide an historical overview of Icelandic atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) farming, wild stock management, and the often dichotomous philosophical bases for these activities. We then discuss how Iceland has sought to balance the benefits of salmon farming with the benefits of and risks to wild stock management, valuable recreational fisheries, and protection of native wild fish fauna. Under regulations enacted in 2001 and expanded in 2004, the coastline is zoned with respect to salmon cage-rearing; cage-rearing is not permitted in the bays and fjords into which the most valuable salmon rivers drain. the zoning is provided as a compromise between opposing views. as experience is gained from salmon farming in designated areas, this information will be used to plan future development of the cage-rearing industry in Iceland.

page 477-486 of AFS Fisheries Oct 2009
 
More progress -- this just in from Alexandra:

Hello All

We are one step closer to applying the laws of Canada to salmon farming! It was a pivotal day in court. Although it is only one more step towards enforcing the laws of Canada on fish farmers, it was essential if we are to bring reason to this situation.

In September I laid charges against Marine Harvest for illegal possession of juvenile wild salmon. This came after months of correspondence with Fisheries and Oceans, asking them to uphold the Fisheries Act and lay a charge themselves.

Today was our third court appearance. The first two were simply to set dates, and then extend those dates so that the Department of Justice could review the details of the case. Today's appearance was a "process hearing" with a judge to lay out the charge and our evidence. The judge could either have refused to issue a summons, or approve the charge.

Today in Port Hardy, the judge approved the charge and a summons will be issued to Marine Harvest to appear in court and the trial could proceed.

There are several directions this could take from this point:

1. The Department of Justice could take the case over and run the case. My lawyer, Jeff Jones and I are hoping this will occur as this is truly David against Goliath, a tiny North Island law firm working Pro Bono to date, against a multi billion dollar international corporation. A round of applause for Jeffery and Marianne Jones they have done so much already!

2. If the Department of Justice takes the case, they could proceed to trial where all evidence can be heard, and a Judge will rule on the merit of the case. Or, the Department of Justice can stay the charges and the case is closed without a trial.

3. Jeff Jones and I might have to run the trial ourselves. While this seems a good idea, the reality is a tidal wave of paperwork that could overwhelm his firm, even though this appears to be an extremely straightforward charge which many fishermen have faced. However, well funded corporate defendants can stretch a trial out for days if not weeks, making it extremely costly for a private citizen to enforce the Fisheries Act.

In any case we are setting precedence. Canada cannot manage its fisheries in a sustainable way unless the laws about how many fish are caught are enforced. Over-fishing is a global problem, it is not sound management to allow salmon farmers unlimited access to BC wild fish.

Thanks to all of you for all your support. If you know anyone who would like to join us in signing the letter to the Minister of Fisheries to PLEASE ENFORCE THE FISHERIES ACT, the letter is still on our website www.adopt-a-fry.org Until the Federal government is willing to uphold the laws of Canada we will continue to do what we can to fill the void.

My deepest thanks to all of you, we face tough stretch ahead, but once again the courts have agreed with our position.

A remarkable film will be released next week on the Global impact of salmon farming, here is the trailer:

<object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/eggrGn0V0fg&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/eggrGn0V0fg&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eggrGn0V0fg

No individual can right the wrongs we have wreaked on our planet. Thank you all for being with me on this.

Alexandra

*****
 
Received today:

November 30, 2009

Minister Gail Shea
Ottawa, Canada

Dear Minister Shea:

Twenty thousand, two hundred forty-three (20,243) people have now signed the letter on my website www.adopt-a-fry.org <url> insisting that you apply the Fisheries Act to “farming” salmon.

But the Norwegian salmon farming industry is now so far out of alignment with common sense and the spirit of Canadian law that the road to compliance is not simple. As you prepare to assume control of this industry as per the BC Supreme Court decision we, the public, are doing your job in your absence laying charges against this industry and removing the firewalls to protect our fish.

Twenty years ago the business of raising salmon was wrongly categorized as “farming” and assigned to the Province to manage. The Province is not responsible for wild fish and the feds were not responsible for fish farms, so no one has been responsible for impact of salmon “farms” on wild fish.

This Provincial regulatory scheme was recognized as unlawful and struck down by Judge Hinkson, February 2009. He gave government 1 year to sort this out and it remains uncertain if ownership of salmon (farmed or not) is even legal in the ocean.

At first it was assumed the Provincial government would somehow continue to run the industry, but shortly after the August 2009 sockeye crash, the Province backed away leaving Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) scrambling to design a regulatory regime. As a result a delay is being negotiated during which the Province expects to continue expanding the industry!

Expansion is crucial to Norwegian fish farmers because they have lost money for 3 years now and their share prices can only rise if they put more fish in the water. However, we just lost 10 million sockeye that passed through heavily fish farmed waters and Judge Cohen has “aquaculture” 3rd on his list to investigate with his Judicial Inquiry. It would be immoral to expand the industry during this moment of regulatory restructuring and investigation.

When you peel back the layers of the Fisheries Act the conflicting rules make no sense, except as firewalls. On the one hand the Pacific (Fishery) Regulations (1993) exempts Provincially licenced aquaculture from all fishing regulations appearing to give them unrestricted access to all the wild fish drawn into their pens by the lights and food. These fish are Atlantic salmon fodder and highly valuable sablefish, salmon and herring.

Then as if someone recognized the preposterous enormity of this the Access to Wild Aquatic Resources 2004 was produced to licence fish farmers for by-catch, if the amount was deemed insignificant to wild stocks.

This was a good idea, but no one seems to have these licences. And how could they? The wild pink salmon Marine Harvest admitted to having in their boat last June 16 were from an age-class and stock so endangered millions of public dollars were spent to protect them. However, this is lost in DFO’s regulatory labyrinth. If Marine Harvest has no licence to possess by-catch, does that mean that the 1993 regulations come into effect to exempt them from all fishing rules including possession of an endangered wild fish stock? I hope we get to find out. Judge Saunderson issued a summons to Marine Harvest to appear in court for possessing these pink salmon. The Department of Justice could halt this case, but it would seem in the public interest for a court to hear this.

In October 2009 Marine Harvest also admitted to catching herring in the Broughton Archipelago and composting them with no reporting or licence. Was this legal or illegal? Does anyone know? If they had no licence for tons of herring by-catch are they exempt?

Herring fishing has been closed in Broughton for twenty years because the stocks are not rebuilding. Now we find out Norwegian “farmers” are killing them despite the closure with no apparent ramifications, no quota nor reporting. These fish farmers are out-fishing BC fishermen! Over-fishing is a global scourge. Minister Shea this is not right.

Nothing is straightforward. When 40,000 Atlantics escaped from Marine Harvest’s farm October 21, 2009, we were told they were worth a million dollars and everything had been done to recover them. But now we hear farm fish are worthless once they escape and only 1,200 were recovered because Marine Harvest was “confused” about the licence DFO granted them specifically for this situation. Does profit - starved Marine Harvest really want the expense of disposing of 40,000 fish? They did not do everything they could have to recapture their fish and section 55 of the Fishery (General Regulations) states no person shall release live fish into fish habitat. They must be charged and heavily fined to inspire compliance. This is the tool your Ministry uses on other fishermen.

It is disturbing that someone lobbied Parliament to disguise the industry as Provincial farms even though this must have raised legal red flags and then someone specifically exempted “provincial aquaculture” from the fishing regulations. This is Salmongate.

We are hosting guests who are pulling the tablecloth into their laps dragging the silverware, the food, the water everything out of our reach. Thankfully, Judges Hinkson, Slade, Cohen and Saunderson have nailed the tablecloth to the table.

However it is not up to the courts to manage fish. Fisheries and Oceans Canada is touring the National Aquaculture Strategic Action Plan Initiative to get feedback, calling aquaculture a legitimate user of Canadian marine waters.
http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/aquaculture/lib-bib/nasapi-insapa/nasapi-inpasa-eng.htm#intro

It is indeed time the fish farmers became “legitimate.” It is time to remove their regulatory firewalls, open the farms to public scrutiny and silence decades of political interference that have given foreign corporations greater access to Canadian fish than Canadians. All this and these corporations are still loosing money.

Minister Shea there is one job we cannot do for you. You must close the border to import of salmon eggs from the Atlantic to prevent introduction of ISA virus to the eastern Pacific. If you don’t you will see this issue go before the courts. ISAV strains are highly traceable. You say there is no “strong evidence” that it travels in eggs (3-11-2009) scientists say we are “guaranteed” to get the virus if we keep importing eggs.

Others and myself will continue to lay charges under the Fisheries Act with the help of lawyers who are working Pro Bono, and at reduced rates and thousands of people whose small donations are making this possible. The Fisheries Act specifically encourages the public to lay charges in the face of government “inertia.”

At the very least I ask that you do not stand in our way.


Alexandra Morton
http://www.adopt-a-fry.org
http://alexandramorton.typepad.com/


*****
 
Received this from Ms Morton today:

Hello

You have an opportunity to tell DFO how you want fish farms to be run. As a result of our win in BC Supreme Court DFO has been given an official mandate to develop new regulations for aquaculture in BC. A series of meetings are being planned to discuss and gather input from all
potentially impacted stakeholders, which is lives in Canada or comes here to see salmon and their predators.

The next meeting is December 10th and 11th, 2009 in Campbell River, BC at the Campbell River Lodge. You can confirm your attendance by responding to Mandy Mielke (amanda.mielke@dfo-mpo.gc.ca or (613-949-3129) by Friday November 27th, 2009 or contact Trevor Swerdfager Director General, Aquaculture Management trevor.swerdfager@dfo-mpo.gc.ca 613-949-4919. Cc your MP on any emails to Swerdfager.

Also I have been receiving the updates below from Norway the past few days. First the ISA epidemic killing 70% of their fish in Chile, now the Norwegian government threatening to slaughter entire fish farms.

This is your opportunity to be heard.


Alexandra Morton
Www.adopt-a-fry.org




Sea lice are out of control in Norway

Norway's state broadcaster NRK reported on Monday:

"In the past year, the amount of sea lice in Norwegian fish farms exploded. The industry has been on the hump of the environmental movement in the wake of illness boom. This is because the salmon lice infect the wild salmon, and thereby threaten wild salmon stocks.": http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/distrikt/hordaland/1.6888215

The Green Warriors of Norway said in a press release - "Sea Lice Situation is Out of Control" - issued yesterday:

"The sea lice situation is now out of control along the entire coast of Nordland and south. Green Warriors of Norway requires complete slaughter of all salmon biomass with multi-resistance against lice medicines": http://www.nmf.no/default.aspx?pageId=1 ... 354&news=1

The Norwegian Hunters and Fishers (NJFF), Norwegian Salmon Rivers Owners (Norsk Lakseelver) and WWF Norway called on the Fisheries Minister to take the sea lice problem more seriously. NJFF reported yesterday under the headline "A Lot of Talk - Little Action":

"......life-threatening situation for our wild salmon along the coast is informed by a disaster. The trend of increasing resistance to the main treatment methods are cause for great concern. The organizations ask that the Minister immediately initiated after a standstill for further growth in the industry......We will increase the pressure in this case. The battle is now": http://www.njff.no/portal/page/portal/n ... ypage=TRUE

The Norwegian Salmon Association reported last week under the headline "Norway is managing the extinction of wild salmon!":

"The Director of The Directorate for Nature Management, Janne Sollie, says today that Norway is not managing the farmed salmon business, but the extinction of wild salmon! She says this due to the fact of record high and disastrous levels of sea-lice in the farmed salmon farms. If this is allowed to keep on, all wild salmon will be history!

The Directorate for Nature Management is the national governmental body for preserving Norway's natural environment. The directorate serves as an advisory and executive agency under the Norwegian Ministry of Environment. The Government do not listen to their warning! It's shameful how Norway's officials are promoting and protecting the business of farmed salmon! An unsustainable business ruining wild life!": http://norwegian-salmon.com/salmon/exte ... ?recID=262

[Sea lice data for Norwegian salmon farms can be accessed online via: www.lusedata.no


3) The Green Warriors of Norway (led by Kurt Oddekalv) revealed that "Norwegian commercial fish farms are once more using these [diflubenzuron and teflubenzuron] controversial chemicals to get rid of salmon lice". NMF reported today:

"The use of these chemicals was stopped after the agreement was signed in February 1999, and fish farmers have used other drugs instead. However, since the salmon louse has developed resistance against the drugs used, these controversial chemicals are again being thrown into Norwegian salmon cages. The industry respected the agreement until now, and we claim the minister of fisheries to be responsible for breaking the agreement": http://nmf.no/default.aspx?pageId=42&ar ... 361&news=1

The Norwegian media reported this extensively today via NRK, Dagbladet, Adresseavisen and other media outlets:

"Truer med å sverte norsk laks: Miljøkriger Kurt Oddekalv mener regjeringen har brutt avtale, og vurderer derfor internasjonal aksjon" (NRK, 2nd December): http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/distrikt/hordaland/1.6891582

"Slik presset Oddekalv regjeringen - Miljøaktivisten truet Bondevik-regjeringen til å minimalisere bruken av to omstridte lusemiddel. Nå er avtalen brutt, mener Oddekalv, som på nytt truer med internasjonal kampanjer mot norsk laks i utlandet" (Adresseavisen, 2nd December): http://www.adressa.no/nyheter/innenriks ... 417790.ece

"Regjeringen inngikk avtale med Kurt Oddekalv: Hvis laksenæringen kuttet på bruken av to omstridte lusemidler, skulle Miljøvernforbundet avstå fra planlagte aksjoner" (Dagbladet, 2nd December): http://www.dagbladet.no/2009/12/02/nyhe ... n/9303659/


Details in English via: "The deal is broken by the Minister" (NMF, 2nd December): http://nmf.no/default.aspx?pageId=42&ar ... 361&news=1

*****
 
Another message in my e-mail box from Alexandra today -- progress is being made...

Hello

Today BC Supreme Court ruled in our favor once again. Justice 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. 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 protect farms from nuisance claims.

On the question, does Marine Harvest own the fish in their pens? Justice Hinkson found that this was not the place for this decision. Marine Harvest will have to bring this before the courts themselves. 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 US box store chain “Target” that they have eliminated all farmed salmon from its fresh, frozen, and smoked seafood offerings in its stores across the United States, because of farm salmon 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.

Alexandra Morton

*****
 
Another report from Alex Morton today:

Hello
I apologize for a second email so soon, but important news on the issue of salmon farming has become daily. Most astonishing is the warning sent today to Canada from former Attorney General of Norway, Georg Fredrik Rieber-Mohn,

“we had an open goal to save wild salmon but we missed the target,”....”If you want to protect wild salmon then you have to move salmon farms away from migration routes. ”

I have posted his entire plea to Canada on my blog, see below for link.

I am working on a very serious incident in Nootka Sound/Esperanza Inlet where reports keep coming to me that sea lice are out of control on salmon farms. Neither the province nor DFO will act to stop this from spreading to eastern Vancouver Island, so we are doing the investigation for them. This problem is exactly what Rieber-Mohn is talking about.

http://www2.canada.com/courierislander/ ... 8cbfc32c7a

A group of us went to Nootka Island and found extremely high larval sea lice numbers. These farm salmon are being transported to Quadra Island for processing and a sample taken 90’ down from the plant’s effluent pipe found live lice eggs are pouring into Discovery Passage. Drug resistance in sea lice is causing serious problems in eastern Canada and Norway and means we stand to lose our ability to protect the Fraser sockeye. It is becoming increasingly apparent that wild salmon runs in BC, as in Norway, depend on de-lousing farm salmon that are on the migration routes. The Discovery Islands host 1/3 of all BC’s wild salmon during migrations as well as millions of Norwegian farm salmon. If these Nootka lice attach to the farm salmon we stand to lose a generation of wild salmon and more drugs will be used on our coast, with the end result being the situation in Norway loss of BOTH wild and farm salmon. I have contacted the federal and provincial governments all the evidence with no action from them to contain this. This is a well-known catastrophe. You can follow it by checking on my blog.

Dr Larry Hammell from the University of Prince Edward Island speaks about "an eruption of the lice last summer", developing resistance to sea lice chemicals, "treatment failures" etc http://podcast.cbc.ca/mp3/maritimenoon_ ... _26452.mp3

Professor Tor Einar Horsberg at the Norwegian School of Veterinary Science who said: "The harsh treatment that is needed to reach lice limits will lead to more resistant and multi-resistant lice. There is a dramatic development, and I'm worried how this will end": http://www.vg.no/nyheter/utskriftsvennlig/?artId=588564

"The sea lice situation is now out of control along the entire coast of Nordland and south” : http://www.nmf.no/default.aspx?pageId=1 ... 354&news=1

I don’t know why we refuse to avoid the situation Norway is facing. It is not even good for the fish farmers. The province of BC maintains there is “no evidence” of drug resistance, but there is evidence everywhere people are willing to look.

You can join our efforts at www.adopt-a-fry.org

Alexandra Morton

http://alexandramorton.typepad.com/
 
more double speak from Grieg Seafood

From the Campbell River Mirror Feb 17, 2010, page A5:
It will also make it easier to co-ordinate when the company feeds its fish food medicated with SLICE, a chemical which kills sea lice. And contrary to some reports, the fish in Esperanza Inlet have not developed a resistance to the treatment, Parker said.
Click to expand...
If you read this quickly, you might get the impression that the sea-lice in Esperanza Inlet are NOT developing a resistance to SLICE ... but that's not what it says.
It will also make it easier to co-ordinate when the company feeds its fish food medicated with SLICE, a chemical which kills sea lice. And contrary to some reports, the fish in Esperanza Inlet have not developed a resistance to the treatment, Parker said.
Click to expand...
It might be lousy reporting, or it might be double speak.
 
As the courts have now decided that fish farming must fall under the jurisdiction of the federal government I think it is imperative that this crisis be brought up in question period at parliament.

oh ya... I forgot there is no parliament right now :?
 
Some clips from last fall that I hadn't seen before:
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concerning foreign companies plundering resources

If you want some insight into why corporations act the way they do (and how they get away with it), read
"When Corporations Rule The World" by David C Korten.
WCRWII_small.gif

see more info at Amazon.com

Excerpts are at
Third World Traveler and People Centered Development Forum
 
Below is a copy of an email I received today from MP Fin Donelly in response to my request that the Standing Committee on Fisheries & Oceans address the impact of salmon farms on wild salmon. I sent this to all the members on the committee, the Minister (Gail Shea) as well as to my own local MP (Ron Cannan). Forgive me if it's a bit long, but I thought some peole might like to read my original letter in case they need a general guideline for writing their own.... (Big hint here (':wink:') )

-->

Dear K...,

Thank you for your letter regarding the need for the Fisheries and Oceans Committee to discuss and address the threats facing West Coast salmon in this session of Parliament.

As the New Democrat Fisheries and Oceans Critic, I commit to you that I will continue to raise in Committee and the House, the concerns you write about.

On a personal note, I have worked to protect our wild salmon and watersheds in British Columbia for the past two decades. Before stepping into the political arena as a City Councillor I twice swam the 1,400 km length of the Fraser River to draw attention to impacts on salmon and salmon habitat.

So, I share your concerns with regard to the need for protection of our wild Pacific Salmon and agree that immediate steps to safeguard them must be taken before irreversible damage is done, and I have made my views known to the Committee.

As you know, the Government recently called for and has now struck an independent Commission to investigate and determine the cause of the collapse of the 2009 Fraser River Sockeye Salmon run.

The Fisheries and Ocean Committee has established its annual work plan, but questions have been raised regarding the mandate of the Inquiry and the work of the Committee, so your letter is timely in encouraging the Committee to focus on the plight of the Pacific Salmon. I encourage you to share your letter and concerns with all members of the Committee.

For your information, in the coming weeks I intend to bring forward a Private Members Bill that would ban open net aquaculture on the West Coast and I have also written to the Fisheries Minister calling her to work with Marine Harvest and other companies to assist with the transition to closed containment farming.

I want to assure you that I take these issues very seriously. I would be happy receive any links to resources that are available to you.

Again, thank you for writing, and please feel free to get in touch in the future.

Sincerely,

Fin Donnelly
MP New Westminster-Coquitlam
and Port Moody



From: K........... [mailto:k......@K.......com]
Sent: March 11, 2010 12:41 PM
To: Donnelly, Fin - M.P.
Subject: Standing Committee on Fisheries & Oceans

Fin Donnely, MP
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6
Telephone: (613) 947-2700
Fax: (613) 947-4574
E-mail: Donnelly.F@parl.gc.ca

Dear Mr. Donnelly;

I hope all is well with you back in Ottawa after the Olympic break. It was wonderful to see how well so many of our Canadian athletes fared. There must be a great satisfaction with the success of the "Own the Podium" program and I hope you can find ways to continue to create great representatives for Canada, both here and in the eyes of the world.

I have previously communicated with my local MP, Mr. Ron Cannan, about my concerns over the situation on the B.C. coast as regards the impact of fish farms on wild salmon stocks. I received an email from the Honourable Minister Gail Shea at the end of January detailing some of the work (both ongoing and in process) that is being done to protect marine area's in Canada. It is encouraging to know that our representatives are making real efforts to protect Canada's natural resources. Regrettably, there was no direct mention of the plight of the wild pacific salmon in the Honourable Minister's correspondence. Given that there is only two days to set the agenda I'm asking for your help in making sure that the committee revisits the impact of salmon farming on wild fish in Canada.

There have been a number of very troubling developments in this area since last year; sea lice developing drug resistance to "slice", escapes of Atlantic salmon from the feedlots, ISA infections, and other disturbing issues. In trying to study this issue, one trend seems to be manifesting itself more and more; the Norwegian owned fish farm companies are leaving a trail of destruction everywhere they operate. One country's (wild) fishing industry after another is being wiped out by the effects of their fish farms. The pattern seems to repeat itself over and over.

I hope you can ensure the committee takes the time to put Canada's interest ahead of the Norwegian fish farms. They are having a dramatic and unfavorable effect on the Wild Pacific salmon in B.C. and a host of other ill environmental effects as well. I won't even attempt to detail all the issues with salmon farming; it's over my head (from a scientific perspective). I trust the committee will fully investigate all of the claims being made (on both sides of the issue) and make a recommendation based on the science. Any decision that is merely based on an industry's profit or bottom line will be suspect. The Norwegian fish farms have not been good stewards of the oceans to date and there is little to indicate that they are prepared to improve their behaviour. Quite simply, it's time for them to leave.

I would be happy to send you links to some of the resources that are available if you like. Thank you in advance for your assistance with this matter.

Best regards;


CC; Minister of Fisheries & Oceans
Gail Shea, M.P.
 
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