First Nations Call to "Lock Arms" Against Fish Farm Expansion Plans

Chief Sees Major Salmon Farm Expansion on Horizon - Issues Urgent Plea to "Lock Arms"

by Damien Gillis - The Common Sense Canadian

The chief of a coastal First Nation issued an urgent plea via youtube yesterday for public support in blocking plans for a major expansion of open-net pen salmon farms in his territory.

“We’re all aware of the oil and gas pipelinesand the potential this has to lay waste to the environment,” says Chief Bob Chamberlin of the Kwicksutaineuk-ah-kwaw-ah-mish First Nation in BC’s Broughton Archipelago, noting that the wild salmon upon which his people depend have been severely depleted in recent decades. ”We also need to be aware of the railroads and if this is going to be a greater avenue for the export of oil to Asia…[and] of the hydroelectrical visions of the provincial government – of course I’m talking about Site C Dam…”

…But the part that I’m most troubled with as the leader of the Kwicksutaineuk-ah-kwaw-ah-mish First Nation is fish farms.

DFO letters suggest major salmon farm expansion in the offing

Chamberlin, who is also the Vice-President of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, references a letter his nation received from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) last week, notifying them that an aquaculture company operating in their territory wishes to ramp up production from 10 tonnes to 460 tonnes.

This was further confirmed by an email from [DFO], subsequent to the letter we received, where it let us know that our First Nation will be receiving, this coming week, four more letters regarding four additional fish farm expansion applications which are now coming to light.

Chamberlin questions the expansion in his territory in light of the recommendations of the Cohen Commission into collapsing Fraser River sockeye, which argued for a moratorium on new farms in the Discovery Islands region, south of Chamberlin’s territory. The chief notes that expanding farms just beyond that region could still have a significant negative impact on migrating wild fish.

“[The outward migrating salmon smolts] which are being respected through the Cohen recommendations…must pass the Broughton Archipelago and the northern tip of Vancouver Island, where all of these expansions of the aquaculture industry are coming to light,” Chamberlin underlines.

“I want to lock arms with all of you”

Chamberlin notes that the Cohen Commission called for more scientific study into disease transfer from fish farms to wild salmon, calling for the Precautionary Principle to be implemented.

“It’s time for us to hold this government to account. This is an urgent message to all the people who rely upon wild salmon in BC,” he says. “They are now facing a threat which is in complete defiance of Cohen and it is yet another example of the Stephen Harper Government laying waste to democracy – and in doing so, putting at risk aboriginal rights for First Nations people on the coast of BC and right up to the headwaters of the Fraser and other rivers.”

So I urge all of you to take a stand, to start writing letters to the editors, for First Nations people to start demanding that your chief and council stand up and do what’s right for wild salmon. We cannot sit back idly and hope something gets done. It’s up to you, it’s up to me. I want to lock arms with all of you and do what’s necessary to save wild salmon.

Damien Gillis is a Vancouver-based documentary filmmaker with a focus on environmental and social justice issues - especially relating to water, energy, and saving Canada's wild salmon - working with many environmental organizations in BC and around the world. He is the co-founder, along with Rafe Mair, of The Common Sense Canadian, and a board member of both the BC Environmental Network and the Haig-Brown Institute.

More articles by Damien Gillis