The ‘Namgis First Nation has a long history of trying to solve the problems open netpen fish farming causes for wild salmon and their environment.
We’ve seen the impact of sea lice, farm waste, lights and nets on salmon fry, clam beds, birds, sea mammals and other marine life.
We also understand the importance of jobs — to the ‘Namgis people and to the people of B.C.\And we’ve been working hard to try to find a way to protect both the environment and jobs.
Many years ago, we stopped fishing anywhere near the Nimpkish River, the heart of our ancestral lands, which had one of B.C.’s big sockeye runs.
A few years ago, we started Kuterra, a commercial, pilot-scale, land-based salmon farm, to disprove the myths about land-based salmon farming.
More recently, we’ve gone to court to make sure salmon fry that are released into open netpens are free of disease. So far, the court has agreed that fish farms stocked with virus-infected smolts could cause irreparable harm. We’re now waiting for a final decision.
Donald Svanvik – Times Colonist – October 21, 2018.
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