A number of Vancouver Island mayors and members of British Columbia’s salmon farming business say a federal government decision to part out fish farms has left them feeling “disposable and discarded.”
In a letter to Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan, this group says they weren’t consulted earlier than she introduced a plan to part out open-net pen farming within the Discovery Islands over the subsequent 18 months.
In mid-December, the Authorities of Canada introduced that the fish farms within the Discovery Islands — close to Campbell River –will probably be phased out attributable to environmental considerations.
READ MORE: Fish farms near Campbell River to be phased out over the next 18 months: Feds
Jordan has stated she made the choice after listening to unanimous opposition to the farms from native First Nations.
The Discovery Islands act as a bottleneck alongside wild salmon migration routes and eliminating the fish farms was a key advice made in 2012 by the Cohen Fee on the decline of Fraser River sockeye.
The letter says the transfer will eradicate about 1,500 jobs and will put your entire $1.6-billion provincial business in danger.
It’s signed by mayors in Campbell River, Port Hardy, Port McNeill and Gold River, in addition to 11 business representatives.
“We really feel disposable and discarded,” the letter says, earlier than asking Jordan what her plan is to assist communities recuperate.
“Be suggested that we’ll now not sit on the sidelines and will probably be pursuing each attainable choice to treatment this untenable scenario.”
Jordan couldn’t instantly be reached for remark.
Whereas complaints come up relating to the choice, many are calling the transfer “historic”, saying banning fish farms in these areas will enable wild salmon populations to flourish.
READ MORE: Ban on fish farms in the Discovery Islands called ‘historic’
With information from the Canadian Press
