Update: Alexandra Morton's DFO Petition

Here's the latest version of Ms. Morton's petition to the DFO. Her letter now has nearly 2,000 signatories. Click Read Full Post to see the full text of the petition, and Ms. Morton's email to Minister of Fisheries Gail Shea, Premier Gordon Campbell and DFO Pacific Region Director Paul Sprout.

To sign the petition, click here.

This is the fourth edition of the petition; the DFO has yet to respond to it, or to Ms. Morton's call for the federal government to "apply the Fisheries Act to [the salmon farming] industry." The petition calls for the feds to redress 20 years of mismanagement by taking the following steps:

1) Place observers during feedlot salmon harvest to assess unlawful by-catch;
2) Examine feedlot salmon as they are cleaned for presence of wild fish in their
digestive tract;
3) Licence vessels transporting aquaculture salmon like all other commercial
fishing vessels;
4) As per Pacific Fishery Regulation "Prohibited Fishing Methods" ban grow lights on fish feedlots to end wild prey species attraction into the pens;
5) Remove the marine feedlot industry from wild salmon migration routes.

The same population crashes in salmonid populations in Norway and the UK linked to salmon farming appear likely to continue in BC if the DFO continues to play dumb.


Email:
Dear Honourable Minister of Fisheries Gail Shea, Premier Gordon Campbell and Paul Sprout.

One thousand, nine hundred and thirty nine (1,939) people have signed the attached letter asking that the Fisheries Act be applied to the marine feedlot fishery.

I understand that a few hours ago Marine Harvest appealed the BC Supreme Court decision that made their operations in Canada a fishery. They said it is because they are worried about who owns their fish. I suspect also they are more comfortable as a “farm” under Provincial jurisdiction as wild marine fish are not a Provincial concern.

This must not be an excuse not to deal with the problems. We are really worried about our fish and cannot understand why no one will answer the letters we have been sending asking for several very reasonable aspects of the Fisheries Act to be applied to this fishery.

We are standing by and wishing you wisdom in dealing with this,

Alexandra Morton

The Petition:

To: The Fisheries Minister The Honourable Gail Shea and Gordon Campbell, Premier of
British Columbia

Wild salmon are the backbone of the BC Coast. On February 9, 2009 BC Supreme Court
ruled that salmon farms are a fishery and a federal responsibility. The science is in. The
feedlot fishery is damaging wild salmon stocks worldwide (Ford and Myers 2008). Fraser
sockeye and all southcoast BC salmon and steelhead are now at risk as a result of the
Provincial policy of allowing the feedlot fishery to use Canada's most valuable wild
salmon habitat .

We the undersigned demand that Fisheries and Oceans Canada apply the Fisheries Act to
this industry and immediately:
− Place observers during feedlot salmon harvest to assess unlawful by-catch;
− Examine feedlot salmon as they are cleaned for presence of wild fish in their
digestive tract;
− Licence vessels transporting aquaculture salmon like all other commercial
fishing vessels;
− As per Pacific Fishery Regulation "Prohibited Fishing
Methods" ban grow lights on fish feedlots to end wild prey species
attraction into the pens;
- Remove the marine feedlot industry from wild salmon migration routes.
The landmark BC Supreme Court decision states, “The inclusion of fisheries in s.
91(12) of the Constitution Act, 1867 was a recognition that fisheries, as a national
resource, require uniformity of the legislation”.

We insist that the Fisheries Act be applied to the salmon feedlot fishery immediately.