Friday March 10, 2023
SeafoodSource —
Indigenous chiefs representing a range of communities in British Columbia, Canada, traveled to the country’s capital of Ottawa to make opposing arguments for and against net-pen aquaculture in the province’s coastal waters.
Two separate Indigenous factions, advocating for and against future aquaculture operations in the region, held press conferences on the issue, which has been brought to a head by a Canada Department of Fisheries and Oceans’ decision to deny license renewals for 15 open-net pen Atlantic salmon farms in the Discovery Islands, located in B.C.
One group, the Coalition of First Nations for Finfish Stewardship, formed to assert tribal rights and sovereignty in favor of continuing finfish aquaculture in B.C. Chiefs representing some of the tribes met in Ottawa to meet federal decision makers, and the coalition called for current Canadian Minister of Fisheries, Oceans, and the Canadian Coast Guard Joyce Murray to resign after her decision to close the farms.