Thursday December 7, 2023
North Delta Reporter —
Hundreds of thousands of wild fish have died at British Columbia salmon farms in recent years, with an operator blaming the kills on the “learning curve” associated with new machinery to remove sea lice from stock.
A salmon conservation group says the wild fish, primarily herring, died needlessly.
Federal Fisheries and Oceans Canada data shows more than 817,000 wild fish were killed at B.C. salmon farms in 2022, five times the number of deaths reported in previous years, Stan Proboszcz, a senior scientist at Watershed Watch Salmon Society, said Tuesday.
Much of the blame likely lay with a high-pressure spraying process farm operators are using to clear lice and other parasites off farmed salmon, he said.