B.C. First Nations occupy a second salmon farm as company raises safety concerns

Dzawada’enuxw Nation Chief Willie Moon and Hereditary Chief Charlie Williams were among local First Nations leaders on site to support the occupation of the Swanson Island fish farm. Photograph By Swanson Occupation

Marine Harvest says protests are creating unsafe conditions at farms

By Laura Kane, The Canadian Press, September 2, 2017

Members of two British Columbia First Nations say they have occupied a salmon farm on a small island on the province’s coast, the second such protest to be held in the past week.

Chief Willie Moon, also known as Okwilagame, said about 16 members of the Musgamagw Dzawada’enuxw and the Kwikwasutinuxw Haxwamis arrived at the Wicklow Point salmon farm on Thursday afternoon.

First Nations, environmentalists occupy B.C. salmon farm

‘The time for the very long debate about fish farms has passed,’ says traditional leader Ernest Alfred

By Laura Kane, The Canadian Press, August 30, 2017

A group of First Nations and environmentalists are occupying a salmon farm near Alert Bay, B.C., and say they won’t leave until the provincial and federal governments revoke permits for the facility.

First Nations occupy Marine Harvest fish farm

BC Local News, August 28, 2017

A group of First Nations has peacefully occupied a Marine Harvest salmon farm on Swanson Island, which is located 17 km east of Alert Bay.

On Aug. 25, Hereditary Chief Ernest Alexander Alfred, along with a group of First Nations, occupied the farm. He stated the fish farm is illegally parked in ‘Namgis and Maya’xala Awinakola territory.

Video: Occupation of fish farm by Kwakwaka’wakw

August 25, 2017 Musgamagw Dzawada’enuxw Hereditary Leadership visited Ernest Alfred at his occupation camp on Marine Harvest owned salmon farm on Swanson Island B.C. after his first night.

B.C. fish farms hit by occupations following release of footage showing sickly, blind salmon

by Jorge Barrera, APTN National News, August 24, 2017

Indigenous leaders are calling on Fisheries and Oceans Minister Dominic LeBlanc to immediately halt fish farming along British Columbia’s coastal region following the release of video footage showing diseased farmed Atlantic salmon –some blind, others with swollen gills and blisters—swimming through pens thick with fish feces.

Collapsed fish farm that released thousands of Atlantic salmon had structural problems last month

Washington state fish farm’s collapse has reinvigorated salmon-farming debates

By Lisa Johnson, CBC News, August 23, 2017

The Washington state fish farm that collapsed allowing many thousands of Atlantic salmon to escape into the Pacific showed signs of trouble last month, and was slated for upgrades.

Skeena River sockeye returns at historic lows

Closing will ‘have a crushing economic impact on the entire northwest,’ says MP

By Ash Kelly, CBC News, June 28, 2017

This year’s return of Skeena River sockeye is setting up to be the worst on record.

As a result, First Nations along the river have agreed not to remove sockeye from the river, a decision made only once before when the same run returned in dismal numbers in 2013.

The low numbers have also prompted Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) to close the region’s lucrative sports fishery to all salmon species until July 15.

Quebec Innu signal intent to claim prime fishing location at posh private lodge

Innu protesters planted a flag Saturday asserting ownership of choice Moisie River salmon waters.  Photo: National Post

by Graeme Hamilton, National Post, June 12, 2017

For more than a century, the Moisie Salmon Club has been among the continent’s most exclusive fishing destinations, a 10-kilometre stretch of river reserved for its wealthy American members.

Anglers reportedly pay annual dues running to six figures to fish the choice Moisie River pools and swap tales over fine food and wine in the lodge. At the airport in nearby Sept-Îles, Que., the June arrival of private jets carrying CEOs and high-powered lawyers is a sign that salmon season has opened.

Fish farm spills diesel near northern Vancouver Island

Aerial view of the fish farm and diesel fuel spill.

Company ‘highly regrets’ spilling of 600 litres; initial reports said the amount was 1,500 litres

By Rhianna Schmunk, CBC News, March 5, 2017

Emergency crews are responding to a diesel spill at a fish farm near the northern tip of Vancouver Island.

Early Sunday officials said at least 1,500 litres of diesel overflowed from the Burdwood Fish Farm in Echo Bay, B.C., northeast of Port McNeill.

2nd humpback death in 2 weeks worries experts, farmed salmon industry

A juvenile humpback was caught in an anchor line at one of Marine Harvest’s empty aquaculture sites at Klemtu, B.C. It’s one of three humpback entanglements in the past two and a half months. (Philip Charles)

‘This is not something that is normal,’ says B.C. Salmon Farmers Association

By Megan Thomas, CBC News, November 30, 2016

Three humpback whale entanglements at B.C. fish farms in recent months, two of which resulted in deaths, have whale researchers and the salmon farming industry concerned.

A juvenile humpback died last weekend after it became trapped between the inner and outer containment nets at Greig Seafood’s Atrevida salmon farm in Nootka Sound.