Citizens praise fish-farm moratorium
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 21, 2006
Legislative Committee recommends no new fish farm permits until final report
(Terrace) Citizens across the Northwest are praising the Special Committee on Aquaculture’s announcement that they will recommend a moratorium on new fish farm permits until the Committee has completed its work. The announcement was made Tuesday, at public hearings in Terrace.
“Obviously the Committee needed a moratorium in order to give it the credibility it needs to conduct its work,” said Des Nobles with Friends of Wild Salmon. “This decision certainly strengthens our confidence in the Committee and we urge the B.C. government to act on this recommendation.”
Prior to the Committee’s Monday hearing in Prince Rupert, over 100 representatives of the Wet’suwet’en, Gitxsan, Gitanyow, and Allied Tsimshian Tribes of Lax Kw’alaams, held a ceremony declaring the Skeena Watershed a fish-farm-free zone.
Those who made submissions to the Committee’s hearings in Prince Rupert and Terrace were nearly unanimous in opposing fish farms on B.C.’s North Coast.
Pan Fish, the world’s largest fish farm operator, is currently awaiting final government approval to open a cluster of salmon net cages at the mouth of the Skeena River. Polls show that seven out of ten residents oppose fish farms on B.C.’s North Coast.
“Wild salmon lie at the heart of our cultures, economies, and our identity as northwest British Columbians,” said Nobles. “We can not let their survival be jeopardized by fish farms.”
Contact:
Des Nobles, Friends of Wild Salmon: (250) 627-1859