The B.C. Salmon Farmers Association recently held community meetings in Campbell River and Nanaimo — two centres of our industry in this province. Over and over again we heard passion for the role B.C.’s salmon farms play in protecting wild salmon and helping feed a hungry world, but also frustration with the misinformation about our industry being perpetrated by a small, but loud, group of opponents.
Here is one quote from a meeting that stood out: “I come from a long line of educated and intelligent women. I care deeply for the environment and all wildlife. If I thought for one second that fish-farming was having a negative effect on the environment I would walk away from this industry.”
I’d like to address that frustration with some facts.
More than half the fish humans eat globally is farmed. In B.C., an average of 70 per cent of the salmon harvested each year comes from farms. Imagine for a moment what would happen to wild fish if our farms disappeared. We’d either have to stop eating fish or would quickly wipe out B.C.’s already-pressured wild-salmon runs.
Wild fish stocks simply can’t meet human demand. If we want to eat fish we need to farm it.
Jeremy Dunn – Vancouver Sun – April 7, 2018.