First Nations want fish out

Page 8

Tensions are on the rise between British Columbia First Nations and coastal fish farms, despite the provincial government's new process to relocate aquaculture operations away from sensitive areas.

The newly established Salmon Aquaculture Review Committee (SARC) recently announced that 11 Vancouver Island fish farms would be relocated because of environmental concerns, but with more than 120 tenure sites in the province, many First Nations are saying the process isn't moving fast enough. And while many First Nations spent National Aboriginal Day celebrating their cultures and languages, the Musgamagw Tsawataineuk Tribal Council spent June 21 rallying community members from throughout northern Vancouver Island to serve a symbolic eviction notice to fish farms operating in their traditional territory.

A flotilla of boats led by five war canoes gathered at the edge of the Broughton Archipelago, a previously pristine group of islands that is both a provincial marine park and home to 26 fish farms.

"This protest is our way of saying 'we've tried everything else - enough is enough,'" said Yvon Gesinghaus of the Musgamagw Tsawataineuk Tribal Council. "They can take their friggin' fish farms and put them somewhere else."

"We've spent 14 years going through all the government processes to file objections to these fish farms in our territories and have yet to receive any response from the ministers in charge," said Gesinghaus. "The Broughton Archipelago is our grocery store; it's where all our foods come from. These fish farms are polluting our waters by breaking their own restrictions because they've been left to police themselves."

Duncan Williams from the British Columbia Assets and Lands Corporation claims Musgamagw Tsawataineuk's concerns are being addressed with the recent relocation of the Marine Harvest Canada / Nutreco fish farm from the Broughton Archipelago. It will be moving north near the mainland community of Klemtu in a joint venture with the Kitasoo First Nation.

A few coastal First Nations have become involved in British Columbia's burgeoning salmon farming industry, which is the fourth-largest in the world, generating more than $677 million for the province's economy. But most First Nations have said they are against fish farms within their traditional territories.

Two years ago, the Tsouke First Nation attempted to evict a fish farm from its traditional territory. Now, the SARC has approved an application to allow that fish farm to move to Clayoquot Sound, where fish farmers have also found themselves in conflict with the Ahousaht and Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations.

Representatives from the B.C. Salmon Farmers Association have been attempting to quell the many concerns of coastal First Nations, admitting that fish farms have not been "good neighbors" in the past, but are working to remedy past problems.

The main concerns against fish farms are the effects of escaped Atlantic salmon on the already beleaguered wild salmon populations, and the build-up of waste materials beneath the net pens.

"I don't know how fish farmers can expect us to believe them," said Richard Watts, southern region co-chair for the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council. "First they said their fish could never escape, and now we know they do. Then they said their fish couldn't survive in the wild, and now we know they can. Then they said their fish wouldn't be able to reproduce in the wild, and now we're finding out that they can do that too."

Fish farmers have also shunned the idea of closed-containment systems, arguing the technology is too expensive and collapses when there is a power outage.

"The capital cost is higher, but it is offset by other benefits such as protection from predators and hazardous algal blooms, as well as providing better feed conversion," said Phil Andrew, the director of sales and marketing for FutureSea Technologies in Nanaimo, B.C. "And as far as power outages are concerned, there are number of backup systm that prevent the problems associated with power losses," he said.