SEATTLE TIMES | OPINION: Protect WA’s waters and tribal sovereignty: Ban commercial finfish net-pen aquaculture

On behalf of the Our Sound, Our Salmon we want to extend our sincere appreciation to Chairwoman Frances Charles of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, Chairman Leonard Forsman of the Suquamish Tribe, and Community Chairman Steve Edwards of the Swinomish Tribe for their inspiring and compelling op-ed in today’s Seattle Times titled, ‘Protect WA’s waters and tribal sovereignty: Ban commercial finfish net-pen aquaculture.’

Together, these Northwest Treaty Tribal leaders are urging the Board of the Washington State Department of Natural Resources to take immediate action to formally prohibit commercial finfish net pen aquaculture.

“We urge Washington’s leaders to take this critical step and formally declare commercial finfish net-pen aquaculture is not fit for our waters. The time to act is now — for the fish, the water and the generations to come. Please join us in urging the DNR Board to ban commercial aquaculture net pen leases.”

The authors also encourage the public to support this initiative by contacting the DNR Board ahead of the upcoming vote on January 7th to adopt a rule that would safeguard Puget Sound for future generations. If you haven’t taken action yet, there’s still time!

For the past decade, Tribal and First Nations have been at the forefront of efforts to end commercial net pen aquaculture to protect the waters of Puget Sound and the Salish Sea, which have sustained their peoples, cultures, and traditions for millennia.

“It is about upholding tribal sovereignty, respecting treaty rights and preserving the traditions that have sustained our peoples since time immemorial.”

A coalition of American and B.C. activists are calling for net-pen fish farms to be banned in B.C. six months after such a ban passed in Washington.

Following the 2017 Cypress Island net pen collapse, the Lummi Nation sacrificed their own fishing season to lead the cleanup effort of escaped farmed fish.

Photo by Brandon Sawaya/ Soulcraft Allstars original from the article Who cleaned up the Atlantic salmon spill? Northwest tribes | Cascade PBS

First Nations protesters face down a Marine Harvest ship known as the Orca Chief–although members of the ‘Namgis prefer to call it “The Orca Thief.”

Photo By Alexandra Morton

Litigation and advocacy by indigenous communities has been fundamental to raising awareness about viral and other pathogen risks.

On the same day WA passed a landmark law banning all Atlantic salmon net pens, OSOS participated in a peaceful protest led by First Nations outside a BC legislator's office.

Photo by Wild Salmon Defenders Alliance

Salmon advocates coastwide celebrate BC First Nations' landmark success as Canada agrees to remove 19 salmon farms in the Discovery Islands

Map from discoveryislands.ca

On Thursday, in a truly inspiring victory for wild Pacific salmon, orcas, and BC First Nations, the Canadian government agreed to phase out all open water salmon farms in BC's Discovery Islands near Campbell River over the next 18 months.

This historic decision is the result of the unwavering dedication and direct action of the BC First Nations and their supporters. For years, they have called on Canada's local and federal officials to end net pen salmon farms in their traditional waters where they operate without the Nations' consent. These facilities further contribute to the decline of BC's imperiled salmon runs and threaten the way of life, food security, and the health of the environment of First Nations coastwide.

Net pens located in Discovery Islands are scheduled to be removed in the next 18 months.
Photo by Tavish Campbell (@tavishcampbell)

This new agreement is the largest and latest success by BC First Nations to demand the removal of net pens in their traditional waters. Last year, in a historic negotiation, First Nations in the Broughton Archipelago successfully advocated for the Canadian government to require the immediate removal of five farms and the decommissioning of the remaining twelve by 2023.

The Our Sound, Our Salmon campaign commends the hard work and dedication of the Discovery Islands First Nations, as well as First Nations and Tribal Nations coastwide, who continue to lead this inspiring effort to protect wild salmon and end this dangerous industry throughout the Pacific coast.

In 2018, on the same day Washington passed a landmark law banning all Atlantic salmon net pens, Wild Fish Conservancy’s director and staff proudly participated in a peaceful protest led by the First Nation-led Wild Salmon Defenders Alliance outside a prominent BC legislator's office in Vancouver, BC.

Beginning in April 2019, sea lice outbreaks were reported at 30% of fish farms throughout the BC coast. Researchers found infection rates of juvenile salmon migrating near the pens were most severe in the Discovery Island where 97% of juvenile salmon were infected. For these young salmon, even a few sea lice can be lethal.

The photo gallery below shares photos taken by Tavish Campabell (@tavishcampbell) during sampling of juvenile salmon at farms including the Discovery Islands. Salmon lice were never reported on juvenile salmon in BC prior to the introduction of salmon farming.

Following the alarming sea lice outbreak in the Discovery Islands, 101 B.C. First Nations and their supporters called on the Canadian government this September for the removal of all Discovery Islands salmon farms, asking they be moved to land-based closed-containment systems.

The group called for the government to uphold a key recommendation of the Cohen Commission (which published its landmark study on how to reverse the decline of Fraser River salmon in 2012) to close salmon farms in the Discovery Islands by September 30, 2020 if they continued to pose a risk to wild salmon. Read the letter Our Sound, Our Salmon delivered to Canada's leaders standing in solidarity with BC First Nations.

The removal of these 19 facilities within the Discovery Islands represents a major victory and a huge step forward for our coastwide, international coalition and shared effort to end commercial net pen aquaculture throughout the Pacific coast. Salmon have no borders, and neither does our shared advocacy to end this dangerous practice coastwide.

Learn more about the Taking Back Our Sound campaign to end commercial net pen aquaculture in Washington’s Puget Sound.