The results of a recently published scientific study show wild salmon populations in the Discovery Islands in British Columbia, Canada, continue to have high levels of sea lice, despite the closure of all salmon farming in the region.
Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) announced its plan to close all salmon farming in the Discovery Islands in December 2020, giving farmers in the region just 18 months to shift production. While court orders ended up delaying that timeline, DFO announced on 17 February 2023 it was done renewing licenses for the region, which represented 24 percent of all salmon production in the province.
That announcement came as companies had already begun to pull out of the area, with a Mowi spokesperson telling SeafoodSource at the time it was no longer actively producing any salmon in the region as of February 2023; data from the DFO indicates all salmon farming biomass was removed from the region by 2022.
The DFO, throughout its announcements, said it was taking the action to “protect wild Pacific salmon,” particularly from the threat of sea lice. In June 2024, it followed through on promises to halt salmon farming across the entire province, saying it would effectively ban all open net-pen salmon aquaculture in the province by 30 June 2029.
“The government is firmly committed to taking concrete steps to protect wild Pacific salmon,” former Canadian Minister of Fisheries, Oceans, and the Canadian Coast Guard Diane Lebouthillier said at the time. “Today, I'm announcing the essence of a responsible, realistic, and achievable transition that ensures the protection of wild species, food security, and the vital economic development of British Columbia's First Nations, coastal communities, and others, as we keep working toward a final transition plan by 2025.”
Despite the continued assertion by the DFO that its push to ban salmon aquaculture is to protect wild salmon, the latest research has once again called into question ...
