Thousands March Against Fish Farms in B.C.

Close to 5,000 people gathered this past weekend, the culmination of a 500 km march, led by biologist Alexandra Morton, to protest open ocean fish farms and the impacts they are having on wild fish in British Columbia. As we open our doors to open ocean farms for ahi in Hawai’i, do we have something to learn from their experience in B.C.?

See video: http://www.globaltvbc.com/video/index.html?releasePID=tVSow1MygokzZOHDBa99s317z8BmiyTn

From Dr. Neil Frazer, a UH Professor (SOEST) born and raised in British Columbia:

In BC, native peoples (called “First Nations”) are very angry with farms. Near farms they have lost their subsistence fishing, their salmon and clams.

Many BC tourism companies are very unhappy because sportfish and wildlife have greatly declined near farms. Farmers have shot many marine mammals.

Salmon farming in BC is controlled by two large Norwegian companies: Marine Harvest and Cermaq.

First Nations from BC have gone to Norway twice to plead with the Norwegians to move their farms. Imagine native Hawaiians having to fly to Norway some day to plead for removal of farms.

Many lawsuits against sea-cage farmers are now in the BC courts. Solid citizens are marching down the highways in protest. It’s a mess.

Problems with sea-cage farms are not confined to BC. Many people in other countries are very unhappy with sea-cage fish farms.

Hawaii should look into it. Why import the mistakes of other countries?