Class-action suit to be filed over salmon farming off Vancouver Island

Larry Pynn
February 2, 2009
The Vancouver Sun

Aboriginal people in the Broughton Archipelago off northeastern Vancouver Island say they will file a class-action lawsuit against the B.C. government for damages caused by salmon farming to wild stocks.

“This is not something we’ve done lightly,” Chief Bob Chamberlain of the Kwicksutaineuk Ah-Kwa-Mish First Nation said in an interview Monday. “It’s such a crucial struggle for our people.”

Chamberlain said the class-action suit will involve a total of eight first nations concerned about the detrimental impact of open-net salmon farming on their stocks.

The salmon-farming industry has been the subject of long-standing concerns related to issues such as transmission of sea lice and disease to wild stocks, as well as pollution, and the escape of non-native Atlantic salmon to the wild.

Asked if natives are seeking financial compensation in the legal action, Chamberlain said: “This isn’t monetary-driven. If that was the case, we’d be involved in the industry. We’re looking at safeguarding our wild salmon as our starting point and our end point. We don’t think that’s been the focus here. 

Read the full article in The Vancouver Sun

Posted February 2nd, 2009