Fish farm welcomed

Quinton Winks
June 2nd, 2010
Alberni Valley Times

Port Alberni opened its arms to a land-based salmon farm last week, a timely move to attract industry before pending regulatory changes shift fish farm oversight from the province to the federal government.

Local Mayor Ken McRae invited officials at Mainstream Canada, one of the country's biggest fish-farm companies, to make use of a piece of city land. The property is near the waterfront and is well suited to a closed-containment salmon farm, McRae said.

"It's right on the water and there's First Nations around because they like to involve the First Nations and they have a reserve right next door," he said.

According to McRae, the shift of regulatory responsibility to the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans in January could mean more pressure on the fish farming industry to shift its operations to land. But whether that's true remains the topic of speculation.

In recent years fish farms have been in the crosshairs of environmentalists and government, who blame the farms, and the parasites that feed on farmed fish, for the collapse of wild salmon stocks. Although scientific evidence is inconclusive, many are still pushing to move salmon farms entirely on land. 

Read the full story in the Alberni Valley Times