Once promoted by industry as an ideal solution for easing fishing pressure on declining wild salmon stocks, open netcage salmon farming is now widely viewed by British Columbians as being environmentally damaging, wasteful, and a significant threat to wild salmon.

Scientific concerns also continue to mount. In December, 2007 the prestigious journal “Science” published research predicting the extinction of wild pink salmon in the Broughton Archipelago within four years if the devastating effects of open net-cage aquaculture are allowed to continue.

Most concerns centre on:

• the potential for escapes of farmed salmon into wild indigenous populations
• the spreading of disease and concentrated sea lice infestations into wild populations
• the use of high concentrations of chemicals and antibiotics in farmed pens
• the deliberate shooting and accidental drowning of sea lions, seals and other marine mammals
• significant contamination of waste and chemicals immediately beneath and around farmed pens
• larger-scale pollution from farm pens into nearby marine ecosystems

There are currently about 130 licensed open net-cage salmon farm sites in BC. Despite overwhelmingly negative public opinion, the industry hopes to add 100 – 150 more over the next ten years