On the Federal Commitment to End Open-Net Pen Salmon Farming in British Columbia by 2029. Issued by Ḥupačasatḥ Ḥawił (Hereditary Chief) Tsu Tsii In (Alton Watts), Hupacasath Nation, May 7, 2026

Dear Prime Minister Carney,

In November 2025, hundreds of First Nations hereditary leaders, matriarchs, fisher families, and allies gathered in Hupacasath and Tseshaht territories at Port Alberni for a Migratory Salmon Potlatch. Nations came from across Vancouver Island, from the Interior, and as far as the Winnemem Wintu in northern California, who had just removed the dams on the Klamath River to bring their salmon home. Together, they signed a declaration: to relentlessly work toward the immediate removal of all open-net pen fish farms from our coastal waters.

I hosted that Potlatch. I am writing to you now because that declaration demands a response, and because the Government of Canada has already made a commitment that aligns with it. We are asking you to honour that commitment.

A Generation of Loss

For the Nuu-chah-nulth people, salmon are our relatives. They are teachers. They are the thread connecting our communities to our ancestors and to every generation that follows. When the salmon suffer, so do we, and the salmon are suffering.

BC’s commercial salmon harvest is now 6% of what it was in the 1980s. The landed value, in real terms, is 2% of what it once was. First Nations fishing, the heartbeat of our food sovereignty and ceremonial life, has fallen by 90% in a single generation. In our communities, these are not statistics. They are a lived experience of loss felt in every ceremony, every gathering, every meal where salmon is absent.

At the Potlatch in Port Alberni, speaker after speaker returned to the same truth in their own words: that the fish carry a value no economic arrangement can replace, that the responsibility to future generations outweighs the comfort of the status quo, that the time for waiting has passed. Every word spoken carried reverence for the salmon, and duty to the generations that follow.

Our peoples have always known that salmon are the keystone of life on this coast. They carry the ocean into the rivers and forests; they feed the watersheds we all depend on. When the salmon go, the rest follows. What reaches them now will reach all of our grandchildren, yours and ours alike.

Open-net pen salmon farming bears direct responsibility for accelerating that decline. It is also the one pressure on wild salmon that is entirely within the federal government’s power to remove.

One Hundred and Twenty Nations Have Spoken

Some have characterized this as a divided issue, Nations against Nations, coastal communities pitted against each other. The reality is much more significant.

Over 120 First Nations across British Columbia have publicly called for an end to open-net pen farming. The Union of BC Indian Chiefs has passed 13 unanimous resolutions on this issue, not one dissenting vote, over 25 years. At the Potlatch in Port Alberni, hereditary leaders and matriarchs came forward from Nations whose own territories contain fish farms and signed the declaration knowing precisely what it means for their own communities. This consensus was built through ceremony, through relationship, and through a shared sense of responsibility that reaches well beyond any single generation or territory.

We hold deep respect for the Nations navigating difficult choices in difficult circumstances. The pull of economic partnership is powerful, particularly in communities where alternatives have been slow to materialize. And in that same spirit of respect, our position is firm: no Nation holds the authority to condemn salmon to extinction, and no short-term economic arrangement justifies passing that inheritance to our children.

An Industry in Managed Decline

We have heard the argument that removing open-net pens will cost jobs in remote coastal communities. We take the economic realities of those communities with complete seriousness, which is precisely why an accurate story of what is happening demands to be told.

The open-net pen sector has already shed nearly half its BC workforce in recent years, from over 6,000 jobs in 2020 to under 4,000 today, before the federal transition has taken effect. This industry is in managed decline. The question before you is whether to let that decline continue to zero, or to invest in building something larger, cleaner, and more deeply rooted in the communities that depend on a working coast.

We have already seen what the alternative looks like. The Kwakwaka’wakw Nations removed salmon farms from their waters. The salmon are returning to their streams. The orca are returning. The foundation of a coastal economy rooted in abundance rather than extraction is being laid in their territories, right now.

A wild salmon recovery economy, Indigenous and community-led, watershed by watershed, has the potential to employ thousands of British Columbians in meaningful year-round work: habitat restoration, monitoring, Guardians programs, land-based aquaculture, and blue economy development on converted marine sites. Washington State has demonstrated that every $1 million invested in watershed restoration generates $2.2 to $2.5 million in economic activity. The modelling and the implementation frameworks already exist. Michelle Corfield, of Corfield & Associates, has spoken to this directly:

“Salmon are integral to Nuu-chah-nulth life. We have an inherent responsibility to ensure they have an environment in which they can thrive, from the rivers where they are born to the ocean they travel through. And when they thrive, everyone benefits. As we have seen in the Fraser, when runs return, abundance follows. In abundance, the debate over allocation disappears. Everybody wins.”

There Is No Safe Open-Net Pen

Some have argued that Indigenous-led advances in sea lice management make the removal of open-net pens unnecessary. We respect that science, and we respect the Nations who have pursued it. The peer-reviewed evidence, however, encompasses far more than sea lice alone.

Viruses and bacterial pathogens, including Piscine Orthoreovirus, Infectious Hematopoietic Necrosis Virus, and others documented extensively in the scientific literature, transfer freely from farmed Atlantic salmon to wild Pacific salmon through open water. No monitoring program, no management technology, and no governance structure applied to the existing system eliminates that transmission pathway. Closed containment on land severs it entirely. Reducing sea lice by 80% is a genuine achievement. The remaining 20%, and the full spectrum of pathogen transfer that sea lice management does not touch, still reaches the wild salmon on their way to sea. It is not enough.

A Commitment Demands a Plan

Prime Minister, we are asking you to honour the 2029 commitment, and to move immediately to the work that honouring it requires.

The deadline is three years away. What is needed now is a concrete, publicly available implementation plan that names the farms slated for removal, sets out the sequence and timeline, and provides support for affected workers and communities. The Broughton Archipelago transition demonstrated that an orderly, phased removal is achievable. Led by First Nations, respectful of industry operational realities, guided by science, that process worked. It is the model, and it should be applied coast-wide without further delay.

The Pacific Salmon Strategy Initiative, renewed in April 2026, provides the foundation. The Keystone Fund and Salmon Canada frameworks show what building on that foundation could look like. The public support is well documented: 68% of British Columbians want this commitment kept, and 73% say they would trust the federal government less if it is not.

Prime Minister, we invite you to come to our territory. Stand with us at the rivers. See for yourself what we see every day and what that means to watch the salmon disappear from waters that once held them in abundance. No briefing, no report, no statistic can replace standing where the runs once filled the water and seeing what remains. You are welcome here. Come, and let us show you.

The Potlatch declaration has been signed and the salmon are waiting. It is time to act.

With respect and resolve,

Ḥupačasatḥ Ḥawił Tsu Tsii In Hupacasath Nation, Nuu-chah-nulth

On behalf of the 2025 Migratory Salmon Declaration signatories

*Read the original signed letter HERE

See original posting and view other blog posts HERE

Subscribe now

A historic gold mine re-opened using modern technology, to scour out minerals the old-timers couldn’t get at? Twenty kilometres from Tofino? Is this the best we can hope for, a third of a century after the historic 1993 Clayoquot Summer peaceful protests put the region on the map of global ecological hotspots?

It seems that’s what the BC government wants. This spring, they issued mineral exploration permits to Vancouver-based Imperial Metals. The permits would allow Imperial to explore in the territories of the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation (TFN), in Clayoquot Sound. This despite 2 years of consultation, in which TFN made it clear that mining is not a permissible activity in their territories.

The permits issued allow for 22 drill pad sites, 6 trenches, and 3 helipads in the Tranquil Creek watershed, which is designated as a Tribal Park by Tla-o-qui-aht. They will not expire until 2031. Imperial Metals also holds mineral rights on Catface Mountain (čitaapii), just 13 kilometres from Tofino.

A disaster that changed the conversation around mining in BC

Imperial Metals is notorious for the catastrophic 2014 failure of the tailings dam at their Mount Polley mine, spilling 25 million cubic metres of toxic tailings and slurry into pristine Quesnel Lake—home to a quarter of the Fraser River’s sockeye salmon. It was one of the biggest mining disasters in the world. They are currently facing 15 charges under the federal Fisheries Act in relation to this disaster. Mount Polley is located in the traditional territory of Xat’sull First Nation, near Likely BC in the Cariboo region.

“The province of BC should be respecting our vision for our territories, not issuing permits for mineral exploration without our consent and against our wishes,” said Saya Masso, Tla-o-qui-aht Manager of Lands and Resources. “We’ve seen some positive steps from the BC NDP government, but this move jeopardizes efforts towards reconciliation here in Clayoquot Sound.”

Clayoquot Action has stood united with Tla-o-qui-aht against mining since our founding in 2013, and will continue to oppose any attempts to open mines here in the Clayoquot Sound UNESCO Biosphere Region.

Take action now. Please make your voice heard—send your letter now using our simple online tool. The letter is already written; it only takes a minute! Send the letter HERE

See original posting and view other blog posts HERE

Norwegian salmon farming giant Cermaq stated that the company reduced its mechanical delousing treatments from 56 in 2022 to none in 2025, while lowering average lice levels from 1.93 to 0.30. But how can we know, when Cermaq stopped publicly reporting lice numbers on their fish back in 2024?

Here we go again: The SALAR, Cermaq’s mechanical delousing barge, is back in action in Clayoquot Sound! Wait, what?

Remember the horrible incident in April 2024, when Cermaq’s Hydrolicer killed nearly 1 million herring near Tofino? Since Clayoquot Action broke that story, the SALAR has been docked.

(Read more here: https://clayoquotaction.org/sea-lice-treatments-killing.../ )

Why is the Hydrolicer back? Is Cermaq having sea lice problems again on their fish farms?

#fishfarmsout #wildsalmon #protectwhatyoulove #clayoquotsound #herring

In 2021, Mutehekau Shipu (Magpie River) in Quebec became the first non-human natural entity in Canada to be deemed a person in the eyes of the law. Through a joint resolution passed by the Innu Council of Ekuanitshit and the Minganie Regional County Municipality, the river was granted nine fundamental rights, including the right to live and be free of pollution. Should these rights be threatened, they can work as a basis to take legal action to prevent harm.

This progression in the Canadian legal system follows a shift in the dominant legal paradigm around the world, known as the Rights of Nature doctrine, emerging in legislation, court cases and constitutional amendments. Through granting rights or legal personhood, non-human, natural entities may become actors within the legal system, gaining a voice through a guardian speaking on their behalf.

This doctrine presents an alternative approach to relating to nature to the Anthropocentric conceptions that see humans as separate and superior, and have driven environmental destruction. It can be understood as a reflection of Indigenous legal orders in colonial legal systems, including aligning with some guiding principles of Nuu-chah-nulth law, including heshook-ish tsawalk (everything is one), iisaak (respect for all) and uuathluk (taking care of). Yet, it is important to recognize that this movement takes place largely within the colonial legal system, and must therefore work alongside Indigenous law and management practices to continue to breathe life into these legal orders.

In the case of the Mutehekau Shipu (Magpie River), this legal status may protect the river from the looming threat of hydroelectric development. With similar threats posed in Clayoquot Sound by salmon farming and mining, this legal tool as the potential to protect the species, rivers, and forests that are loved here.

To learn more about the Rights of Nature legal movement and its potential to protect Clayoquot Sound, read our new report or tune in to our free webinar on March 18th.

Nicole Grant (she/her) is a second-year law student at the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University with a specialization in Environmental Law. She moved east to west to work with Clayoquot Action as an intern in 2025, developing this report on the Rights of Nature in Clayoquot Sound. She enjoys spending as much time as possible in nature and aspires to protect what she loves through her work.

Read the report HERE

.

The news cycle is so relentless these days—but every now and then, good news comes through!

Such was the case this January, when CBC reported that the Discovery Islands appeal had been lost—by fish farming giant Mowi. This case has been dragging on since 2020, when Minister of Fisheries Bernadette Jordan announced a phase-out of open-net pens in the Discovery Islands. Those farms were never re-stocked…

Removing fish farms works!

The Discovery Islands are a maze of islands between Campbell River and the mainland coast. They create a series of narrow corridors which millions of Fraser River salmon use when migrating north in the spring. Studies showed that wild salmon were clean heading up the Salish Sea, but were covered in salmon lice by the time they got past the Discovery Islands fish farms.

Once those fish farms were removed from the ocean, migratory salmon numbers began to climb! This removal, in combination with the phase-out of most of the Broughton Area farms, has triggered a huge comeback of salmon. Government claims they don’t know why, and some scientists say it’s too early to say the removal caused the rebound. But it’s getting harder every year to deny the truth—removing fish farms works!

Precautionary principle upheld

The Norwegian companies who own the BC industry sued the Canadian government, not once, but several times. Each time they lost, but won on appeal. By the final round, it was only Mowi suing Canada. Their loss was decisive. The only way forward now would be for Mowi to take their appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.

The Federal Court of Appeal has upheld the Minister’s right to use the precautionary principle when making decisions. This principle says that if the consequences of conclusively proving harm (say, from fish farms) are too high (say, extinction), then we need to be cautious moving forward. There is a large body of evidence of harm from salmon farms, and the Court noted the dire consequences that declining wild salmon stocks could have for First Nations rights, the economy, and the social fabric of British Columbia.

Industry on notice

Let’s give the last word to our friend and ally, independent scientist Alexandra Morton, who writes: “The Discovery Islands win provides certainty to the salmon farming industry, that the coming 2029 ban on marine salmon farms is on solid legal ground. The industry is now on notice to avoid sinking costs into breeding farmed salmon cohorts that won’t mature by June 30, 2029.

Congratulations to Ecojustice, and our colleagues at Watershed Watch Salmon Society, Living Oceans Society, David Suzuki Foundation, Georgia Strait Alliance, and independent biologist Alexandra Morton for seeing this win through!

Dan Lewis is Executive Director of Clayoquot Action

.

It made headlines when Cermaq, MHSS, and the Ahousaht Nation joined for a press release about A full production cycle with no mechanical sea lice treatments in Clayoquot Sound.

But wait! New technology?

Never heard of such a thing!

Here is Alexandra Morton’s inquiry to the Fisheries Minister, the Honourable Joanne Thompson, asking the tough questions about those bold promises:

“September 10, 2025

Dear Fisheries Minister, the Honourable Joanne Thompson,

I am writing in regard to the public announcement by salmon farming company Cermaq regarding their “new technology” that controls sea lice. They don’t say what this technology is and every opportunity to verify their claim has been blocked. I hope you can help.

The biggest public challenge facing the global salmon farming industry is failure to prevent their pathogens, including sea lice, from infecting wild salmon. So it was big news when Cermaq, MHSS, and the Ahousaht Nation said they had used new technology to successfully reduce the number of sea lice to below thresholds set by Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

Norway, where Cermaq is based, identified sea lice as a “crisis” on Sept 1, 2025 with no mention of “new technology”. In BC, Grieg Seafood currently reports salmon farms in Nootka Sound infected with lice exceedances in excess of 34 adult lice per farm salmon. Mowi reports lice exceedances in 43% of their sites from north Vancouver Island through the Central Coast despite use of drugs and mechanical delousing. DFO set a limit of 2.8 lice per farm salmon to protect wild salmon. Cermaq won’t tell us how many lice they have.

The success Cermaq claims with their “new technology” cannot be verified. In August 2024 they were the only fish farm company in BC to abruptly cease public lice reporting.

DFO did conduct six sea lice audits of Cermaq farms earlier this year, but they visited two farms twice, so only four of Cermaq’s 12 sites were checked for lice. It is unknown if these 4 farms were stocked with juvenile Atlantic salmon known to be lice-free at saltwater entry, or the lice-bearing adult fish which are the concern.

DFO reports Cermaq used four “infeed [drug] treatments” in January and February with no reporting after June 19, 2025. This is old technology with failing efficacy.

Access to Information A-2025-00442 (left) includes DFO analysis of whether semi closed “skirts/tarps” (the new technology?) reduced sea lice exceedances, but the results for Clayoquot (Cermaq) are redacted. Someone would have requested the Cermaq results not be made public.

Access to Information A-2025-00049 includes reports and video from DFO staff reporting “a massive area below the SCCS [semi-closed containment system] covered 100% with feces and fish feed” (pg 32) at Cermaq’s Millar Pt site in Clayoquot Sound. If this is the “new technology” it is extremely dirty. They state Cermaq refused to produce required records (pg 31), a breach of licence, and your staff struggles to deal with the damage to the benthic environment under this so-called closed system.

I am aware this is a critical time for the BC salmon farming industry and that the current Liberal Government is being pressured to rescind the previous Liberal Government’s 2029 “Ban” on open net salmon farms. Many people are very encouraged by the huge returns of wild salmon to regions where eight First Nations and the federal government closed ~50% of salmon farms on the BC coast. Places where salmon farms continue to operate have not seen these significant increases in wild salmon. The very large increases in chum and sockeye took DFO by surprise, suggesting that whatever caused the surge in numbers has not been properly assessed by DFO. To date, no theories other than relief from exposure to industrial aquaculture pathogens, supported by considerable academic science, has been offered. If wild salmon rebound when fish farms are removed, does this mean salmon farms are responsible for the collapse of BC salmon fisheries? Could this become a matter before the courts?

To confirm that Cermaq’s “new technology” claim is not unfounded over-reach, we need their “new technology” to be identified. We need the monthly sea lice data from Cermaq’s farms, the redacted efficacy analysis from A-2025-00442. We need to know why the seafloor under Cermaq’s semi-closed system was buried in farm salmon feces. We need to know that the other pathogens, bacteria and viruses, are also prevented from infecting wild salmon via this “new technology.

I hope you are being adequately briefed on the unexpected and extraordinary 2025 Fraser River sockeye salmon returns. You need to be certain whether the black line in the graph below—the number of sockeye that entered the Fraser River this year vs the previous 3 generations—is related to the fact that this is the first generation of this brood line not exposed to salmon farms in the Discovery Islands when they went to sea in 2023.

The Liberal Government’s policy to follow recommendation #19 of the Cohen Commission into the Decline of the Fraser Sockeye which suggested removing salmon farms from the Discovery Islands appears to be an unparalleled success. Please also review the 2024 Fraser sockeye and chum salmon returns east of Vancouver Island.

I understand confidentiality is preferred by some companies, but Cermaq is making claims that will critically affect wild salmon in public waters throughout British Columbia.

In closing, below are photos of a sample of juvenile chum salmon that were trying to migrate to sea past the Mowi salmon farms which are currently over the lice limits DFO set to protect these fish. This infection is worse than 2001 when I first brought this problem to government attention. Clearly, DFO efforts to protect this generation of young salmon from the salmon farms still in operation on the BC coast is not working.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. I hope to hear from you.”

Guest Blog by Alexandra Morton, independent biologist and author of the bestseller, Not On My Watch.

Wild salmon are a keystone species in west coast ecosystems. They feed the bears, eagles and orcas, and have sustained Indigenous cultures for millennia. They also provide the nitrogen missing in coastal soils, which is why ancestral cedars grow to such monumental size on Vancouver Island!

Salmon farming began in Norway in the 1970s. The industry grew rapidly, and the environmental impacts soon became apparent. As the Norwegian government legislated protections for wild salmon, the companies began to invest their profits in places with weaker regulations, expanding the Atlantic salmon farming industry as far away as Chile and Canada.

At first, salmon farming was welcomed on the west coast as a generator of rural jobs. But the jobs soon flat-lined as the industry mechanized. And the environmental impacts began to decimate BC wild salmon populations, which are now at all-time historic lows. In 2024, only one Chinook salmon returned to spawn in the Upper Kennedy River on the highway to Tofino. This is a pathway to extinction…

Open-net pen salmon farms allow for the free flow of pathogens, parasites, poop and uneaten feed into the marine environment. The pathogens are contained in the liquid waste.

Because fish breath by passing water over their gills, it is dead-easy for wild fish to pick up viral particles as they swim by. It’s hard to monitor the effects, because a sick fish will quickly get eaten by predators. But we see the result—less and less wild fish returning to spawn each fall in their natal streams.

First Nations were the first to oppose the industry. Then, in 2017 Kwakwabalas (Chief Ernest Alfred, traditional leader of the ‘Na̱mg̱is First Nation) occupied the Swanson Island fish farm near his home in Alert Bay. The BC government met with leadership and the companies, and a phase-out began which saw 17 fish farms removed from the Broughton Archipelago. Other Nations joined in, and to date 40% of BC salmon farms have been removed from the BC coast. And those Nations are being richly rewarded with abundant returns of Pink and Chum salmon!

In 2025 the federal government announced a ban on open-net pen salmon farms, to take effect in 2029. To this end they have established a Transition Task Force. At this writing, it looks like the Task Force is considering experimental in-water fish farms, so-called Closed Containment Systems (CCS).

Norwegian giant Cermaq towed their CCS into the Clayoquot Sound UNESCO Biosphere Region back in 2020. Clayoquot Action sent a dive team down to see what was coming out the bottom. What they saw shocked them—a river of feces and feed pellets flowing out the bottom. This dive resulted in the creation of our documentary film, Salmon Secrets, which is winning awards around the world!

Although Norway has been incentivizing these experiments for over a decade, no-one has come up with a system that can protect wild salmon. The only way for this industry to move forward is to abandon their obsolete technology from the 1970s, and move onto land. This is happening now, around the world. If Canada doesn’t embrace land-based closed containment, we will not only lose our wild salmon forever, we risk losing out on economic opportunities.

Dan Lewis is Executive Director of Clayoquot Action.

We’ve uncovered a lot of shocking and disgusting information while investigating the truths behind factory salmon farming. But nothing prepared us for the raw, gut-turning reality revealed in the footage we’re releasing today.

We call them the Sh*t Tapes — because there’s little point in dressing-up what is, quite plainly, a deeply foul and disturbing reality. The amount of feces and waste feed dumped into our coastal waters by a relatively small experimental salmon farm is shocking.

Can you take a minute to voice your concern to the Minister of Fisheries and send a letter? Add your voice HERE.

This ROV (remotely operated vehicle) video footage comes from beneath an “experimental” fish farm near Tofino, B.C. This fish farm design was previously called a Semi-Closed Containment System (it’s referred to as SCCS for short, in the government documents we accessed below). However, the industry may now be referring to it as a Closed Containment system. Regardless what they’re calling it, it’s clearly failing.

We obtained the video footage through a government request, after our allies Clayoquot Action sounded the alarm that something disturbing was happening at the site. They documented months of surface pollution near the Millar Channel factory fish farm, owned by Norwegian-based Cermaq.

The underwater videos were taken by a Fisheries and Oceans Canada inspector when he visited the farm site after complaints were made about the pollution. We also accessed his disturbing inspection report (ATIP pages 31-33), which can be read here. It includes:

“We flew an ROV transect below the SCCS [Semi Closed Containment System] feed pipe on bottom, and shortly into the transect noticed a “trench” that appeared to be approximately 30 cm wide. The trench appeared to be dug out of the mud bottom and it was full of fish feces. We followed the trench with the ROV for about 5-6 minutes with no end observed.”

“We followed the trench the opposite direction and went under the SCCS. The trench led to a massive area below the SCCS covered 100% with feces and fish feed.”

“We flew the ROV up to a few of the ports along the bottom of the SCCS and observed a significant amount of feed and feces coming out of the outflow ports.”

The videos are a little choppy in places, perhaps due to the depths attained by the ROV and its connection to the surface. However, we wanted to release them in their entirety to make them a part of the public record and to show the world what factory fish farming is doing to coastal waters.

The sea bed under most salmon farms is too deep for divers to reach, so people rarely see what is under factory fish farms. These videos make it crystal clear. Loads of feces and feed from this relatively small experimental fish farm is smothering wide stretches of the sea bottom. It’s unbelievably disturbing.

Here are all the videos we received:

1. Aerial drone video: Video 1

2. ROV follows surface cables and tubes: Video 2

3. ROV dives to sea bottom and views feces and feed trench, and massive polluted areas: Video 3

4. ROV rises between 46 – 43 metres and views feces and feed falling?: Video 4

5. ROV moves around ports and bottom sludge collector: Video 5

A news article was written on the disgusting incidents detailed in the inspection report of this site, and an industry spokesperson was quoted as saying this farm has been working “exceptionally well.”

The article also mentions the ROV videos. What is also very troubling is the documents we received also mention some redacted health issues of the fish in the experimental fish farm (SCCS) and the use of Florfenicol a total of seven times, including in February 2025. Florfenicol is an antibiotic and is commonly used to treat furunculosis in farm salmon, a common disease. It’s also typically administered in the feed, and as the videos show, the feed is spreading all over the seafloor. Therefore, it’s well within the realm of possibility that medicated feed was discharged into the surrounding ocean and wild species, like fish and crab, ate some. In addition to the negative health impacts on wild species, is this not a human health risk? What if people are fishing or harvesting prawn or crab in an area where medicated feed is spread into coastal waters? We’re not aware of any public notices that were made about this risk…

For a compilation reel of the most concerning parts of the video files, watch this:

As an endnote, the federal government promised to transition the remaining open net-pen salmon farms from BC. They’re supposed to release a transition plan this year, detailing how it will happen.

This disgusting incident of an experimental ocean-based salmon farm shows that fish farms— no matter what type—don’t work in the ocean. Whatever the federal government releases in its plan, it can’t include factory salmon farms that operate in the ocean. Full stop.

* in collaboration with Stan Proboszcz from SAFE SALMON and Watershed Watch Salmon Society

What happened? Learn more about the incident and what we found during our CSI trips in Clayoquot Sound here:

• Cermaq’s doomed experiment

• Cermaq’s doomed experiment – Part II

“Massive Area” Under Closed Containment Salmon Farm “Covered 100% with Feces and Fish Feed”—Government Records Reveal

A recent government inspection has uncovered shocking levels of pollution beneath an experimental salmon farm off the coast of Tofino, British Columbia. Underwater footage and inspection records reveal that the seafloor beneath Cermaq Canada’s semi-closed containment system at Millar Channel is completely blanketed in fish feces and uneaten feed—raising serious concerns about the future of in-ocean aquaculture in BC.

Clayoquot Action crew discovered signs of a die-off at Cermaq’s SCCS

In November 2024, Clayoquot Action set out on a CSI (Clayoquot Salmon Investigation) mission to check on Cermaq’s fish farms in Clayoquot Sound, north of Tofino. As the team approached Cermaq’s experimental semi-closed containment system (SCCS), the stench of rotting fish indicated that something was going wrong. Then the team saw it—a sheen of fish oil with bits of rotting tissue, both inside and outside of the pen.

Immediately, we reported to Department of Fisheries (DFO) and received two responses to this incident which did not line up with each other—and neither really explained what happened. We called for an investigation.

A “Massive Area” of pollution

The alarming findings come from a DFO report obtained by Watershed Watch Society through an Access to Information request.

Feb 6, 2025

“We flew an ROV (remotely operated vehicle) transect below the SCCS (semi-closed containment fish farm) feed pipe on bottom, and shortly into the transect noticed a “trench” that appeared to be approximately 30 cm wide. The trench appeared to be dug out of the mud bottom and it was full of fish feces. We followed the trench with the ROV for about 5-6 minutes with no end observed.”

“We followed the trench the opposite direction and went under the SCCS. The trench led to a massive area below the SCCS covered 100% with feces and fish feed.”

“We flew the ROV up to a few of the ports along the bottom of the SCCS and observed a significant amount of feed and feces coming out of the outflow ports”

More red flags: Wildlife intrusion and antibiotic use

Another inspection report noted that at the semi-closed containment system “… at Millar Channel, one sea lion was able to gain access to the bottom chamber of the SCCS. Divers investigated and believed to have released the sea lion.” This breach was a threat both to the animal and the integrity of the containment system.

Even more concerning: the salmon inside the farm had been treated with the antibiotic florfenicol at least seven times, including as recently as February. While the specific health issues remain redacted, the repeated use of antibiotics in open-water settings can contribute to antibiotic resistance and contaminate the surrounding ecosystem. No public health advisories have been issued for seafood harvested near the site.

Federal transition away from open-net pens

The federal government has pledged to phase out open-net pen salmon farms in BC by July 1, 2029. As a part of this transition, the government is considering various alternatives—including land-based recirculating systems and in-water technologies like Cermaq’s semi-closed containment system.

With salmon stocks in British Columbia at all-time historic lows, this is not the time to tinker with experimental systems which can still harm wild salmon and pollute the marine environment. It’s time for this industry to grow up and get out of the ocean.

What comes next?

With the clock ticking on open-net pen farming, the federal Transition Task Force has a critical job ahead. As Stan Proboszcz, Senior Science and Policy Analyst at Watershed Watch, put it: “With the federal government about to release its BC fish farm transition plan and considering alternatives to open-net pens, these incidents make one thing clear: in-water fish farming isn’t the solution.”

Transparency and accountability must guide this transition. Experimental farms like the one at Millar Channel must be rigorously evaluated, and public concerns about marine pollution, wildlife impacts, and food safety must be taken seriously.

If BC is to protect its dwindling wild salmon populations and restore the health of its coastal waters, the aquaculture industry must embrace truly sustainable solutions — and that means moving out of the ocean entirely and as soon as possible.

Learn more about the incident and Clayoquot Action’s findings here: Cermaq’s doomed experiment

Read more about What Factory Fish Farms Don’t Want You to See Underwater HERE

Dan Lewis is Executive Director of Clayoquot Action.

Chinook salmon are the largest of the Pacific salmon. They have evolved a remarkably variable life history. Some leave their rivers soon after hatching, some spend a year or more in the river before migrating to sea. Some Chinook mature after 2 years at sea, other in seven years. The average number of years feeding in the ocean is 3-4 years. All this variability makes Chinook resilient. However, all Chinook salmon must enter the ocean at a small and vulnerable stage, and this is when they come into contact with salmon farms.

Everyone agrees salmon farms add waste to marine waters. Salmon farm economics depend on ocean currents moving tons of waste out of each farm daily. This waste carries infection. Wild salmon passing the farms suck the farm water into their mouths and over their gills to breathe, and this brings farm pathogens into direct contact with their blood. These are facts.

DFO refuses to act

There are laws in Canada that control the spread of fish pathogens. If a virus or bacteria causes disease in salmon, it is restricted under Section 56 of the Fisheries (General) Regulations. Three lawsuits tried to get DFO to recognize that the virus, piscine orthoreovirus (PRV), found in most salmon farms, should be restricted. The judge agreed, but DFO has refused to act. This is one of the leading pieces of evidence of corruption within DFO Aquaculture.

One group of DFO scientists reports PRV is from BC and not a concern, that it is low risk to Pacific salmon. DFO is clinging to this theory, allowing infected farm salmon to enter marine farms from farm salmon hatcheries.

However, other DFO scientists (and many others) show that PRV causes the red blood cells in Chinook salmon to rupture en masse, causing organ failure; that the level of PRV and other infectious disease agents is elevated near salmon farms; and strong evidence that PRV transmitted from farm salmon is infecting wild salmon and reducing the fitness of wild salmon.

So, what does the risk of farm salmon disease mean for the future of Chinook salmon in Clayoquot Sound?

Clayoquot Sound: A pathogen hot spot for Chinook

The DFO “Marine Risk Assessment for Natural-Origin West Coast Vancouver Island (WCVI)Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha)” reports farm salmon pathogens, including PRV, are a “Very High Risk” for wild Chinook salmon in Clayoquot Sound. They state, “Of all regions in BC, open-net salmon farms in WCVI carry the largest potential for impact to Chinook salmon,” because West Coast Vancouver Island Chinook salmon spend their entire lives close to shore where salmon farms are sited. They report the West Coast of Vancouver Island is a “pathogen hot spot for Chinook.” This includes Clayoquot, Nootka and Quatsino, all regions used by the Norwegian and Japanese based salmon farming corporations. Kyuquot is the only region of West Coast Vancouver Island not being used to raise farm salmon.

A remarkable paper published with three First Nation leaders, who won unprecedented access to the salmon farms in the Broughton Archipelago, reports Chinook salmon are actually attracted to salmon farms. These fish are likely drawn by the herring that cluster around the farms eating feed pellet crumbs.

Debate over the impact of salmon farms on wild salmon has existed for as long as the industry has been using BC waters, but today we have the opportunity to hear from the wild fish themselves. With almost 50% of salmon farms in BC removed, we can finally discover—was it the salmon farms, or something else that closed nearly all Pacific salmon fisheries in BC?

The majority of salmon farms on east Vancouver Island between Alert Bay and Puget Sound have been closed. In this graph we see the extraordinary increase in Chinook salmon that migrate along this route and return to the Fraser River since salmon farms were closed.

We also see good Chinook salmon returns to Kyuquot Sound, north of Clayoquot Sound, where there are no salmon farms.

In Clayoquot Sound, the decline of Chinook salmon began when salmon farms arrived in the early 1990s. There is no sign of the increase that has occurred where salmon farms have been removed. To put this in perspective, only one Chinook salmon returned to the Kennedy River in 2023, and again in 2024.

Removing salmon farms works

For those who don’t believe pathogens from industrial salmon farms are driving down wild salmon populations, there will aways be a shred of evidence to cling to, a loophole, some uncertainty to be raised. However, now that eight First Nations, the federal government of Canada and Washington State have closed many salmon farms, the wild salmon themselves are having their say. Where salmon farms are removed their numbers are increasing, and not just Chinook.

BC is the first place in the world where we can see what happens when salmon farms close. This Fall will be another opportunity to hear from the fish. Will their numbers continue to sky-rocket where farm salmon disease no longer pours into the ocean?

Alexandra Morton is an independent biologist, and author of the bestseller, Not On My Watch.

There’s always a bit of nervous tension during CSI (Clayoquot Salmon Investigation) missions as we approach a fish farm. Our goal is to expose the dirty secrets of salmon farming, and to make the invisible visible. There is a sense of dread—what are we going to see this time?

On November 25th last year, as we approached Cermaq’s experimental semi-closed containment system (SCCS), the stench of rotting fish was our first clue that something was going wrong. Then we saw it—a sheen of fish oil with bits of rotting tissue, both inside and outside of the pen.

SCCS is a viral super-spreader

The equivalent volume of 7 Olympic-sized swimming pools is pumped through the system every hour. There is no collection of the solid waste, nor of the liquid waste. As a result, this system is a viral super-spreader like every other fish farm in BC waters…

CSI has been back to the SCCS for 5 more site visits—most recently on 29 January. The pollution is on-going, with a sheen of oil across the bay, and a line of sushi-coloured sludge around the system. Gulls were observed feeding on the pink sludge, then rinsing off in a nearby creek before returning to feed.

It is sad to see wildlife being impacted by salmon farming operations, especially within a UNESCO Biosphere Region like Clayoquot Sound.

The Department of Fisheries’ 2 responses to this incident do not line up with each other, and neither really explains what happened.

SCCS will not protect wild salmon

Cermaq’s SCCS is one option the government is considering as an alternative to open-net pen salmon farms, which will be banned in BC as of July 1st, 2029. The problem is, they’re really not that different than open-net pens, and will do nothing to protect wild salmon.

There is no future for the salmon farming industry in BC waters. Over 120 First Nations, and 75% of British Columbians want fish farms removed from the ocean. Washington State recently banned open-net pen salmon farming, leaving BC as the only jurisdiction on the west coast of North America allowing salmon farming companies to pollute the ocean.

With many wild salmon populations at historic lows, it is time for bold action. Make sure your views are known—add your voice here.

Dan Lewis is Executive Director of Clayoquot Action.

* Read the BIV article Critics raise concerns over experimental Vancouver Island fish farm HERE

* Dan Lewis talks about the open-net pen salmon farming ban in BC on ABC (Australian Radio) – Listen HERE

* Read about what happened after Clayoquot Action exposed the incident: Cermaq’s doomed experiment part II – HERE

* Read more about What Factory Fish Farms Don’t Want You to See Underwater HERE

Something good and important happened last summer in the Clayoquot Sound UNESCO Biosphere Region. With little fanfare, Ahousaht and Tla-o-qu-aht First Nations announced the creation of 10 new conservancies, which will protect 76,000 hectares of key ancestral forests in their territories.

The announcement came after years of visioning with and listening to the membership of both Nations. Congratulations to Ahousaht and Tla-o-qui-aht for implementing a strong conservation vision for your territories!

In a nutshell, the decision protected the intact ancestral rainforests of Flores Island, Vargas Island, and Meares Island (wanačis ḥiłhuuʔis Tribal Park). The unlogged and unprotected iiḥmis (precious) valleys (the Pretty Girl, Ursus River, Clayoquot River and much of the Sydney) will now join the Megin, Watta and Moyeha with permanent protection. This will double the amount of protected old-growth rainforest in the region, the largest remaining tract of temperate rainforest on Vancouver Island.

Clear-cut logging has no place

Elmer Frank, Chief Councillor, Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation said “These lands have benefited from the stewardship of our Hawiih (hereditary chiefs) and the lands have provided benefits to our people for untold generations. The establishment of conservancies will ensure that clear-cut logging has no place in these important old-growth forests. This protection by British Columbia brings BC laws into better alignment with Tla-o-qui-aht laws.”

“The Ahousaht Hawiih celebrate this decision alongside partners and people around the world as a significant win for climate, biodiversity, reconciliation between Ahousaht and British Columbia, and of course for the benefits to the Ahousaht Nation”, said Tyson Atleo, an Ahousaht hereditary representative.

An impossible dream come true

Having been a key leader of the so-called War for the Woods, I feel such huge relief to know these valleys will be spared from the chainsaw. 30 years ago, that seemed like an impossible dream. Yet a small group of people worked very hard to put this issue on the map globally (and succeeded beyond our wildest dreams!).

Now the forests are finally protected, ensuring a future for the use of cedar in cultural ways, including carving poles and canoes, clothing, housing and medicines. The ancestral forests also provide critical spawning habitat for salmon, ensuring that once fish farms are removed from tribal waters, this key food source will also continue into the future.

Huge gratitude to the Province of BC and the Government of Canada for supporting Ahousaht and Tla-o-qu-aht’s vision to protect their lands for future generations. We call on both governments to continue to support the Nations and their neighbours in implementing their land use visions fully.

Dan Lewis is Executive Director of Clayoquot Action.

Photo: Sander Jain Photography

Forty percent of BC’s open-net pen salmon farms have been removed from the ocean—largely through the efforts of First Nations to protect their wild salmon. And they are being richly rewarded—since the removal of Discovery Island and Broughton Area salmon farms, there has been a spectacular resurgence of pinks, coho, chum and chinook. Every year the evidence mounts that this is a result of fish farm removals.

Just look at the Hada River in Musga’magw Dzawada’enuxw territory. Formerly seeing abundances of up to 50,000, the river was down to several hundred spawners. The first generation to return after the farms were removed increased to 15,500 spawners in just one cycle (2 years). And salmon weren’t the the only ones to return—they brought with them a “staggering” presence of whales, bears, birds, and herring.

Removing fish farms works

The resurgence has spread along the inside passage from Alert Bay to the Puget Sound. A tugboat skipper heading north to Toba Inlet posted on social media that “I’m seeing more chums jumping than I have in my 50 years on the coast!”. These chum are the first generation that migrated out to sea after salmon farms were removed from the Discovery Islands. Published research showed a 96% decline in sea lice infection when they were tiny juveniles.

The abundance of salmon has meant that northern resident orcas have been able to stay in the Broughton area all summer, which is critical for their culture and well-being. Orcalab’s underwater cameras in the Robson Bight Ecological Reserve picked up school after school of pink, coho and chinook salmon.

Healthy wild salmon returns

The removal of salmon farms from the Discovery Islands by federal fisheries minister Bernadette Jordan was perhaps the most successful federal policy enacted to protect the environment. This year’s test fisheries on Fraser River salmon that migrate through the Discovery Islands are showing astonishing increases!

Fisheries and Oceans Canada warned there would not be any commercial salmon openings for chum this year, as returns were forecast to be very low. However, test fishing revealed a much higher than expected abundance, and a fishery was opened successfully.

With wild salmon in the Clayoquot Sound UNESCO Biosphere Region hovering on the brink of extinction, why not remove fish farms here so wild salmon can flourish once again?

Dan Lewis is Executive Director of Clayoquot Action.

Invitation parties went out all summer to hereditary chiefs, matriarchs, fisher families, youth, Indigenous knowledge holders and culture keepers as well as allies, scientists, and all friends of migratory salmon. The Potlatch featured many speakers sharing stories about stewardship, traditional leadership roles and responsibilities.

Many spoke of the challenge of living in 2 worlds. The Potlatch was chosen as a cultural way to address the wicked problem of salmon farming, which sees traditional families, communities and Nations being divided by transnational corporations. Host Alton Watts wanted to bring everyone together in a good way, to share meals, to enjoy the scarce seafood resources (whose future is still threatened), and to share cultural teachings, songs and dances to build good energy for migratory salmon.

And many First Nations showed up! Leaders gathered from far and wide, including members of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe from California (who removed dams on the Klamath River to bring back their salmon), the Syilx Nation and the Tsilhqot’in from the Interior, as well as Nations from all over Vancouver Island.

The Kwakwaka̱’wa̱kw Nations of the Broughton Area made a thunderous entrance, with over one hundred people drumming and singing their way in. The hall reverberated, and they brought the house down with a message of hope, saying ‘We removed salmon farms from our waters, and are being richly rewarded with an abundance of salmon returning to their parent streams. You can do it too, and we’re here to show our support!’.

Nations without salmon farms, such as Hesquiaht here in Clayoquot Sound, made strong statements about the declines they see in their territorial wealth, and the importance of standing together to protect what’s left. Tla-o-qui-aht showed up, singing and dancing for an hour, taking us into the wee hours of Sunday morning.

Citizens & leaders from Ahousaht pleaded for help, saying their leadership wants to keep fish farms in the water past the 2029 deadline imposed by the federal government. The point was emphasized, that not all Ahousaht people agree with MHSS (Ahousaht economic development) on this file.

On Sunday morning, a Migratory Salmon Declaration was signed by Chiefs from many Nations. The declaration calls for signatories to “Relentlessly work towards the immediate removal of all open-net pen fish farms, which is within our control and works to help Salmon return in abundance”.

Many referred to the potlatch as ‘historic’, and it may well be a turning point.

The impacts of salmon farming do not recognize borders, and cannot be contained in any one Nation’s waters. As well, salmon swim into the waters of other Nations, where they cannot be protected from fish farms. Salmon also swim from territory to territory, spreading pathogens from fish farms as they go. The Declaration ‘acknowledges that no one has a right to condemn a species to extinction’. It’s time to work together, to create abundance not just for humans, but for all of Nature.

With Washington State having banned open-net pens, BC is the only jurisdiction allowing them on the west coast of North America. In BC, over 120 First Nations want fish farms out, as do 75% of citizens. The fact that the feds plan to ban salmon farms is a good first step. Everyone has already done so much to get fish farms out. Now, it’s up to us all to create the pressure needed to put this issue over the finish line!

Read the Declaration HERE

Dan Lewis is Executive Director of Clayoquot Action.

Subscribe now