Not such a merry Christmas in Clayoquot Sound. FOCS has learned that on the evening of December 18th, 2008, thousands of Atlantic salmon escaped into the waters around the Mainstream Cermaq salmon farm at Mussel Rock in Clayoquot Sound. According to a Mainstream representative, the Atlantic salmon escaped during harvesting through a hole in the draining apparatus on the back of the harvest boat. As of today, 2093 Atlantic salmon are unaccounted for. Enough is enough!

Friends of Clayoquot Sound advocate fundamental changes to the current method of salmon farming. We recommend that open net-pen salmon farms be switched to closed containment tanks, which would place a physical barrier between farmed fish and the environment. Better yet, the development of low ecological footprint land based tanks, which would potentially eliminate the escape of farmed salmon during harvesting.

We are calling on the provincial government to allocate $10 million of the 2009 budget for research and development of closed containment technology.  Enough is enough. Much of the true costs of the current open-net salmon farming is being assumed by our environment. Massive sewage flow, disease, ground contamination, and parasites are only a few of the costs to the natural environment. Additionally, BC tax payers are paying for BC fisheries employees and other government agencies to deal with this most recent escape.

Send a fax to BC Premier Gordon Campbell asking for the allocation of funds for research and development of closed containment technology.

Act Now: Click here to send a free fax to BC Premier Gordon Campbell

You too can add your voice to influence the BC government to fund research and development of closed containment systems fish farms in BC