We, the undersigned, ask that Save On Foods, Costco, Sobeys/Safeway, Super Store, Fairways, and Whole Foods, divest from the selling of farmed salmon sourced from open pen/ open water sources.

With Washington state's recent moratorium on the industry and the rapid decline of BC’s wild salmon populations, we feel it is time that these stores fall instep with Thrifty’s and other BC food retailers who no longer sell open-pen farmed salmon.

The science is clear: open-pen aquaculture practices encourage the spread of viruses from farmed Atlantic salmon to BC's wild salmon populations, causing rates of disease and pre-spawn mortality to soar. In addition, they create large "dead-zones" in the areas surrounding the farms due to the amount of fecal matter, antibiotics, and chemicals pouring from the farms daily. Furthermore, the spread of sea lice has become uncontrolled, impacting juvenile wild salmon. These factors have had devastating impacts on the ecosystem as a whole. In order to encourage the rehabilitation of wild salmon populations, open-pen farming practices must be prohibited and a transition to on-land, closed-containment systems prioritized. However, despite overwhelming evidence and three court rulings, the industry continues to deny the impact it is having on the environment and continuing to expand its open-pen operations along the BC coast. In response, we are asking citizens and retailers of British Columbia to stand in solidarity with wild salmon by boycotting the sale of open-pen farmed salmon.

The above-mentioned have become some of the largest food retailers in British Columbia and with that they have earned the responsibility to act on the side of caution and care for the region that they do business in. Because of this position and because of the great body of scientific concern surrounding the industry we ask these retailers to stop selling open penned/ open water farmed Atlantic salmon.

For more information please visit our Facebook page @SaveOurSalmonBC