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The move has upset the salmon-farming industry, which claims that the chefs aren’t getting all the facts when it comes to the salmon harvested at B.C. farms.

The chefs and environmentalists claim that many of B.C.’s fish farms are opposed by the Indigenous people who live on the land, and that farming salmon presents a threat to wild salmon because many are infected with a disease that affects both farmed fish and nearby wild salmon.

Suzuki says science has shown that open net-pens present a risk to wild salmon from parasites and disease that can’t be fully mitigated, including piscine reovirus and sea lice, which he says have “serious effects” on the survival of young, wild salmon.

“These farms are making both farmed and wild salmon sick. They need to be shut down or transitioned to sustainable, closed systems as quickly as possible,” he said, in a statement.

Yet Rocky Boschman, a board member with the B.C. Salmon Farming Association, says the chefs have been ill-informed by vested interests, and invited them on a tour of a farm so they can see salmon farming from a different perspective.

In a statement, Boschman said B.C.’s salmon farmers supply an average of 70 per cent of the salmon harvested in the province each year, which he called “a reliable supply” that chefs, grocery stores, specialty producers like smoked fish companies and B.C. families rely on.

“If we want to eat fish we need to farm it. Wild-fish stocks simply cannot support our demand for salmon, and would rapidly be fished-out if salmon farms disappeared,” he said. “It is recognized that all farming causes some environmental impact, whether it is on land or water. Our driving passion is to minimize impacts on the environment while helping feed a hungry world.”

Boschman added that B.C. farmers have invested millions of dollars to update technology and net-pens to address environmental concerns.

Suzuki noted that with Washington state’s decision to phase out open net-pen Atlantic salmon aquaculture farms last month, B.C. is now the only jurisdiction on the West Coast of North America to allow them.

The Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations was looking into whether the minister has received the letter.

B.C. Green party MLA Adam Olsen issued a statement in support of the chefs, calling for an end to open, net-pen salmon farming.

“Wild salmon are of irreplaceable economic and cultural importance to our province,” said Olsen, adding that the B.C. NDP government promised to phase out open, net-pen farms in migratory routes during the election.

Olsen also called for a dedicated representative for wild salmon in government, such as a secretariat or commissioner.

ticrawford@postmedia.com

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