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Come June 2022, the 19 salmon farms operating in the Discovery Islands will be a thing of the past.
Federal Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan announced a phaseout of open-net pen fish farms in the area on Thursday, Rochelle Baker reports. The move, slated to take place over the next 18 months, comes after consultations with local First Nations and heated debate over the aquaculture operations, which environmental groups say pose a danger to declining wild salmon stocks.
“We’re working with industry to make sure that this is a fair transition for them,” the fisheries minister said.
“But it is a very difficult decision because we know that this impacts people’s livelihoods, it impacts the industry and impacts our coastal communities.”
The current phaseout affects only B.C.’s Discovery Islands, however Jordan said consultations on a plan to transition away from open-net pen salmon farms on the Pacific coast by 2025 will continue in the new year.
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