The island-based hereditary major open-NE NET Calls to cancel the Ban
Ahousaht is calling a hereditary major federal government with the nation to cancel its plan to ban the open-net fish farm along the BC coast.
In last June, the Federal Fisheries Minister announced that the ban would be effective in June 2029. It was originally to be held in 2025.
The restriction is in response to the calls of environmentalists and many first nations, which say that at risk of open water, fish fields have a disease spreading in wild salmon population.
But a hereditary head is the head, who is the chairman of the Economic Development Organization of Ahasahat, said that his nation benefits from fish fields in his water.
There are 12 of them in the Ahoshat region, near Tofino on the west coast of Vancouver Island. They are powered by a Norwegian aquaculture company Cermaq.
Maaqutusiis hahoulthee Stewardship Society (MHSS), the country’s Economic Development Body, has a protocol agreement with CERMAQ that helps guide how the company operates.
The society also gets money from the company, which it uses to invest in other projects for the nation. It also employs about 50 people of the nation.
“It would actually be harmful at many different levels if (fields) were removed,” said Hasukumis.
He told CBC News that he is working with CERMAQ to reduce the amount of sea lice and pathogens found on fish in his fields, by banning the protocol.
If the company failed to reduce the number of marine lice, for example, they would be asked to leave.
A recent statement by Cermaq, MHSS, and Ahousaht Nation stated that they used new technology to successfully reduce the number of marine lice below the threshold set by fisheries and the oceans Canada.
“This is a real path when a first nation is connected to the monitoring aspect, and puts the real stringent protocol in place,” Hasukumis said.
He said that he has hired his own biologist to examine the results of CERMAQ and found that they match.
They believe that ongoing innovation and new technology can reduce the risks of wild salmon shares from the fish cultivated.
Violation of rights
If the federal government proceeds with its plan to ban all open-net fish farms on the BC coast, which includes the Ahoshat region, Hashukumis said it would violate its country’s rights to take care of its land and people.
He argues that this will also be a violation of the duty of the federal government to consult.
But Bob (Galgam ‘) Chamberlin, the first nation is the head of the Wild Salmon Alliance.
He is against fish fields, saying that science is clear that they harm the wild salmon.
He pointed to the huge return of this year for the Fraser River – saying that he thinks is more salmon because some fields were already removed from the east of Vancouver Island.
He said that the federal government would have to consider all the BC first nations with the rights of fishing while considering the ban – and they say that most of them are in favor.
“I really believe that most of the first part of the first nations speaking in a route is to lead the result where it should be,” Chamberlin said.
CBC News asked fisheries and oceans Canada if it was still on track to exclude the fields by 2029.
In response, it sent the following statements that do not answer this question: “The Government of Canada is dedicated to supporting an innovative and rich permanent aquatic agricultural sector in British Columbia in close collaboration with the province, first nation and industry.”
