We Won again

[Guest guest]

forwarding.........

 

Today BC Supreme Court ruled in our favour once again. Justice Hinkson

granted the federal government a suspension order until December 18, 2010 so

that Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) can further prepare to assume control of

regulating salmon farms. However, Justice Hinkson forbade any expansion of

aquaculture during that period. Specifically, the province cannot issue any

new fish farm licences and cannot expand the size of any tenure. He

recognized the First Nation interest in this matter by granting the

Musgamagw-Tsawataineuk Tribal Council intervenor status, which is essential as

this case is

based in their territory.

 

 

On the matter pursued by Marine Harvest at the Court of Appeal and sent

back to Justice Hinkson to reconsider (that is whether the fish in the farms

are privately owned by the companies and whether the Farm Practices

Protection Act (FPPA) is still in force), Hinkson confirmed that the FPPA,

will

no longer apply to finfish aquaculture and thus no longer protect farms from

nuisance claims.

 

 

On the question, does Marine Harvest own the fish in their pens? Justice

Hinkson found that this was not the place for this decision. Marine Harvest

will have to bring this before the courts themselves. For now, we know

that the aquaculture fish are now part of the fisheries of Canada.

 

 

Today’s decision is met by the unrelated announcement by US box store

chain “Target†that they have eliminated all farmed salmon from its fresh,

frozen, and smoked seafood offerings in its stores across the United States,

because of farm salmon environmental impact on native salmon.

 

 

There is an enormous amount of work ahead to translate any of this into

better survival of our wild salmon, but the courts seem consistently

interested in bringing reason, the constitution and the law to bear on the

Norwegian fish farm industry in British Columbia.

 

While I am truly sorry that jobs will be lost in ocean fish farming, bear

in mind the industry is in deep trouble with mother nature herself in the

fish farming strongholds of Chile and Norway. Trying to hold this nomadic

fish in pens is never going to work, because it causes epidemics, unnatural

sea lice infestations and drug resistance. Salmon farming is not sustainable

and ultimately we are better served by our wild fish.

 

 

Alexandra Morton

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

That's great news. Thanks for sharing it!

 

 

 

, bestsurprise2002 wrote:

>

> forwarding.........

>

> Today BC Supreme Court ruled in our favour once again. Justice Hinkson

> granted the federal government a suspension order until December 18, 2010 so

> that Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) can further prepare to assume control of

> regulating salmon farms.