Mowi Canada West

A British Columbia salmon farming company is going to court to challenge the federal government's decision not to renew the licences for its open-net farms off Vancouver Island.

Fish farm operators Mowi Canada West, Cermaq Canada and Grieg Seafood applied for a judicial review of the order that prevented them from restocking their farms, arguing it lacked reasons and didn't "show an appreciation of the facts." 

One of the largest farmed salmon producers operating in B.C. says it's permanently closing its processing plant in Surrey, B.C., because of a federal government decision to phase out some fish farms.

Homalco Chief Darren Blaney says wild salmon and First Nations will suffer after fish farm companies won a court challenge against a ban on restocking their sites in the Discovery Islands.

A Federal Court judge has ruled in favour of Mowi Canada West and Saltstream, which challenged Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan’s policy decision to ban the restocking of pen sites in the Discovery Islands ahead of the June 2022 fish farm phaseout.

Two international aquaculture companies want the Federal Court to set aside federal Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan’s decision — in whole or in part — to phase out salmon farming operations in the region by the end of June 2022.

Global warming is likely to significantly reduce the areas suitable for the farming of Atlantic salmon along the West Coast, according to a recent UBC study.

The escape of an estimated 20,000 non-native fish off Vancouver Island demonstrates the urgent need to phase out ocean-based farming and calls into question the federal government's own five-year deadline, say wild salmon advocates.