Activist wins defamation case launched by salmon-farming company

VANCOUVER – British-born activist Don Staniford has won a major victory against the global salmon-farming industry, the third time he’s faced legal action over his campaigns.

Supreme Court of B.C. Justice Elaine Adair has dismissed a defamation case launched by salmon-farming company Mainstream Canada against Staniford.

The Norwegian-owned company had taken the activist to court over a 2011 campaign that included images of cigarette-like packages and statements such as “Salmon Farming Kills Like Smoking.”

While Adair says the statements were defamatory and Staniford was motivated by malice, she says he honestly believed his statements were true and animosity wasn’t his dominant purpose.

Mainstream Canada says it is disappointed and is reviewing the ruling.

Staniford faced his first legal threat from a Scottish salmon-farming company in 2001 that never went to trial, and he won a new trial that has yet to happen after appealing a defamation victory by B.C.’s Creative Salmon Company in 2007.