Fisheries minister extends farmed-salmon moratorium in B.C.’s Discovery Islands

VANCOUVER – The moratorium on aquaculture development in British Columbia’s Discovery Islands will not be lifted for the foreseeable future.

Federal Fisheries Minister Gail Shea made the announcement amid criticism that the government has done nothing one year after Justice Bruce Cohen released his report into the collapse of the Fraser River sockeye run in 2009.

Among Cohen’s 75 recommendations was a call for a cap on production of farmed salmon and a moratorium on new northeast of Campbell River, B.C., because of a likelihood of viruses and diseases migrating to wild sockeye.

Stan Proboszez (pro-BOSH’) of the Watershed Watch Society says the Conservative government has ignored Cohen’s recommendations and missed about 14 deadlines to improve the survival of wild salmon.

NDP Fisheries Critic Robert Chisholm says the longer the federal government waits to implement the recommendations, the harder it will be for the stock to recover.

Cohen’s $26-million inquiry received more than three million pages of documents and listened to almost 900 public submissions during 138 days of hearings.