The Norwegian-owned Grieg Seafood has blood on their hands in Canada after paying $100,000 to avoid charges for the killing of 65 sea lions and four harbour seals in British Columbia. CBC News & The Canadian Press report (21 January):
The Times Colonist reported (21 January):
"A decision by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to drop charges against a fish farming company that caused the drowning deaths of 65 sea lions is being criticized by a leading environmental organization," reported The Globe & Mail (24 January). “The thing that is really disappointing is that there’s no mention of how [fish-farm practices] will actually improve because of this,” said Ruby Berry, salmon aquaculture campaign director for the Georgia Strait Alliance.
“What we are seeing from DFO are decisions that continually allow [fish farms] to keep doing the same things. Sea lions are predators of salmon and they will keep going after these farmed fish, as long as those fish are in the water,” she said. “The fish farming industry has been telling us for 25 years they have solved the problem [of accidental seal and sea-lion deaths] but it just keeps happening,” said Ms. Berry.
She was also critical of the restorative-justice process, saying the forum wasn’t balanced because it didn’t include any representatives from environmental groups. “This whole process was a surprise to us,” she said.
Read more via "Critics Concerned Over Dropped Charges for Sea Lion Deaths"
The Canadian Government publish damning data on the killings of marine mammals on salmon farms in British Columbia - with "authorized" and "accidental" deaths reported each quarter.
Read in full online here
Grieg Seafood promote their B.C. farmed salmon via the Skuna Bay brand which promises "impossibly high standards". Skuna Bay's web-site claims that it is certified via the Global Aquaculture Alliance's 'Best Aquaculture Practices' which audits "animal welfare".
"We would be crazy to be anything but protective of our environment," claims the company who markets Skuna Bay 'craft-raised' salmon to chefs across North America. Grieg's cooked-up definition of "crazy" must not include the serial killing of seals and sea lions!
Please write to these "crazy" chefs and anyone crazy enough to be still selling farmed salmon. The message is simple: salmon farming kills seals (and sea lions) - don't buy farmed salmon or the blood is on your hands!
Please also write to the US Government asking them to ban the imports of farmed salmon from any farms killing marine mammals - read letters online here
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