August 12, 2019 

The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson
Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Via Email: [email protected] 

OPEN LETTER: Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s (DFO) Policy Not to Test for the Piscine Orthorevirus (PRV) Before Transferring Atlantic Salmon to the Open-Net Fish Farms (the PRV Policy) 

Dear Minister Wilkinson: 

The Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) writes in support of the ‘Namgis First Nation’s position that the DFO should prohibit introductions of Atlantic salmon infected with PRV into open-net fish farms. The scientific evidence continues to show that PRV was likely introduced to British Columbia (BC) from Europe and is a foreign virus that can cause significant harm to populations of native, wild Pacific salmon.  Unfortunately, the DFO continues to ignore this risk even though it is unassailable: 

The First Nations Leadership Council (FNLC) calls on the Government of British Columbia and Canada to recognize the extreme risk to which their promotion of the BC finfish aquaculture industry presents to not only the pristine coastal BC environment but to already critically low wild salmon runs on which many British Columbians rely.

Vancouver, BC, Coast Salish Territories– In a brief released today, West Coast Environmental Law, supported by First Nations, scientists and conservation groups, is calling for Canada’s Fisheries Minister to act immediately on his mandate to “restore lost protections” for fish habitat gutted by the former Conservative government.