"We've seen a regional collapse of all sea life in the 20 years since the salmon farms moved in," said Chief Bob Chamberlin of the Kwicksutaineuk Ah-kwa-mish Canadian First Nation in the province of British Columbia on Canada's west coast.
"I can only shake my head in bewilderment that this is allowed to continue," Chamberlin told IPS from Gilford Island in the Broughton Archipelago, where 20 salmon farms are in operation.
Scientific studies have linked sharp declines in wild salmon populations in British Columbia to disease and parasites originating in open-ocean salmon farms, writes Stephen Leahy for IPSnews. According to the news story, millions of non-native salmon have escaped ocean net-pens in Chile and have become an invasive species, transforming the ecology of local river systems.
These and other unsustainable practices violate the United Nations code on Responsible Fisheries, the coalition from Norway, Canada, Chile, Scotland, and Ireland claim. An international declaration has been submitted to the U.N. calling for a global moratorium.
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