Fish Farm Union Upset From: ANewsVanIsland | April 26, 2010
The union representing workers at north island salmon farms says the public needs to know the facts.
It claims that science still hasn't pinpointed an exact cause as to why the BC wild salmon fishery has collapsed.
The union is also upset that some elected officials have chosen to side with organizers of an anti-salmon farm protest march that is winding its way down Vancouver Island this week.
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Speaking for the fish farm workers
By Darrel Wong, Comox Valley Echo April 30, 2010
The United Steelworkers, Local 1-1937, which represents workers employed in the processing of farmed Atlantic salmon, are extremely disappointed that some B.C. MLA's and MP's have apparently chosen to presuppose the results of the Cohen inquiry into the disappearance of wild salmon stocks.
Lana Popham, B.C. MLA, and Fin Donnelly, BC MP, have made their bias against the salmon aquaculture industry well known.
In Ms. Popham's case, the front page of her website is a glowing endorsement of Alexandra Morton's Walk For Wild Salmon.
Ms. Morton's stated intention is the removal of five salmon farms, but there is little doubt that her real intent is to shutdown BC's Salmon Aquaculture Industry.
What is disappointing about Ms. Popham's endorsement is that it is based on bias and politics, not on science.
It is our view that, as an elected MLA, Ms. Popham should take into consideration the existing science and the potential devastating impact on workers and Coastal communities before endorsing one side of the aquaculture debate.
BC MP, Fin Donnelly's website as well, reveals a bias against the aquaculture industry. His website highlights two questions that he asks of the Fisheries Minister in the House of Commons. In both cases, Mr. Donnelly assumes that the decline in Fraser River sockeye is due to salmon farming.
The fact of the matter is that the cause of the declines has not been determined. Justice Cohen has been appointed to conduct an inquiry into this matter, and for an elected official to assume that the cause is due to fish farms is irresponsible.
Our Union and our Membership who work in the salmon aquaculture industry strongly support protection of wild salmon.
We also strongly support a sustainable salmon aquaculture industry. The aquaculture industry is already one of the most regulated industries in B.C., and there is no reason why both wild salmon and farmed salmon cannot co-exist.
It is apparent that workers and the communities that depend on salmon aquaculture are often times overlooked in the interests of political expediency or personal bias.
Someone has to be the voice for workers and their communities, and the Steelworkers intend to be that voice.
Darrel Wong
President
United Steelworkers, Local 1-1937
