Salmon issues are real
By Colleen Dane, The Province January 23, 2014
It is extremely unfortunate and disappointing to see the continued misrepresentation of the Cohen Commission findings, as was done in Cheryl Baron's letter. While Baron is correct that Justice Cohen recommended more research into salmon farming, she neglects to mention that this research is to be done to confirm his conclusion that there is no evidence salmon farms are impacting Fraser River sockeye.
We in the B.C. salmon-farming sector support that recommendation and are currently supporting and co-operating with several wild salmon research projects.
There are serious issues facing our wild salmon stocks, including climate change. We fully agree that government policy should be science-based and that is why it is important that we focus on scientific evidence instead of rhetoric. It should also be noted that most of the applications now on file with DFO were submitted before the commission began and were paused while the inquiry took place. To be clear, the acceptance of an application is the first step in a long, complex process, and this return to business does not mean there will be a flood of new applications or rapid expansion.
Colleen Dane, B.C. Salmon Farmers Association
