Fish farm claims more victims

Large nets that surround Canada’s west coast's ocean fish farms are claiming more and more marine mammals that are eager to catch a free meal by eating the captive salmon.

The latest victims are a white-sided dolphin and a harbour porpoise, snared and drowned in the nets of a fish farm in the Broughton Archipelago off northern Vancouver Island. The Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) has launched an investigation into the deaths at both farms and also intend to send letters to all fish-farm operators in the province, reminding them of their obligation to report every incident in which a marine mammal drowns in their nets. The DFO said they are at a loss to know what has prompted the deaths of so many animals as the issue is not a problem at every fish farm on the west coast.

The deaths has fuelled calls for an end to the open-ocean net cages used by the scores of salmon fish farms on this coast in favour of a system with closed container tanks. 51 large California sea lions also drowned recently in nets of a fish farm near Tofino, Vancouver Island.