With record pink returns in various rivers along the BC coast, the BC Salmon Farmers Association has more than its 25th anniversary to celebrate at the association's AGM being held today.
The high returns demonstrate that despite all the factors that have contributed to reduced Pacific salmon returns throughout the Pacific Northwest (including changing water temperatures and conditions as well as impacts created by forestry, mining, agriculture, urbanization and water impoundments), there is hope that better ocean conditions can turn the tide on this decline and result in healthier returns for all salmon species. Significantly, healthy pink salmon returns in BC’s main salmon farming areas show that sea lice management as practiced by BC salmon farms does work to minimize effects of farming operations on wild populations.
In her AGM speech, BCSFA Executive Director, Mary Ellen Walling, discusses how transparency and accountability has taken an already strong BC industry to the next level: "We open our books, we open our doors, we fund research, we engage with our critics, we acknowledge the importance of continuous improvement and we work for solutions. We define that as accountability. And we believe it is a critical attribute."
