A healthy discussion over the future of British Columbia’s salmon has taken place. It is found that preserving Pacific salmon for future generations is important to everyone in the province, especially those of the people who live on the Island and on the coast. There are 50-plus people works at Marine Harvest Canada which is now the largest private employer on the north half of the Island and the largest aquaculture company in B.C.
In the debate it is ask just how many of Pacific Salmon never make it back to B.C. waters because they are scoped up in the Bering Sea. Another challenges facing juvenile sockeye is the state of the urbanized and industrialized Fraser River estuary. It is said that the health of the Fraser River sockeye and other Pacific salmon stocks is a serious public issue that merits a serious and informed public discussion.
According to the company its obligation to the communities is to listen to concerns and to behave responsibility in minimizing its environmental impacts while providing stable employment that benefits hundreds of families. It is informed that the demand for salmon is growing by 5 percent every year and this includes B.C. consumers. Salmon’s health benefits are clear and widely known. It is true that the wild fisheries cannot meet this demand and, in fact, could not make up the 79,000 tonnes of salmon produced each year by B.C.’s aquaculture industry.
