A Mission Statement from Alex Morton: The Get Out Migration was a call to action to make government aware that we want wild salmon to take higher priority than farm salmon. Farms belong on land. We walked from Sointula, at the north end of Vancouver Island, on April 23 and arrived in Victoria May 8, 2010. Hundreds of people walked portions of the trip, while 5000 of us joined together on the lawn of the Legislature in Victoria on the final day of the journey.
Read the full Mission Statement...
6785 people have signed the petition!
Add your name, tell your friends and make our voices heard for wild salmon in Ottawa!
See what the public has to say about the new regulations.
The federal government has released their proposed
Federal Pacific Aquaculture Regulations with a
public input period until September 8. These regulations role back the safe-guards we have in British Columbia to prevent heavy industrialization and privatization of the coast at the expense of our communities.
See below for a slideshow of the best-of-the-best photos of our journey along the Get Out Migration. Many thanks to everyone who contributed photos and to the Artist Response Team for the final song.
Fish farms operating without valid Crown Land tenures
Biologist applies for expired salmon feedlot licenses
(August 23, 2010, Broughton Archipelago) Salmon Feedlots in the Broughton Archipelago are operating on Crown Land tenures that have been expired for years. This week biologist Alexandra Morton has applied for these licences to return them to their natural state to grow wild fish to the much greater benefit of British Columbians and the BC economy.
Crown Land is public land that the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands (MAL) leases to people and companies. MAL is also in charge of regulating the salmon feedlots.
The return of this year's Fraser sockeye is a phenomena. The fishermen have not seen it this good for 50 years. They keep thinking the last sockeye has entered Johnstone Strait, but the fish just keep pouring in from the Pacific at both ends of Vancouver Island. I go and float with them every morning in Queen Charlotte Strait and watch them finning all around me, rolling at the surface like porpoises, always pointing south, never stopping. Hundreds of miles away, newspapers in Fraser River towns are reporting an economic boon from all the people pouring in to see the fish.
Ah this is one amazing animal….. They are so successful that they can share their wealth prolifically and still reproduce themselves. This run is reminder of what this fish can do: its sheer ability to generate life and capacity as an economic powerhouse.
Hello All,
Just a little notice: we are doing some website reorganizing to transition away from the Get Out Migration into new actions and developments within the salmon farming issue. We appreciate your patience and hope that we can bring some more clarity through our efforts!
Megan
(Mission, August 17, 2010) – Inspired by Salmon Are Sacred, skippers and experienced paddlers are pulling together to ‘Paddle for Wild Salmon’ down the Fraser River in October. Support amongst First Nations is building with Alexandra Morton paddling with Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, Grand Chief Saul Terry, Grand Chief Clarence Pennier, Chief Bob Chamberlin, Chief Marilyn Baptiste, Chief Andy Phillips, June Quipp, Ernie Crey and other leaders. Paddlers from the Stó:lo Nation, Squamish Nation, Cowichan Tribes and Musgamagw-Tsawataineuk Tribal Council have already committed themselves to the journey from Hope to Vancouver (20th to 25th October).
Date:
Monday, October 25, 2010 (All day)
The Paddle for Wild Salmon flotilla, including Alexandra Morton, Grand Chief Stuart Phillip, Chief Bob Chamberlin, Grand Chief Saul Terry, Fin Donnelly MP and friends, will culminate in Vancouver for a march and rally in Vancouver. Together we can speak for wild salmon: tell the Cohen Commission and the provincial and federal governments that wild salmon come first!
Darren Blaney of the Homalco First Nation will also lead a canoe team across the Salish Sea to join the paddlers in Vancouver on 25th October with other canoes hopefully making the journey from Victoria, Cowichan Valley and Washington. Kayakers from the Pipedreams Project will leave Kitimat on 1st September and plan to join the Paddle for Wild Salmon in October.
From today's Straight www.straight.com
By Randy Christensen and David Lane
The way the B.C. government and the province’s fish farm industry do business you’d expect them to be guarding nuclear secrets, not salmon tissue samples.
Yet, time and time again, they break out the cloak and dagger routine, twisting themselves up in knots to prevent industry information—specifically about disease and sea lice infestations on farms—from being made public.
The question is why?
Why don’t B.C. salmon farmers—who get taxpayer money through government subsidies—want the public to know what diseases are on their farms?
The Get Out Migration marches on with a flotilla, walk and rally in Vancouver on 25th October.
Salmon Are Sacred has spaces for 160 people in canoes and calls on experienced paddlers, Tribal Journeys canoe teams and kayakers to join Alexandra Morton, Elena Edwards, First Nations leaders and our flotilla in pulling together for wild salmon as we journey down the Fraser River. The paddle will finish in Vancouver for a rally on
October 25th.
Click
here for our itinerary.
Follow the paddle on Facebook, search "Paddle for Wild Salmon" and confirm that you are attending.
Norway has told salmon feedlots they must prove they are sustainable, while in Canada these same Norwegian companies are being allowed to keep disease information secret and deny access to for disease testing.
The Norwegian Food Safety Authority challenged salmon feedlot owners to prove that they are indeed not polluting, saying the onus is on the companies to show documentation that they are not polluting and have their lice under control.
“If the industry maintains it is operating in a sustainable manner and within the framework of the regulations, this must be substantiated from the industry’s side” (IntraFish Media August 5, 2010)
It would seem reasonable and prudent for Canada to make the same demands of these same companies rather than allow them to turn away provincial disease inspectors.
If their own country has doubts, so should we.
