Thirty years ago, the federal department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) mismanaged the Atlantic cod fishery into near oblivion sa国际传媒� ignoring the scientists who foresaw the collapse.

Instead, DFO rigged the science to support an unsustainable commercial fishery. Politicians vowed sa国际传媒渘ever againsa国际传媒� and enshrined the precautionary principle into law sa国际传媒� always err on the side of caution sa国际传媒� but did nothing to reform the institution responsible for one of the worldsa国际传媒檚 greatest self-inflicted ecological disasters. Today, DFO does whatever is necessary to support Atlantic salmon farming along B.C.sa国际传媒檚 coast to the significant threat of wild Pacific salmon.

Only Canada allows the farming of Atlantic salmon on the migration routes of wild Pacific salmon. And, just like thirty years ago, DFO continues to rig science so it can skirt its primary duty to protect B.C.sa国际传媒檚 iconic, keystone species.

In 2009, after conducting a three-year federal Inquiry into declining salmon runs, Mr. Justice Cohen saw the essential problem sa国际传媒� DFO might ignore fish farmingsa国际传媒檚 risks to promote the industry. Along with 74 other recommendations, he recommended that DFO not be required to both promote and regulate fish farming. But, DFOsa国际传媒檚 conflicted mandate persists.

In 2015, the Federal Court found DFO had not adhered to the precautionary principle sa国际传媒� the law of our land sa国际传媒� when regulating the foreign Piscine orthoreovirus saying DFOsa国际传媒檚 sa国际传媒渁rguments with respect to the precautionary principle are inconsistent, contradictory and, in any event, fail in light of the

evidence.sa国际传媒� Four months later, DFO reinstated the same policy, adopting a risk threshold that prohibited only risks that could sterilize entire populations, species, or ecosystems. The Federal Court again struck down the policy, which DFO reinstated and is before the Federal Court for a third time.

In 2018, the Auditor General found DFO was woefully behind in its risk assessments, was not enforcing aquaculture regulations, and was sa国际传媒渧ulnerable to claims that it prioritized the aquaculture industry over the protection of wild fish.sa国际传媒� The same year, Canadasa国际传媒檚 Chief Scientist recommended DFO have unbiased advice from an external advisory committee. Still, no external oversight exists.

In December 2019, our Prime Minister mandated DFOsa国际传媒檚 minister to transition B.C.sa国际传媒檚 sa国际传媒渋n oceansa国际传媒� salmon farms on to land by 2025. Welcome words. But, almost a year later, British Columbians and the 102 B.C. First Nations which support this transition have seen no action by DFO.

Mr. Justice Cohen also recommended fish farming in the Discovery Islands (a bottleneck for migrating salmon) be prohibited by September 30, 2020, unless DFO could confidently say the farms there posed less than minimal harm to wild Pacific salmon.

On September 28, 2020, with the Fraser River experiencing the worst sockeye returns in history, and with the Minister absent, DFO officials proclaimed that the Discovery Island fish farms posed less than a 1% risk to Fraser River sockeye. They did not explain how they calculated this risk or how their conclusion factored into the Prime Ministersa国际传媒檚 mandate to transition the open net-pens by 2025. They did admit, in response to a question, that they had not included sea lice from fish farms in their assessment. Well- established science shows that sea lice from fish farms kill out-migrating juvenile salmon.

Just four days earlier, John Reynolds, an aquatic ecologist at Simon Fraser University and chair of the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, the committee responsible for designating endangered species said: sa国际传媒淲e have an overwhelming weight of evidence from research coming at this from all different directions. The current open-net pen fish farm model that we have is not compatible with protecting wild fish.sa国际传媒�

Thankfully, one of DFOsa国际传媒檚 top scientists is speaking out. Dr. Kristi Miller-Saunders, head of DFOsa国际传媒檚 molecular genetics laboratory in Nanaimo and adjunct professor at the University of British Columbia, described how DFOsa国际传媒檚 dual role as regulator and industry advocate, coupled with its reliance on industry funding for research, skews risk assessments in favour of the fish-farm industry. Letsa国际传媒檚 watch what happens to Dr. Miller-Saunders now.

In the ten years DFO has regulated fish farming in B.C., a former B.C. Supreme Court judge, two Federal Court judges, the Auditor Generalsa国际传媒檚 office, Canadasa国际传媒檚 Chief Scientist, DFOsa国际传媒檚 own scientists, B.C. First Nations, and numerous NGOs have all sounded the alarm. But, so far, the politicians have done nothing to reform the institution mismanaging wild Pacific salmon to extinction.

Our leaders must act now and not wait to say, sa国际传媒渘ever again,sa国际传媒� again.

sa国际传媒� Tony Allard, chair of Wild Salmon Forever