First Nations seeks class-action suit against B.C. fish farms
By Suzanne Fournier, The ProvinceApril 14, 2010
Chief Bob Chamberlin of the Kwicksutaineuk/Ah-Kwa-Mish First Nation says government-approved fish farms have devastated wild Pacific salmon runs.
Aboriginal leaders asked the B.C. Supreme Court Tuesday to certify a class-action lawsuit to stop the "devastation" of wild salmon stocks by fish farming.
Dressed in button blankets and regalia on the courthouse steps, more than 20 leaders spoke against open net-cage salmon farms in the Broughton Archipelago, off northeast Vancouver Island.
"We have had firsthand experience with the salmon fishery for thousands of years and we can see the devastation of our marine resources caused by fish farms," said Bob Chamberlin, chief of the Kwicksutaineuk/Ah-Kwa-Mish First Nation.
"We don't take this step lightly, filing a class action against both the B.C. and federal governments, but we have tried negotiation and it is still just delay, deny and distract."
Chamberlin said the eight First Nations, representing about 6,000 people, hope a class-action lawsuit will be a quicker way to save wild salmon and at the same time, assert their rights to the salmon fishery.
"We can point to many court decisions that say there is a duty to consult with us due to our aboriginal title and rights on land and sea, but the talks are going nowhere and the wild salmon are disappearing."
In court, federal government lawyer Harry Wruck attacked a report by Dr. Fred Whoriskey on behalf of the First Nations, arguing he is an expert on Atlantic salmon, not the five species of wild Pacific salmon.
Chamberlin responded outside court that there is "an ever-increasing body of peer-reviewed, published science confirming the severe impacts of these open net-cage farms."
The lawsuit seeks an injunction against new salmon aquaculture permits in the Broughton Archipelago and a declaration to compel both governments to regulate salmon farms so they don't impact wild stocks.
The certification hearing before B.C. Supreme Court Justice Harry Slade is set for nine days.
The B.C. salmon farming industry, which is not directly named in the suit, claims the open net-cage farms are not harming wild salmon.
Chamberlin said the juvenile pink and chum salmon must "run a gauntlet" of fish farms as they migrate to the open ocean.
Sea lice proliferate in the densely-stocked fish farms and kill wild salmon smolts, Chamberlin said, noting he is also concerned about the fish farms' use of antibiotics, growth hormone and toxic chemicals.
Namgis Chief Bill Cranmer said some salmon runs are now "extinct."
"Since the fish farms started, I have noticed with my own eyes the destruction of our shellfish beds, the sea lice killing salmon smolts and the decline in fish returning to the streams," said Cranmer. "We want the government to enforce the law and regulate fish farming."
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Topic: FN's Class Action Lawsuit re: Fish Farms (Read 1872 times)