Alexandra Morton begins campaigning for wild salmon today

Apr 13th, 2011 6:03 AM

Interview Opportunity (Sointula, B.C., April 13, 2011) The VoteSalmon.ca campaign kicks off today in Campbell River at Spirit Square at 12 noon. From there, in the days leading up to the federal election, Morton will travel to campaign offices throughout Vancouver Island and southern BC to ask federal candidates whether they stand for wild salmon and our communities. Candidates will be asked if they will remove the salmon feedlots from BC waters if they get elected. "Wild salmon are critical to Canada’s economy and ecology." says Dr. Morton, "I am undertaking this journey because 26 years as a biologist in a remote area of the BC coast has made me realize wild salmon are dying of ill-informed federal policy. This killed the North Atlantic cod, and we do not have to become victims of the same fate." Alexandra Morton will be available to discuss the following: • Cohen Inquiry findings regarding disease and DFO’s relationship with the salmon farming companies • The federal/provincial regulatory roles and why wild salmon are dying of "policy" • Why salmon feedlots must be removed from the ocean • The impact of industrial salmon feedlots on rural economies and how aquaculture could make a better economic contribution to society Timeline for VoteSalmon.ca campaign: 13th April: Port McNeill, Campbell River, Courtenay & Nanaimo 14th April: Vancouver 15th April: Vancouver, Surrey, Steveston & Burnaby 16th April: Cultus Lake & Harrison River 17th April: Adams River 18th April: Salmon Arm, Enderby, Kamloops, Yale & Hope 19th April: Mission, Chilliwack & Abbotsford 20th April: New Westminster 21st April: North Vancouver & Squamish 22nd April: Vancouver 23rd April: Sointula 25th April: Quadra Island 26th April: Wild Salmon Narrows, Quadra Island & Campbell River 27th April: Duncan 28th/29th/30th April: Nanaimo, Saltspring, Ladysmith, Sooke & Sidney 1st May: Victoria - Walk into Victoria and 24-hour vigil at the Parliament Buildings begins 2nd May: Victoria To arrange interview or for more information contact, Alexandra Morton: 250-974-7086 or gorbuscha@gmail.com Backgrounder Salmon feedlots are a provincial issue because BC rents the seafloor to the industry and it is federal because Morton won a BC Supreme Court challenge that ended unlawful provincial regulation. Gordon Campbell pretended to support the industry, but would not renew the land tenures. No one knows why. Stephen Harper failed to heed scientific warning that highly infectious viruses are moving with this industry and allowed millions of Atlantic eggs into BC in recent years. Wild salmon feed over 190 BC wildlife species; they have fed people for 10,000 years. 85% of British Columbians call this fish an icon. Salmon are the bloodstream to the forests that make us oxygen, they are food security, we love them, they are a living symbol of democracy and we want them to be here for our children. Salmon are worth about $2 billion in revenue from wilderness tourism and fishing. The corporate salmon feedlots are highly mechanized, shrouded in secrecy, in trouble everywhere they operate and recent testimony at the Cohen Inquiry suggests the Conservative government is covering up an apparent lethal salmon virus that has gone epidemic. For more information go to www.wildsalmonpeople.ca and www.salmonaresacred.org