Open letter to King of Norway to stop the killing of wild fish by Norwegian-owned open net cage salmon farms in British Columbia

Aug 17th, 2009 5:07 AM

King Harald V The Royal Palace Drammensveien 1 N-0010 Oslo Norway 14th August 2009 Your Royal Highness, Protecting wild salmon from open net cage salmon farms Further to our letter of 15th December 2006 (re-enclosed here), we appeal to you as the King of Norway to stop the killing of wild fish by Norwegian-owned open net cage salmon farms. We ask that you take time during your visit to Trondheim on 18th August when you will be opening the Aqua Nor trade show¹ to watch the new film “Dear Norway – Help Save Canada’s Wild Salmon” produced by Damien Gillis. Your visit to the Trondheimsfjord area – one of only two fjords in Norway where salmon farming is completely banned under the Laksfjord regulations – represents an opportunity to hear how Norwegian companies are operating to lower standards in other regions. We think it is important that Norwegians understand their impact on temperate coastal countries worldwide – especially in British Columbia where the Norwegian companies Marine Harvest, Cermaq and Grieg control 92% of salmon farming production² . We expect a country such as Norway who signed the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2007³ and who published a white paper on Corporate Social Responsibility Abroad in 2009⁴ to respect the rights of First Nations whose culture depends upon healthy wild salmon populations. Since our letter to you in 2006, the situation has deteriorated and the weight of scientific evidence linking open net cage salmon farms with declines in wild fish is now overwhelming⁵. Canada’s largest wild salmon runs are failing every year while in neighbouring Alaska where salmon farming is banned they are harvesting record runs. Another film by Damien Gillis – “Aquacultural Revolution: The scientific case for changing salmon farming”⁶ – presents the scientific perspective and is recommended viewing in advance of your trip to Trondheim. You may also be interested in watching a sea lice animation recently released by Norges Jeger-og Fiskerforbund⁷. In May this year, the Pure Salmon Campaign brought a delegation of First Nation chiefs, scientists, wilderness tourism, labor union, fishing and environmental leaders from Chile, Canada, Ireland, Scotland and the United States to Norway to bear witness to the problems of Marine Harvest and Cermaq in particular⁸. You may have read Alexandra Morton’s passionate plea published in Bergens Tidende in May which ended with: “It's still not too late to stop the collapse of wild salmon and social decay here in western Canada. But to do so, it will take the efforts of concerned citizens working across borders, to make it clear to the Norwegian government that salmon farms must not destroy the wild salmon arteries flowing into the coast of British Columbia. In today’s world such behavior is an act of inexcusable immorality as future generations will need life on earth to survive.”⁹ And you may have read about our visit to Preline’s closed containment farm in Hardangerfjord¹⁰. Chief Bob Chamberlin of the Kwicksutaineuk Ah-kwa-mish First Nation, who delivered letters to you in 2006, 2007 and 2008 and visited Norway again this year, said: “It is difficult to put to words how I felt standing on an operating closed containment fish farm, watching Atlantic salmon swimming inside. It was an amazing circumstance for me to speak with the owner of Preline who has developed the closed containment system, and both of us needing something to give hope for our individual yet intertwined dreams”¹¹. Bergens Tidende also featured the Preline closed containment system in an article published in June¹². Representatives from Preline – together with other closed containment companies – will be in Trondheim for the AquaNor trade show and we encourage you to explore these technologies which can protect wild fish from the spread of sea lice and escapes from salmon farms. During his visit to Norway in May, Chief Robert Joseph of the Musgamagw Tsawataineuk Tribal Council said: “The demise of wild salmon is tantamount to genocide because it reflects the demise of our culture, way of life and spirituality. Since the advent of salmon farming in our territories we have seen an apocalyptic decline in the state of our wild salmon stocks in the Broughton Archipelago. And because Norway is the world leader in salmon farming and the Norwegian Government is the leading shareholder in Cermaq we are asking for their moral leadership to bring about best practices and to mitigate environmental degradation”¹³. Public opposition to Norwegian-owned salmon farming companies operating in British Columbia is building with negative press coverage of ‘rapacious Norwegians’ in the international media¹⁴ as well as at home in Norway¹⁵. You may be aware that this issue was raised in the Norwegian Parliament in May this year via a Parliamentary Question tabled by Heikki Holmås MP with a reply from Helga Pedersen, Norway’s Fisheries Minister¹⁶. Public comments were also made in the Norwegian media by several MPs including Peter Gitmark from Hoyre¹⁷, Ola Borten Moe from Senterpartiet¹⁸ and Heikki Holmås from Sosialistisk Venstreparti¹⁹. Cermaq – whose largest shareholder is the Norwegian Government – is now the subject of a complaint filed with the OECD in May by Norges Naturvernforbund and ForUM²⁰. In the same month, Norway was criticized by First Nations groups for failing to adhere to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples with respect to Cermaq’s operations in Canada²¹. In October 2008, Cermaq’s operations in Canada were criticized for blatantly violating their licences after years of over-production²². And NRK reported only yesterday that Cermaq was encountering local opposition in Norway with a petition signed by 6,000 people objecting to expansion in Ofotfjorden²³. Marine Harvest’s operations in Canada have also been subject of growing controversy and legal action in the B.C. Supreme Court²⁴. Grieg’s plans to expand in the Georgia Strait in British Columbia have angered local residents, fishermen and tourist operators alike²⁵. And in June, the Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform called for the emergency closure of five farms operated by Marine Harvest, Cermaq and Grieg to protect migrating wild salmon²⁶. The issue will only continue to heat up at the expense of Norway’s reputation. Nor is Canada the only region where Norwegian-owned companies are experiencing local opposition. In Ireland, where Marine Harvest control over 50% of production, Salmon Watch recently filed a complaint with the European Commission contending that salmon farms are responsible for the generation of high levels of sea lice infestation in juvenile salmon migrating from rivers to their feeding grounds in the sea²⁷. And in the UK where Norwegian-owned companies control in excess of 80% of salmon farming production, the Salmon and Trout Association (whose patron is Prince Charles) have organized a petition calling on the Scottish Government to move salmon farms away from the estuaries of major rivers²⁸. We hope that you agree with John Fredriksen, owner of Marine Harvest, who in July 2007 when he was fishing on the River Alta called for salmon farms to be moved out of the path of wild salmon²⁹. In September 2007, over 30 fishing and environmental groups including Norsk Lakseelver, the Norwegian Salmon Association, Granvin Fiskarlag and Nausta Vernegruppa, wrote to Marine Harvest urging them to follow Mr Fredriksen’s wise advice³⁰. As both the King of Norway and a wild salmon angler on the River Alta yourself³¹, Your Royal Highness surely has an interest in protecting wild salmon both in Norway and internationally as well as preserving Norway’s international reputation. The 2010 Winter Olympics will be held along the shores of the Fraser River where the wild sockeye salmon that run past Norwegian-owned fish farms have been closed to fishing again this year. Yesterday’s Globe & Mail newspaper in Canada reports that “the Fraser River is experiencing one of the biggest salmon disasters in recent history with more than nine million sockeye vanishing”³² with The Straight newspaper reporting that “fish farms could be a contributing factor”³³. Today’s Globe & Mail also featured the issue³⁴. When you meet with Marine Harvest, Cermaq, Grieg, the Norwegian Minister of Fisheries, Helga Pedersen, the Canadian Fisheries Minister, Gail Shea, and Scotland’s Minister for the Environment, Roseanna Cunningham, during Aqua Nor we therefore encourage you to ask why Norwegian companies are still being allowed to kill wild fish not just in Norway but also in Canada, Scotland and Ireland. And if you have time to view the new film “Dear Norway – Help Save Canada’s Wild Salmon” please come and visit the Pure Salmon Campaign at booth # B-111C at Aqua Nor to arrange a private viewing. Yours sincerely, Bob Chamberlin, Chief of the Kwicksutaineuk Ah-kwa-mish First Nation and Chairman of the Musgamagw-Tsawataineuk Tribal Council, Canada Alexandra Morton, Director of the Salmon Coast Field Station, Canada David Suzuki, Executive Director of David Suzuki Foundation, Canada Brian Gunn, President of the Wilderness Tourism Association of British Columbia, Canada David Lane, Executive Director of the T Buck Suzuki Environmental Foundation, Canada Damien Gillis, Save Our Rivers Society, Canada Darren Blaney, Homalco First Nation, Canada Geoff Meggs, Councillor, City of Vancouver, Canada Valerie Langer, Friends of Clayoquot Sound, Canada Rafe Mair, Official spokesperson for Save Our Rivers Society, Canada Shannon Ellis, Bella Coola Grizzly Tours, Canada Steve Lawson, National Coordinator, First Nations Environmental Network, Canada Des Nobels, Chair of Friends of Wild Salmon, Canada Blake Covernton, President, Wild BC Salmon, Canada Michael Price, Raincoast Conservation Foundation, Canada Evan Loveless, Executive Director of the Wilderness Tourism Association of British Columbia, Canada Terry Anderson, Canadian Wild Salmon Alliance Society, Canada Luanne Roth, Marine Director of the Prince Rupert Environmental Society, Canada Geoff Senichenko, Research Director of the Wilderness Committee, Canada Craig Orr, Executive Director of the Watershed Watch Salmon Society, Canada Stan Proboszcz, Fish Biologist, Watershed Watch Salmon Society, Canada Ruby Berry, Salmon Aquaculture Program Coordinator, Georgia Strait Alliance, Canada Michelle Young, Salmon Aquaculture Campaigner, Georgia Strait Alliance, Canada John Volpe, Professor, University of Victoria, Canada Corey Peet, David Suzuki Foundation, Canada Lawrence Dill, Professor Emeritus, Simon Fraser University, Canada Catherine Stewart, Salmon Farming Campaign Manager, Living Oceans, Canada Kim Petersen, co-editor of Dissident Voice, Canada Tiffany Hilman, Markets Campaigner, Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform, Canada Susanne Hare, Tofino citizen, Canada Mat Lawson, B.C. citizen, Canada Misty Lawson, B.C. citizen, Canada Quoashinis Lawson, B.C. citizen, Canada Oren Lawson, B.C. citizen, Canada Peter Dimitrov, lawyer and concerned citizen, Canada Kevin Bruce, Friends of Clayoquot Sound, Canada Tom Rivest, Great Bear Nature Tours, Canada Leonard Ellis, Bella Coola Grizzly Tours, Canada Vegard Heggem, wild salmon conservationist, Norway Geir Kjensmo, Chairman of the Norwegian Salmon Association, Norway Sondre Båtstrand, Spokesperson for the Norwegian Green Party, Norway Frode Strønen, Marine Spokesperson for the Norwegian Green Party, Norway Lawson Devery, Scottish Field Officer, the Salmon and Trout Association, Scotland Bruce Sandison, Scottish Sporting Services, Scotland Colin Kirkpatrick, Environment Committee Chairman, Orkney Trout Fishing Association, Scotland Brian Fraser, ghillie from Wester Ross, Scotland Fiona Cameron, Sea Trout Group, Scotland Frank Buckley, Society for the Protection of Salmon and Sea Trout, Scotland Andrew Graham-Stewart, Writer on wild salmon conservation issues, Scotland Jenny Scobie, Rhidorroch Estate, Scotland Niall Greene, Chair, Salmon Watch Ireland, Ireland John Mulcahy, Save The Swilly, Ireland Noel Carr, Secretary, Conaidhm na Slat Iascairi Bradan & Breac Geal (Federation of Irish Salmon & Sea Trout Anglers), Ireland Bill Bakke, Executive Director, Native Fish Society, United States of America Anne Mosness, Go Wild Campaign, United States of America Neil Frazer, Professor, University of Hawaii at Manoa, United States of America Bartlett Naylor, Capital Strategies Consulting Inc., United States of America Don Staniford, Global Coordinator, The Pure Salmon Campaign, United States of America Cc: Her Majesty The Queen His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales Crown Prince Haakon of Norway Jens Stoltenberg, Prime Minister of Norway Helga Pedersen, Fisheries Minister of Norway Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada Gail Shea, Fisheries Minister of Canada Gordon Campbell, Premier of British Columbia Trevor Swerdfager, Director General, Aquaculture Management, Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada Jillian Stirk, Canada’s Ambassador to Norway Alex Salmond, First Minister of Scotland Roseanna Cunningham, Minister of the Environment for Scotland Heikki Holmås, Member of the Norwegian Parliament Ola Borten Moe, Member of the Norwegian Parliament Peter Gitmark, Member of the Norwegian Parliament Hallgeir Langeland, Member of the Norwegian Parliament For more details on The Pure Salmon Campaign please visit: www.puresalmon.org Footnotes: ¹http://blog.norway.com/2009/06/25/hm-king-harald-v-to-open-aqua-nor-2009/ ²http://www.farmedanddangerous.org/page/abouttheindustry ³http://www.regjeringen.no/en/dep/aid/Topics/Sami-policy/international-efforts-in-relation-to-ind/the-un-declaration-on-the-rights-of-indi.html?id=87024 ⁴http://www.regjeringen.no/en/dep/ud/press/News/2009/social_responsibility_abroad.html?id=543620 ⁵http://www.farmedanddangerous.org/page/scientificcase ⁶http://www.watershed-watch.org/programs/aquaculture.html ⁷http://www.njff.no/portal/page/portal/njff/nyhet?element_id=39301634&displaypage=TRUE ⁸http://www.puresalmon.org/norway.html ⁹http://www.naturvern.no/cgi-bin/naturvern/imaker?id=130954 ¹⁰http://www.preline.no ¹¹http://www.puresalmon.org/pr_29_may_2009.html ¹² http://www.bt.no/meninger/kronikk/article864978.ece ¹³http://firstnationsnews.com/article/1616/KAFN/KAFN-urge-Cermaq-to-embrace-the-spirit-and-intent-of-the-UN-Declaration-on-the-Rights-of-Indigenous-Peoples.html ¹⁴http://blog.macleans.ca/2009/02/11/something-fishy-in-bc/ ¹⁵http://www.puresalmon.org/norway.html and http://www.tv2nyhetene.no/norge-far-skylda-2313887.html and http://www.nettavisen.no/okonomi/article2289241.ece ¹⁶http://www.stortinget.no/no/Saker-og-publikasjoner/Sporsmal/Skriftlige-sporsmal-og-svar/Skriftlig-sporsmal/?qid=43601 ¹⁷http://www.siste.no/Innenriks/politikk/article4343505.ece ¹⁸http://www.auraavis.no/article4343688.ece ¹⁹http://www.lofot-tidende.no/innenriks/article4345497.ece ²⁰http://www.naturvern.no/cgi-bin/naturvern/imaker?id=131004 ²¹http://huffstrategy.com/MediaManager/release/KAFN/31-12-69/KAFN-urge-Cermaq-to-embrace-the-spirit-and-intent-of-the-UN-Decla/1616.html ²²http://livingoceans.org/media/news10240801.aspx ²³http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/distrikt/nordland/1.6728910 ²⁴http://www.siste.no/Innenriks/article4123034.ece and http://www.bladet.no/Innenriks/article4343501.ece and http://www.adressa.no/nyheter/okonomi/article911959.ece and http://www.tv2nyhetene.no/norge-far-skylda-2313887.html ²⁵http://www.wilderness-tourism.bc.ca/docs/SRDregardingClosedContainmentAquaculture.pdf and http://www.georgiastrait.org/?q=node/906 ²⁶http://www.livingoceans.org/media/news06160901.aspx ²⁷http://www.bclocalnews.com/vancouver_island_central/cowichannewsleader/opinion/47469292.html ²⁸http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/environment/display.var.2523900.0.9000_back_urgent_call_for_salmon_farms_to_be_relocated.php and http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/latestnews/9000-sign-petition-in-fight.5522784.jp ²⁹http://www.nettavisen.no/innenriks/article1281033.ece and http://www.der-fliegenfischer.de/down/files/block_0/Staniford_on_Fredriksen.pdf ³⁰http://puresalmon.org/documents/marine_harvest_ltr_070919.pdf ³¹http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article1392806.ece ³²http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/millions-of-missing-fish-signal-crisis-on-the-fraser/article1249976/ ³³http://www.straight.com/article-247610/fish-biologist-links-fish-farms-disappearing-fraser-river-salmon ³⁴http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/calls-grow-for-international-summit-on-collapse-of-fraser-sockeye-run/article1251330/

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Open letter to King of Norway to stop the killing of wild fish by Norwegian-owned open net cage salmon farms in British Columbia

Aug 17th, 2009 5:07 AM