BC coastal First Nations reiterate support for salmon farming in their territories

Today, September 30, is Canada's National Day of Truth and Reconciliation. To mark the occasion, the Coalition for First Nations for Finfish Stewardship (FNFFS) has issued a statement reiterating that decisions about salmon farming in their coastal traditional territories rest solely with Rights Holder Nations.

"These farms are here only because our Nations, and no one else, have granted that permission. Other groups, including the First Nation Wild Salmon Alliance (FNWSA) and First Nation Leadership Council (FNLC), do not speak for us or our territories, which we have been stewarding since time immemorial," the Coalition points out in its statement. 

The FNFFS represents the Rights Holder Nations of coastal British Columbia who have chosen to keep salmon aquaculture in their waters.

"This is not a call for reconciliation; it's a call for economic devastation"

The clarification comes in response to calls that, also on the occasion of the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, these other organizations made to "stay the course" on the open-net aquaculture ban by 2029 imposed by the previous federal administration.

"Repeated calls to 'stay the course' on a net-pen ban are not grounded in the realities of our communities," the Coalition for First Nations Finfish Stewardship statement reads. "Enforcing this ban would destroy a highly regulated sector that delivers CAD 1.17 billion in annual economic impact, eliminate thousands of jobs, and strip away own-source revenue that fund housing, health, and social programs that our communities desperately need."

"This is not a call for reconciliation; it's a call for economic devastation for our communities," says the FNFFS. The statement coincides with the publication in Country Guide of an article by Angela Lovell entitled 'How salmon farming transformed a remote First Nations community', which was also shared by the BC Salmon Farmers Association (BCSFA).

In it, in addition to analyzing the current situation of the aquaculture sector in British Columbia, Lovell describes how the Kitasoo Xai'xais Nation's decision to establish its first fish farms (it now holds six salmon farm tenures currently leased and operated by Mowi Canada West) changed the landscape of Klemtu, a remote community on the central coast of BC that, following the collapse of the commercial fishing industry thirty years ago, had an employment rate of around 5%—with the economic and social consequences that this entails—, and is now a model for other First Nations communities interested in the salmon industry.

The article features testimonials from various fish health experts, as well as Isaiah Robinson, executive director of Kitasoo Xai’xais Development Corporation; Dallas Smith, of the First Nations Coalition for Finfish Management and member of the Tlowitsis Nation; and Brian Kingzett, executive director of BCSFA, an organization that has consistently advocated for an Indigenous-led transition plan in BC.

"Canada cannot afford to shut down a modern, sustainable, Indigenous-led industry"

The coastal Nations that make up the Coalition for First Nations for Finfish Stewardship have chosen to maintain salmon aquaculture in their waters, balancing the conservation of wild salmon with responsible, modern, and Indigenous-led aquaculture.

"Our coastal Nations continue to balance our historic stewardship with economic opportunity. We are committed to conserving wild salmon stocks while also responsibly and sustainably farming salmon. Both are essential to our communities. We live in these territories. We always have. We carry the responsibility to protect our waters for generations to come," the FNFFS statement reads.

"Our message is clear," it continues, "telling us to remove salmon farms from our territories is an attempt to override us in our rights, our governance, and our self-determination. We do not tell our neighbouring communities or people in urban centres how to manage their lands and waters, and they do not have the authority to dictate what happens in ours."

However, the message from the coastal Nations on the occasion of the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation is not only directed at other Canadian First Nations, but at the entire country. "It is crucial that Canadians hear directly from the First Nations who live, work, and govern the coastal territories where salmon farming operates," they say.

In their view, the reality is quite simple: "Canada cannot afford, economically, socially, or morally, to shut down a modern, sustainable, Indigenous-led industry in the face of growing food insecurity, global trade instability, and a worsening housing crisis."

For all these reasons, the First Nations Coalition for Finfish Management remains steadfast in its expectation that the federal government honor its commitments to what it calls "a true Nation-to-Nation process," and "not one driven by outside voices who have no authority in our territories or who refuse to accept our invitations and see firsthand the work we are doing to protect our coastal waters and wild salmon."