Mowi Canada West salmon farm in the Discovery Islands, British Columbia, Canada.
Canada's Federal Court of Appeal has ruled against Mowi in relation to aquaculture licenses in the Discovery Islands, British Columbia. "I would dismiss the appeal, with costs," is the court's conclusion in a judgment rendered by Chief Justice de Montigny, Mr. Justice Heckman, and Madam Justice Walker, which was notified to all parties on January 29, 2026, upholding a June 2024 Federal Court decision and closing the legal avenue for the company in this matter.
In the 41-page judgment, which refers to the 2012 'Cohen Commission Report', the court finds that the Federal Court did not err in dismissing the arguments of Mowi Canada West and the other original plaintiffs—in addition to Mowi, two other salmon farm operators, Cermaq Canada and Grieg Seafood B.C., and two First Nations, the We Wai Kai Nation and the Wei Wai Kum First Nation or the Nations, challenged the Minister's decision—and concludes that there were reasonable factual grounds in the record to support the Minister's statements that the Discovery Islands are a unique area and that there is scientific uncertainty.
"While this report was published in 2012, the geography has not changed, and there was other, more recent information before the Minister to support her view that the Discovery Islands are a unique area that should be treated with particular caution," the ruling reads.
"In light of the evidence that was before her and of her disagreement with the advice provided by DFO as to the risk or uncertainties in relation to the impact of aquaculture, I agree with the Federal Court that it was reasonably open to the Minister to determine that the Discovery Islands are a unique area and warrant greater protection," it adds, before noting that the Minister is empowered to issue aquaculture licences in her "absolute discretion," and in exercising that discretion, she is entitled to look beyond the information and advice provided by her department.
The ruling, therefore, confirms that the "highly precautionary approach" on which former Canadian Minister of Fisheries, Oceans, and the Coast Guard Joyce Murray based her decision not to renew the licenses of fifteen open-net Atlantic salmon fish farms in the region is valid.
In statements sent by email to WeAreAquaculture by Mowi Canada West Director of Environmental Performance and Certification, Mia Parker, the salmon farming company accepts the ruling, although it continues to disagree with the reasoning behind it.
"Mowi Canada West appealed the Federal Court's decision on the judicial review of former Minister Murray's decision not to renew our salmon farming licences in the Discovery Islands region where we have farmed in the core traditional territory of the Laich-kwil-tach peoples for over 30 years. This appeal was about transparency and fairness in evidence based decision making," Parker writes.
"While we are disappointed that the Federal Court of Appeal did not find in our favour, we respect the findings of the Court. It remains our consistent position that government decisions on salmon farming must be evidence based, sustainable, transparent, and inclusive of rights holder First Nations," Mowi Canada West Director of Environmental Performance and Certification adds.
In contrast to Mowi's stance, the environmental law charity Ecojustice, which represents the David Suzuki Foundation, Georgia Strait Alliance, Living Oceans Society, Watershed Watch Salmon Society, and independent biologist Alexandra Morton in the case, welcomed the ruling, calling it a "major win for wild salmon and ocean health after years of legal battles."
"This is another tremendous victory for wild salmon. The Federal Court of Appeal noted the dire consequences that declining wild salmon stocks could have for First Nations rights, the economy, and the social fabric of British Columbia, and further confirmed that the Minister has broad discretion to take a precautionary approach when wild salmon face serious threats," stated Imalka Nilmalgoda, lawyer at Ecojustice. Her satisfaction was shared by the spokespersons for the organizations and individuals she represented.
"After years of litigation, the courts have been unequivocal that the Minister is entitled to prioritize conservation," said, for his part, Stan Proboszcz, Senior Science and Policy Analyst, Watershed Watch Salmon Society. "With the Federal Government committed to banning open-net pen salmon farms in B.C., further lawsuits would only waste public time and resources, and the industry should focus on an orderly transition out."
"This provides certainty to the salmon farming industry that the 2029 ban on marine salmon farms is on solid legal ground," added biologist Alexandra Morton. "The industry is now on notice to avoid sinking costs into breeding farmed salmon cohorts that won’t mature by June 30, 2029."
"We all owe a debt of gratitude to these Ministers who stood firm in showing the Department what precautionary decision-making looks like. Their decisions to close the farms have been followed by strengthening returns of pink, chum and sockeye salmon that migrate through the Discovery Islands," stated, for her part, Karen Wristen, Executive Director of Living Oceans Society.
"This decision validates decades of Indigenous leadership and scientific evidence: open-net pen fish farms put wild salmon at risk and have no place in a sustainable future," finally said Beatrice Frank, Executive Director of Georgia Strait Alliance. "It's time for Canada to move decisively toward innovative, climate-resilient economies that protect our marine ecosystems and coastal communities alike."
In its release about the ruling, Ecojustice also notes that the Discovery Islands are "a critical migration route" for Fraser River sockeye and other salmon populations. According to the environmental charity, research shows that fish farms in these waters expose wild salmon to parasites and diseases, which is a contributing factor to steep population declines.
Even more, it claims that, after the farms began closing in 2020, scientists recorded sharp declines in salmon lice—a parasite especially harmful to young salmon during migration—and early signs that salmon populations are recovering.
Its statements contrast with the findings of another study conducted on behalf of Mowi Canada West in the Broughton Archipelago, BC, in 2024, and released by the BC Salmon Farmers Association (BCSFA), which claimed that salmon farms do not drive sea lice levels on wild salmon.
The data obtained from the wild juvenile salmonid monitoring program then showed that the variability in the percentage of sea lice on wild Pacific salmon remains unchanged despite the removal of salmon farms in the area. Additionally, according to BCSFA, the Salmon Coast Research Station found that "the number of [salmon lice] per fish remained relatively the same between 2023 and 2024, going from 0.0584 to 0.065."
At the time, BC salmon farmers also pointed out that these findings coincided with an earlier study—'Salmon lice biology, environmental factors, and smolt behavior with implications for the Norwegian salmon farming management system: A critical review'— which also stated that salmon farms are not a driver of sea lice on wild salmon, and that the impact of sea lice from aquaculture facilities on wild Atlantic salmon has been "significantly overestimated."
"This is an important finding, as it aligns with the research and data we are seeing on sea lice in Canada," Simon Jones, Emeritus Scientist of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) and co-author of the published review, explained then. "The highly variable relationship between lice levels on wild salmon and salmon aquaculture in BC indicates the need for a greater understanding of all factors affecting the survival of wild salmon."
As seen, both supporters and opponents of open net-pen salmon farming refer to scientific studies when discussing the survival and conservation of wild salmon and how it can be affected by aquaculture activities. However, this is not the only aspect on which the two parties involved in the legal avenue that have now been closed for Mowi have completely different views on the same issue.
References to the economy and First Nations rights are also common, as seen in the various statements by anti-salmon farming activists. On both issues, once again, those in favor of salmon farming have a different perspective.
As for economy, the first to speak out on the issue was the Coalition of First Nations for Finfish Stewardship (FNFFS), which, together with David Kiemele, CEO of Cermaq Canada, representing the salmon farming industry in British Columbia, presented an economic impact report in November 2024 revealing that the government of Canada's proposal to ban existing marine salmon farms in BC could cost at least CAD 9 billion (EUR 6.07 billion / USD 6.42 billion).
A few months later, in January 2025, Brian Kingzett, CEO of the BC Salmon Farmers Association, who, in the framework of the BC Natural Resources Forum, at which BC Premier David Eby pledged to strengthen the Canadian province's economy through responsible resource development, claimed that BC salmon farmers could generate CAD 4.2 billion (EUR 2.8 billion / USD 2.9 billion) in output by 2040.
In April of that same year, Canada's Ocean Supercluster presented a report concluding that the blue bioeconomy, and more specifically aquaculture, could be the solution for job creation and economic security, not only in British Columbia, but across the country.
"Canada has the most cold-water aquaculture production potential in the world but we are not responsibly developing this," then said Timothy Kennedy, CAIA President & CEO, and a Steering Committee member for the report. "Canada has a choice before it: continue to be complacent about this major opportunity, or seize the moment to make Canada more economically and food secure and revitalize coastal communities," he added.
Finally, about First Nations rights, further on the fact that the BCSFA has been advocating for years for an Indigenous-led transition plan as the future of salmon farming in British Columbia, the voices of First Nations members in favor of aquaculture are constant.
"I am a First Nation person advocating for sustainable aquaculture," for example, said Larry Johnson, President of Nuu-chah-nulth Seafood and Co-Chair of the CAIA Indigenous Partners Network, upon being elected to the Board of Directors of the Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance (CAIA) in October 2022.
Later, in March 2023, chiefs and leaders of the FNFFS went to the Canadian Parliament on behalf of the indigenous communities in British Columbia whose territories have salmon farming. There, they asked for no more salmon farm closures in those territories where communities do want them and emphasized "the negative impact of current federal government policy decisions to remove salmon farms on Indigenous rights and title issues, food security, affordability, jobs, and reconciliation in rural, coastal and Indigenous communities".
"We must have a say on how, if and what kind of salmon farming can and should take place in our territories", Chris Roberts, Chief Councillor Elect of the Wei Wai Kum First Nation, stated at the moment.
More recently, on September 30, coinciding with Canada's National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, the Coalition for First Nations for Finfish Stewardship 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 pointed out in its statement.
The message was 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," the Coalition concluded.