Salmon farming in B.C. could be regulated to prevent many of the current impacts on the marine environment and wild salmon stocks.

But salmon farming regulations in B.C. are too weak and do not prevent sea lice and disease transfer to wild salmon. We believe that salmon farming could be made more environmentally sustainable in the short term by:

• closing down salmon farm sites located on salmon migration routes
• stopping seabed pollution through tougher regulations
• developing fish feed that doesn't deplete global fish stocks
• ensuring that marine mammals are not harmed or killed as a result of fish farming
• eliminating the use of antibiotics and pesticides in fish farming
• banning fish farms in areas opposed by First Nations and local communities or in sensitive habitat

Mandatory labelling of fish as "farmed" would ensure that consumers can make informed choices about the seafood they buy.

The only way to fully eliminate the threats from sea lice and disease is to get salmon farms out of the ocean and into closed containment systems, preferably on land.

There are five closed containment salmon farms being planned for the B.C. coast.  The land-based systems would virtually eliminate sea lice and disease transfer to wild salmon. All of them include treatment for the solid waste effluent and most have zero discharge to the ocean or local streams.

The real stumbling block preventing more closed containment farms is funding support: government programs are needed to fund innovative solutions and help new technology developers get through the first few years of trials and setbacks. Such programs exist for developing alternative energy production like solar, wind and tidal power. The same support is needed to move the salmon farming industry from destructive technologies to commercial scale closed containment.