“At the Canadian Fishing Company [Canfisco] based in Vancouver, all carcasses of herring processed for roe are reduced into fishmeal and sold to farms and aquaculture facilities, including coastal salmon-rearing operations, according to Rob Morley, the company’s vice-president of production and corporate development.” – NPR, February 2016
In 2019, over 18,000 tons of herring may have gone to feed salmon farms in B.C. These farms continue to threaten our wild salmon. Owning 15% of the total roe licenses, the Pattison group is the largest owner of licenses by a large margin. The 10 largest license holders own 30% of all licenses. Pattison’s expected quota, due to heavy investment in the seine licenses, is around 4,000 tons – almost 20% of the entire fishery quota. Canfisco plants process 30% of the total herring catch.
Is this how we treat the foundation of our coastal food web – corporations like Canfisco feeding Atlantic salmon farms owned by Norwegian companies while DFO spends millions looking for ways to save Chinook salmon and Southern Resident Killer Whales?
Does that sound as ridiculous as we think it does? Make your voice heard for our #BIGLittleFish at pacificwild.org.
