In June 2024, Canada’s federal government abandoned its original commitment to close open-net pen salmon farms in British Columbia (B.C.) by 2025, instead delaying the deadline to 2029. This decision has raised major concerns from Indigenous and coastal communities as open-net salmon farms continue to deteriorate the health of our coastlines. With every passing month, the cost of inaction becomes more evident.
Across B.C., open-net pen salmon farms introduce diseases, parasites, and pollution to wild salmon populations. Overcrowded conditions serve as breeding grounds for sea lice and harmful pathogens. Waste, excess feed, and chemicals are flushed directly into nearby waters, degrading surrounding ecosystems. Farmed salmon can and do escape, threatening the genetic integrity of wild stocks.
The cumulative impacts of these farms are putting the future of wild salmon—and the countless species and communities that depend on them—at risk. In response to the federal government’s delay, we’re tracking the alarming events that have unfolded since the decision was made to give open-net pen farms four more years.
A Series of Disasters
- 46 organizations from 15 different countries call on Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) to end salmon farming, citing increasingly common mass mortality events.
- Concepcion Farm (Grieg Seafood) reports sea lice levels over ten times the allowable limit at their farm in Nootka Sound.
- Muchalat North Farm reports a staggering 23% mortality rate due to disease transmission and concerning farm management practices.
- Williamson Farm in Muchalat Inlet reports a 9.5% mortality rate due to disease transmission
- Gore Farm in Muchalat Inlet reports a 3.8% mortality rate due to disease transmission
Canada officially postpones the open net-pen ban to 2029.
Federal government issues new five-year licenses for salmon aquaculture.
Canada misses their deadline to release the Draft Transition Plan in July.
West Coast Fish Culture at Lois Lake is caught engaging in illegal practices and fined $350,000. Inspections revealed improper pen installations and inadequate escape prevention, endangering neighboring ecosystems.
Cermaq begins restocking its semi-closed containment system with juvenile Atlantic salmon in Clayoquot Sound. This same system was previously shut down due to toxic ammonia levels that led to mass die-offs, raising serious concerns about it becoming a viral super-spreader.
Canada releases draft salmon aquaculture transition plan
- Grieg Seafood spills 7,500 L of diesel (equivalent to 53 bathtubs) in Zeballos Inlet and contaminates local ecosystems and Indigenous food sources.
- Following the removal of the farms in the Discovery Islands and Broughton Archipelago, wild salmon returns have significantly improved in those regions
- River otters are observed building dens from abandoned aquaculture gear—an unsettling symbol of industry neglect.
- New research is published revealing a sharp rise in salmon farm mortalities in B.C. between 2011–2022, primarily due to low dissolved oxygen, disease treatments, and harmful algal blooms.
Cermaq continues to struggle with its semi-closed system. An oil sheen was observed on five separate occasions in December and January.
- Akwafuture is moving ahead with plans for 8 new in-water closed containment (closed-net pen) salmon farms in Port Alice. While these systems are permitted under current DFO regulations, in-water closed containment remains an unproven and highly contested method for protecting wild salmon. Many experts and stakeholders continue to question their effectiveness in preventing disease, parasite and pollution transfer to wild fish.
- Another oil sheen is reported at Cermaq’s site in Miller Channel, suspected to stem from fish feed milling malfunctions.
The B.C. aquaculture industry remains hopeful that Canada’s new fisheries minister will overturn the transition plan, signalling ongoing pressure to maintain open net operations.
Nearly three and a half months after Greig Seafood’s diesel spill near Zebellos, contaminant levels remain too high in shellfish stocks for safe harvest by local Indigenous communities.
- The DFO has issued licenses permitting the use of rubber bullets to deter sea lions at fish farms. Since fish naturally attract marine mammals, such encounters are common and can result in break-ins or entanglements—sometimes involving large species like killer whales.
- Cermaq’s experimental semi-enclosed salmon farm has raised concerns about an excessive accumulation of feces covering the surrounding seafloor. The odor, noticeably stronger than that from typical operations, may stem from digestive issues among the fish, casting doubt on the effectiveness of the farm’s new “semi-enclosed” technology.
- Since February, Cermaq’s semi-enclosed salmon farm has issued antibiotic florfenicol on seven occasions. Because this farm operates as an open water system, the repeated use of antibiotics can contribute to antibiotic resistance and marine pollution of the surrounding environment.
Thousands of Atlantic salmon died across several of Cermaq’s farms, near Tofino in Clayoquot Sound. Massive die-offs raise serious environmental concerns about the risks of open-net pen aquaculture along B.C.’s coast. The deaths, which occurred between July and September—where one site alone lost around 185,000 fish—was reportedly caused by harmful plankton blooms and poor water quality. Such events can release large amounts of waste, nutrients, and decomposing biomass into surrounding waters, further degrading marine habitats. The incident underscores the vulnerability of farmed fish systems and their potential to harm wild salmon populations through ecosystem stress, disease transfer, and pollution.
- For years, B.C. salmon farming companies publicly posted monthly sea-lice counts — one of the only ways the public could see what was happening inside an otherwise secretive industry. But that window is closing.
- Over the past year, major Atlantic salmon companies in B.C., including Cermaq and Grieg Seafood, have scaled back or stopped publicly reporting lice numbers online.
- Cermaq removed public reporting entirely in August 2024, now stating that numbers are shared only with the federal government. Grieg Seafood last updated its numbers in September 2025, showing extreme lice levels far above legal limits. Mowi, the world’s largest multinational salmon-farming company, last published lice levels in October 2025 and whether they intend to continue public updates remains uncertain.
- At the same time, outbreaks and mass mortality events continue near critical wild salmon migration routes, but with less transparency than ever. Less reporting means fewer answers and higher risk for wild salmon already fighting to survive.
Implications
The clock is ticking, and the health of British Columbia’s marine ecosystems hangs in the balance. We’re already witnessing the devastating consequences of delaying action. How much more are we willing to sacrifice in the name of short-term industry interests?
It’s time to hold decision-makers accountable. The removal of open net-pen salmon farms can’t wait another four years. British Columbians—especially those who live and work on the coast—deserve better. The future of our wild salmon, and the web of life they support, depends on bold and immediate action.
Enough is enough.
