Madam Speaker, it is a privilege to rise today and support petitioners from my riding. They are calling on the government to work with the Province of B.C., coastal first nations and the fish farm industry to develop a strategy to transition open-net pen salmon farms out of B.C. waters by 2025.
The following measures would be included: legislation such as my Bill C-257, which is aimed at immediately stopping the transfer of PRV-infected smolts into open-net pen fish farms; completing the transition of open-net fish farms to closed containment by 2025; dedicating funding and financing to training fish farm workers; transitioning workers out of the aquaculture industry in regions that have no land-based closed containment; and supporting remote first nations communities currently dependent on revenues from the fish farm industry.
They are calling on the government to legislate the removal of open-net fish farms from B.C. waters by 2025 to help protect wild Pacific salmon.