Coastal First Nations Tell Carney to Reverse B.C. Salmon Farm Ban

“This is a crisis, an avoidable crisis.” First Nation leaders warn Prime Minister Mark Carney that the plan to ban ocean salmon farming in B.C. is killing jobs, blocking billions in investment and violating Indigenous rights.

By Fabian Dawson
SeaWestNews

Coastal First Nation leaders today delivered a direct message to Prime Minister Mark Carney to reverse Ottawa’s looming ban on conventional ocean salmon farms before an avoidable economic and social crisis deepens along British Columbia’s coast.

They say the activist-driven Trudeau-era policy is already killing jobs, reducing business activity and threatening revenues Indigenous communities depend on for housing, family services, health programs and local infrastructure.

“This is a crisis, an avoidable crisis,” said Isaiah Robinson, Deputy Chief Councillor of the Kitasoo Xai’xais Nation, a member of the Coalition of First Nations for Finfish Stewardship.

“Our message for Prime Minister Carney and the Government of Canada is simple. We must end this Trudeau-era policy and reverse the open-net salmon farm ban,” Robinson told an Ottawa news conference.

He said the policy runs directly against Carney’s economic agenda of stronger domestic production, private investment, food security and greater Indigenous participation in major projects.

Addressing Carney directly, Robinson said, “You have put in place an agenda to drive private investment into Canada, faster development of major projects, stronger domestic production, stable employment and greater Indigenous participation in projects and resources that shape this country’s economy.”

“Salmon aquaculture meets all these tests.”

The Kitasoo Xai’xais Nation, based in Klemtu about 800 kilometres north of Vancouver, has farmed salmon for more than 35 years. Aquaculture now accounts for about 51 per cent of economic activity in the remote community, which is accessible only by boat or aircraft.

The Nation has paired economic development with conservation, protecting about 55 per cent of its marine territory and 40 per cent of its land base, Robinson said, stressing “We are salmon people.”

Robinson said the community has confidence in the science and modern technology behind salmon farming and believes the industry can operate while protecting wild salmon.

Aquaculture revenues help fund housing, child and family services and mental-health supports in Klemtu, said Robinson.

“Without this revenue, the demand on these services will continue to increase, while the revenue to support will dry up…This is economically devastating.”

Kitasoo Xai’xais Hereditary Chief Roxanne Robinson said the uncertainty is already being felt in people’s homes.

“Families are losing steady paycheques. Businesses that depend on the sector are laying people off. People are hurting today,” she said.

Chief Councillor Chris McKnight said Klemtu has experienced what happens when its economic base disappears.

He recalled growing up in the community during the 1990s, when jobs were scarce and serious social problems followed.

“There were many suicides where we almost had to declare a state of emergency,” McKnight said. “Salmon farming brought jobs, food and certainty for our people.”

McKnight also challenged the contradiction between Ottawa encouraging Indigenous participation in LNG, pipelines, mining and other resource developments while maintaining a policy that would shut down salmon farms supported by coastal Rights-holder Nations.

“The federal government cannot say that it wants First Nations to become partners and owners in Canada and major economic projects and then tell coastal First Nations that we cannot make responsible decisions about salmon farming in our own waters,” he said.

The economic stakes stretch well beyond Klemtu.

B.C.’s remaining salmon farming sector generates about $1.17 billion a year in economic activity and supports roughly 4,560 full-time jobs. More than 1,000 Indigenous people work directly and indirectly in the sector, while First Nations receive an estimated $134 million a year in economic benefits from salmon farming and associated businesses.

B.C. salmon farmers and their First Nations partners say regulatory certainty could allow the sector to grow to about $2.5 billion in annual economic output, $930 million in GDP and roughly 9,000 jobs by 2030. Longer-term projections put annual output at about $4.2 billion and employment above 16,000 by 2040.

B.C. farmed salmon production has already fallen by more than 40 per cent since 2015 as farms have been removed or taken out of production. At the same time, Canada has become increasingly reliant on foreign salmon. Imports exceeded $1 billion in 2025 as domestic production continued to fall.

“We agree with the Canadian government’s goal of producing more food here, food at home, and strengthening food security across the country,” Robinson said.

“At the same time, Canada is spending hundreds of millions of dollars importing salmon from different countries…This makes no sense when we already have the jobs, the regulated industry and the ability to feed and employ Canadians.”

The Trudeau government announced in June 2024 that conventional marine salmon farms in B.C. would no longer be permitted after June 30, 2029.

The policy followed years of lobbying by anti-salmon farming organizations despite federal science assessments that concluded salmon farms posed no more than a minimal risk to wild Pacific salmon populations.

McKnight said larger pressures facing wild salmon are being lost in the debate.

“Join us in the fight over the real threats that threaten our waters. Overfishing, global warming, habitat loss,” he said, addressing the First Nation Wild Salmon Alliance, which held a news conference earlier in the day. “Those are the real issues that are hurting our salmon.”

The First Nation Wild Salmon Alliance, which is aligned with activists opposed to open-net salmon farming, is urging Ottawa to complete the transition process and enforce the 2029 deadline.

The Alliance argues that Aboriginal rights tied to wild salmon justify removing ocean farms, including in areas where Rights-holder First Nations have chosen salmon farming as part of their economies.

For this group and its supporters, Indigenous self-determination, does not apply to First Nations that say yes to salmon farming.

(Main image shows Isaiah Robinson, Deputy Chief Councillor (l) Hereditary Chief Roxanne Robinson (r) and Chief Councillor Chris McKnight of the Kitasoo Xai’xais First Nation)