Salmon farmers say thanks with a community BBQ
Campbell River event aims to foster community engagement and raise awareness about the importance of the salmon farming sector to the local economy and food security
By SeaWestNews
British Columbia’s salmon farmers will hold an appreciation BBQ event this week in Campbell River to offer a heartfelt thank you to the community for its unwavering support of the aquaculture sector.
Scheduled for Thursday, August 22, at Robert Ostler Park, the event aims to foster community engagement and raise awareness about the importance of the salmon farming sector to the local economy and food security.
“Our goal with this event is to show our appreciation for our community of employees, our business community and the communities we all live and work in,” said Michelle Franze, Manager of Communications, Partnerships and Community for the BC Salmon Farmers Association (BCSFA)
“Our second goal is to raise education and awareness of the salmon farming sector,” said Franze, who is also the co-founder of the Young Salmon Farmers of BC (YSFBC).
The BBQ event will include various engagement stations, including a Virtual Reality station to take a tour of a salmon farm, an Ask Us Anything booth, a Kid’s Zone which will include a craft area and a bouncy castle, a fun Photo Booth, an Aqua Guardians Station with the BC Centre for Aquatic Health Sciences, and a First Nations-Led Salmon Farming booth with the Coalition of First Nations for Finfish Stewardship.
“We will be encouraging cash donations, suggesting a $5 minimum, to support the Campbell River Food Bank,” said Franze.
For the people of Campbell River, the BBQ is more than just an event; it is a rallying point for a community facing an uncertain future.
The coastal community, which prides itself as the Salmon Capital of the World, is expected to be hard hit following the Liberal Government’s decision to end open-net salmon farms in BC after 2029.
This proposed ban, pushed for by anti-fish farming activists, flies in the face of 10 government studies and a plethora of other research which continue to show that current ocean salmon farms pose no more than minimal risk to wild Pacific stocks.
Federal Fisheries Minister Diane Lebouthillier has promised a transition plan for the sector, which will involve moving the open-net farms to close-containment facilities in water and on-land.
The Campbell River Business Recovery Taskforce, comprised of community and business leaders, estimated the annual spending by fish farmers on supplies and services via local businesses and vendors at $132.65 million.
A report from the taskforce said salmon farming companies employ 572 people in the community, affording salaries and wages of about $14.91 million annually while purchasing supplies and services from 680 vendors in the region.
“The attractiveness of Campbell River and Northern Vancouver Island must not be put at risk by lack of awareness or other narratives put forth by those who have no stake in this community,” stated the independent report, stressing that politicians need to listen to the locals about aquaculture, tourism and forestry, not only to the activists.
BC salmon farmers generate over $1.142 billion of direct economic activity annually supporting over 6,000 jobs mainly in the provinces coastal indigenous and non-indigenous communities.
The Coalition of First Nations for Finfish Stewardship, said salmon farming in BC directly and indirectly employs over 700 Indigenous people and provides $120 million in total annual economic benefits to First Nations, with $42 million going directly to Indigenous communities.
Today, 100 percent of BC’s farmed salmon is raised in agreement with Rights Holder First Nations.
As the sector awaits the Federal Government’s Transition Plan, now delayed till next month, the Business Council of British Columbia (BCBC) is ringing the alarm bells over job losses in the province.
The total number of people working in the province fell by 10,300 from June, which translates into a sizable monthly 0.4 per cent decline, BCBC said. July’s decrease follows a loss of 9,700 in June and a drop of 7,900 in May.
BCBC in its report said there is notable deterioration in B.C.’s job market and warned that the net outflow of interprovincial migration from B.C. to Alberta will accelerate in the year ahead where job prospects are much more plentiful.
(Facebook image shows members of the Young Salmon Farmers of BC)