FIN IN THE NEWS: Shatner supports fish bill

Actor helps city MP fight to have fish farms moved onto land

By John Kurucz, special to The Record June 12, 2010

Hollywood Bill, meet federal bill.

Legendary Canadian actor William Shatner lent his support Thursday to a private member's bill put forth by New Westminster-Coquitlam MP Fin Donnelly, one that would force all fish farm operators off the B.C. coast to move to closed containment within five years.

"My rage is against companies that have no conscience about what they're doing and that the bottom line is the only thing they think of," Shatner said via a telephone conference from Los Angeles. "What we must do is ensure that the farmed salmon do not destroy the wild salmon."

Introduced in early May, Donnelly's bill aims to amend the Fisheries Act by requiring fish farm operators to transition to closed-containment systems within five years of the bill becoming law. The bill also calls on Fisheries and Oceans Minister Gail Shea to develop a transition plan to make that switch within 18 months and to ensure that those working in the industry are protected during that transitional period.

"Wild salmon are part of the Canadian fabric, but they're in serious trouble," Donnelly said. "They face many threats, including sea lice from fish farms, and we need to do everything we can to protect wild salmon."

At the heart of the issue is the open-net policy used in fish farms, a practice that allows large amounts of fish feces to pollute the sea floor while increasing the problem of parasitic sea lice.

But while he recently filmed parts of the TV series Boston Legal off of northern Vancouver Island, Shatner conceded that he had not seen Donnelly's bill, nor did he know the MP personally. His call to arms, Shatner said, was initiated by mutual friends with an interest in the environment.

"My concern is that of every person who lives in Canada and especially British Columbia," Shatner said.

The joint press conference also included noted biologist Alexandra Morton and Chief Robert Chamberlin of the Ah-Kwa-Mish First Nation. Morton led a recent B.C. Supreme Court challenge that ruled that the federal government take over jurisdiction of regulating fish farms from the province, a move that effectively freezes any industry expansion until at least December.

"We know that open-net salmon farms break many natural laws that cause pathogens to explode among our wild salmon populations," she said. "The Fraser sockeye, for example, their decline is closely correlated with disease outbreaks in salmon farms."
Chief Chamberlain, whose First Nation is located near the Broughton Archipelago, stepped up the rhetoric in Thursday's conference call, demanding that the fisheries and oceans minister resign if Donnelly's bill isn't passed.

"If Minster Shea is unable to make such tough political decisions and begin to err on the side of caution for wild salmon, then she must resign. She must move aside for someone who is willing to have a long-term vision in terms of safeguarding wild salmon," he said.