When fresh farm salmon first hit the off-season market it commanded a high price and the profit margin attracted other corporate interests. Large companies such as Stolt quickly outgrew Norway's restrictions and began exploring other coastlines. The gold rush was on. Small operators in BC began applying for leases coastwide, and when they went broke the big companies bought them. Money earmarked for watershed restoration, phase two of the Federal Salmon Enhancement Project, was diverted to aquaculture research.
Wild salmon are the corporate farmers' competitor.
Whatever their intentions, it is not in the farmers' best interest, nor can they afford to protect B.C.'s wild salmon. CRIS researchers asked Broughton Archipelago fishermen to identify the best salmon, prawn and rock cod fishing spots, promising to protect them. Instinctively cagey, the fishermen were reluctant. However, I prevailed on them to trust the CRIS process and get crucial locations exempted from the salmon farming industry. After meetings attended by most of the community traveling six hours each trip by boat, a map was printed.