A small group of protesters stood in front of the Abbotsford Costco on Wednesday afternoon to raise awareness of their campaign to boycott the sale of Atlantic farmed salmon.
Eddie Gardner, leader of the Chilliwack chapter of the Salmon Feedlot Boycott and organizer of the hour-long event said the group was there to ask Costco to remove farmed salmon from their shelves.
The protest was peaceful as members handed out information leaflets and played native drums.
A representative from the Abbotsford Costco came out to ask the group to leave the property, but they refused.
“Farm salmon are grown in open net pens along the migration routes of Fraser River Sockeye Salmon and because of the lack of ability to stop diseases from passing through the nets into our wild salmon, our wild salmon are being threatened with extinction because of diseases, parasites and pollution,” explained Gardner.
Along with the protest, Gardner made an announcement noting that biologist Dr. Alexandra Morton has launched a lawsuit.
Ecojustice, acting on behalf of Morton, launched the suit seeking a Federal Court order declaring that the transfer of diseased farmed Atlantic salmon into waters shared with wild fish is unlawful.
“The Department of Fisheries and Oceans is standing by, while private companies put fish carrying disease agents into the ocean,” said Margot Venton, Ecojustice staff lawyer. “We think this is unlawful. It’s definitely a serious abdication of DFO’s mandate to protect the fish and the marine environment.”
Gardner agreed saying “we need bio-security” regarding this and a provincial government that will use it’s jurisdictional power to give 60 days notice to “terminate the leases” with fish farms.