Hupačasath First Nation orders salmon farm hatchery to shut down

The Hupačasath First Nation served an eviction notice Wednesday to Cermaq, ordering the Norwegian company to shut down its Atlantic salmon hatchery at Boot Lagoon near Port Alberni by the end of the year. The facility supplies smolts to 14 farms in Clayoquot Sound.

Hupačasath Hereditary Chief Alton Watts said Cermaq never sought permission to operate the hatchery on Hupačasath territory. "Cermaq does not have social licence to operate in Hupačasath territory. They do not have our consent to rear invasive fish that threaten wild salmon stocks in our territory," Watts said in a statement to The Tyee.

Watts demanded Cermaq immediately stop transferring Atlantic salmon smolts from the hatchery. He caught wild salmon in the nearby Somass River and its tributaries and has documented disease in the fish—signs of illnesses that plague farmed salmon. "They're missing skin, so you can actually see their meat. Under their skin, they have some sort of parasite or sea lice," Watts said. "Some of their mouths are diseased and have sores on them."

Wild fish feed near salmon farms in Clayoquot Sound before migrating upriver. Watts is concerned Boot Lagoon, situated next to Great Central Lake, could leak contaminants into salmon-bearing waters that drain into the Stamp River, a tributary of the Somass. Great Central Lake is home to one of the last thriving salmon runs in Nuu-chah-nulth territories. "If Atlantic salmon get loose or contaminants leak, they're directly going to be harming our wild stocks," Watts said.

The Hupačasath co-manage a chinook salmon hatchery near Cermaq's facility. Cermaq Canada did not respond to messages from The Tyee before publication. The BC Salmon Farmers Association, which represents Cermaq and other salmon farming companies, said it was unaware of the eviction notice and could not comment. Boot Lagoon is one of four Atlantic salmon hatcheries Cermaq operates on Vancouver Island.