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Submission:
Sockeye salmon has been my favorite food for more than 50 years now. Please do not let their stocks collapse because of the presence of open net fish farms on our coast. I thank the government for finally commissioning the Cohen Inquiry. Certainly better late, as it is, than never! It is my opinion that fish farms should be permitted only in closed containment farms on land. If this slightly increases the costs, so be it, the consumer will adjust to it because the demand will still be there. It is better than the alternative of destroying wild fisheries, and desecrating the supernatural coast in a way very detrimental to tourism. From a relatively informed layman’s point of view, my perception is that most of the profits currently generated by fish farms leave the province. The full time jobs provided are insignificant in comparison to the jobs in commercial fishing, sport fishing, and tourism…all of which are presently at risk because of fish farms. The secretive collusion that has existed between Ottawa, Victoria, and the corporate owners of fish farms is extremely unacceptable to me in a fair and open, democratic society. Please look at the evidence, and immediately get fish farms out of the ocean. I would like my children’s children to be able to marvel at the wonder of an actual sockeye migration, and to responsibly share in the incredible bounty these wild fish provide to our province.
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