December 19 2015 – we held a net-pen farmed salmon boycott rally at Walmart, Eagle Landing in Chilliwack. Wild Salmon Defenders were able to attract a lot of attention to the health issues, and the unsustainability of ocean fish farms. This was the 12th rally we had this year. We celebrated the fact we now have a new Liberal government in Ottawa that is willing to hear the voices of people who are opposed to ocean fish farms smack on the migration routes of wild salmon.

We continue to support the First Nations Wild Salmon Alliance, and we are in solidarity with Alex Morton’s Salmon Are Sacred efforts to bring out the ugly truth about net-pen farmed salmon, and have them ousted from the oceans. We are willing to work together with all who want to save farmed salmon from fish farms.

Dr. Alexandra Morton sent a message to the Wild Salmon Defenders Alliance, expressing her gratitude for what we are doing, and indicating it is not only appreciated, but it is essential for boycotts to happen in all urban centres to raise public awareness about the issues. Alex said she supports the Trudeau Liberals and is willing to work with them. We understand the Liberals are committed to implementing the Cohen Commission recommendations, and have chosen to not approve seven year licenses to ocean fish farms, as the Harper conservatives intended to do. This is encouraging, as the federal Liberals appear to want to take a hard look at what is going on with open fish farms.

At the rally, Tracy Lyster pointed out that it is impossible for open-net fish farms to protect their farmed fish from sea lice, because sea lice only become more resistant to chemicals and drugs used to kill them. They always spring back in larger numbers. This has been the experience in both Norway and Canada!

We congratulate once again the Ahousaht First Nation for making history earlier this year by not allowing a new fish farm to get established in their territory.

This coming year, we will be holding a Wild Salmon Justice Concert in Chilliwack on April 30 2016. Stay tuned for more details. We are also going to participate in the Wild Salmon Caravan that will take place in June 2016, traveling to various communities from the headwaters to the Ahousaht community on Vancouver Island. We will be announcing more news on this soon as well.

The Wild Salmon Defenders Alliance will be holding a ceremony to honour the sacred waters and our precious wild salmon on January 1, 2016 at the Vedder bridge in Chilliwack. Everyone welcome!

We will not quit until ocean fish farms are out of the oceans! OCM!

My heartfelt gratitude goes out to all the Wild Salmon Defenders across BC, especially the ones who participate regularly at our boycott rallies in front of stores in the Fraser Valley. Thanks to Chris Gadsden and Gary Haggquist who do such excellent photography on the boycotts! Gary will be doing a 12-15 minute video/slide show on the boycott rallies we have been holding over the last couple of years or so. We will screen this at the Wild Salmon Justice Concert April 30. We will also feature a 45 minute set of music by Holly Arntzen and Kevin Wright, Bear Dancers from Lillooet, and drummers and singers. We will also do a screening of a 12-14 minute video on the 2015 Wild Salmon Caravan at the concert.

We are very happy that Cyril Spinks of the Lytton First Nation stopped by to add his strength to the rally by singing with us and holding signs!

We are so excited about the great potential to get fish farms out of the ocean in 2016! Lots of action and converging of efforts will do the trick! OCM!