Cermaq to Dump Toxic Pesticides in Clayoquot Sound

Three years ago, Norway-based fish farm Cermaq received a permit from the BC (British Columbia) Ministry of Environment to use the pesticide Interox Paramove 50 to control the plaque of sea lice in the Clayoquot Sound.

The Clayoquot Sound (a UNESCO Biosphere Region) is a body of water on the West Coast of Vancouver Island, home to countless species of wildlife, including the grey whale. Along with wildlife, the Clayoquot Sound is home to 5534 permanent residents situated in the towns of Tofino and Ucluelet, as well as a handful of First Nations reserves, and is a major tourist destination, known for its breathtaking beaches, ancient forests, and good surf spots.

Cermaq farms Atlantic Salmon, which are bred and kept in confined spaces; in some cases, half a million together at a time. Sea lice are naturally occurring parasites in the Clayoquot Sound. However, because BC fish farms utilize open-net pen technology, these sea lice can swim into these pens, and then swim back into open waters, ultimately infecting the wild salmon as they near the pens. Currently, there is no solution for the fish farmers.

Interox Paramove 50 is used to remove the sea lice from the farmed salmon, and the pesticide is poured back into the ocean. The exact process, however, is more complex. First, the farmed salmon are sucked into a boat where they are bathed in Interox Paramove 50, then released back into their pens. Lastly, the Paramove is discharged into the Sound, with devastating impact.

Fast forward three years, Cermaq is applying for another permit. If granted, Cermaq will have the capability to dump almost 2.3 million litres of Paramove into the Sound. We are now finding out that these pesticides are more harmful to non-targeted species than previously anticipated. The Institute of Marine Research found that peroxide (the active ingredient in Interox Paramove 50) is toxic to krill, which whales feed off of, even in extremely small quantities. Krill within two kilometers of these salmon farms also face potentially fatal risks. Presently, twenty thousand grey whales are migrating, passing Clayoquot Sound, some of them becoming summer season residents.

credit: The Nature Conservancy

While using these pesticides has a negative impact on the Sound, the benefits to Cermaq are similarly limited. Sea lice are able to build a resistance, or tolerance, to peroxide - in short, making them more susceptible to “sea lice reattachment” - according to Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Pesticides are also harmful to farmed fish and can “affect the ultrastructure of the skin... (and) the composition of the mucous layer.” Indications of harm to the farmed fish are raising concerns about animal welfare, and could cause a massive surge in deaths and health complications amongst the farmed fish. These complications are easily transferred to wild salmon because of the way fish breathe. A farm with diseased fish can release particles, which are carried by the ocean’s currents; because a fish breathes water directly through their gills, a disease could be spread almost instantaneously from farmed to wild fish.

Lastly, while the Clayoquot Sound communities have relied on fishing and logging to support their economies, the Tofino and Ucluelet districts have become major tourist hotspots, creating new kinds of jobs. Surf shops, retail, coffee, and lodges are transforming what used to be a sleepy fishing town into a bustling hub on the edge of the sea. Clayoquot Action affirms that the solution is to simply “remove open-net pen salmon farms from the ocean,” concluding that “the writing is on the wall."