B.C. fish-farm critics move fight to court

Some of the most vociferous critics of fish farming on the West Coast say they will ask a B.C. court to prevent the provincial government from renewing leases on fish farms.

Alexandra Morton, a biologist,said she,an association of gillnetters and the Wilderness Tourism Association filed a petition Tuesday in B.C. Supreme Court.

Morton said the petition challenges the right of the B.C. government to regulate fish farms and issue licences.

It also calls for a judicial review to prevent the government from renewing leases on existing fish farms, and names the minister of agriculture and lands, the attorney general of B.C. and Marine Harvest Canada as defendants.

The move comes about a month after the latest scientific report on sea lice off the B.C. coast found the infestation near Campbell River fish farms has spread beyond pink and chum salmon to juvenile sockeye and herring.

The fish farm opponents say there are 22 fish farms operating with expired leases in the Broughton Archipelago, near the northern tip of Vancouver Island.

At a news conference outside the courthouse where the petition was filed, Morton said the federal Fisheries Department "says there is no impact from fish farms, so the province can regulate them."

"We think the oceans should be regulated by the federal government and not the provincial government," she said.

Her lawyer, Greg McDade, said Morton, the Pacific Coast Wild Salmon Society, the Southern Area (E) Gillnetters Association, and the Fishing Vessel Owners Association are going to court because "the federal power over oceans and fisheries goes right back to 1867 and the BNA Act."

"We think there is a very strong chance of success in this [constitutional challenge] and we are turning to the courts because DFO[has] basically abdicated their responsibility over the fish."

He said the group filed the petition to challenge the constitutional jurisdiction of the province to regulate aquaculture, "challenging their whole licensing scheme."

And he expressed hope that the petition would be heard by the court in a few months "and a judge will decide whether the provincial legislation is valid or whether this should be something that DFO regulates."