Pacific salmon and farmed salmon on the Pacific coast of Canada

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The relationship between Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) and farmed Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) remains as one of the most contentious issues in the history of the management of Pacific salmon in British Columbia. The issue is fuelled by a decrease in the commercial catch of Pacific salmon and escalating production of farmed salmon. In 2008, for example, the annual production of farmed salmon was about ten times larger than the commercial catch of Pacific salmon (Figure 1). Salmon farming is controversial for scientific reasons and in some cases for ideological reasons. In British Columbia, one major concern is the effect that sea lice produced on farmed salmon have on wild Pacific salmon. British Columbians use the health of Pacific salmon as a measure of their quality of life. Anything that threatens Pacific salmon makes many people uncomfortable. Thus, in 2002, when there was an unexpected poor return of pink salmon (O. gorbuscha) in an area of intensive fish farming, the issues relating to salmon farming became a public concern