The federal and provincial governments of Canada have been encouraged by the Newfoundland Aquaculture Industry Association (NAIA) to suspend the Atlantic Salmon Federation’s (ASF) nonprofit designation and stop providing grant funding to the organization. A National Marine Protected Area (NMCA) that the federal government’s Parks Canada department is proposing could endanger fishing and aquaculture, according to the call. Politicians like Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey and NL Fisheries Minister Elvis Loveless have urged Parks Canada to redraw the borders in order to protect those businesses.
Stop NGO funding
According to the NAIA, activists like the ASF, the Ecology Action Centre, and others are attempting to influence the federal government, Parks Canada, and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) by threatening local food security and jobs by disrupting economic opportunities in order to draw in funding donors. The Atlantic Salmon Federation’s primary funders are affluent Americans who reside in major US cities; it is not at all like Atlantic Canadians. According to a press statement from the NAIA, “ASF invests millions in political lobbying and sensational campaigns, hosts extravagant events in New York City, and makes false claims about the need for funding for wild salmon conservation projects.” In 2023, ASF Canada received $2.8 million (£1.54 million or US $1.96 million) in “international donations” from the US, while just $830,000 came from Canadian contributors, according to Charity Intelligence Canada, a national organization that helps the charitable sector become more open. Yvon Chouinard, the creator of Patagonia apparel, is listed as a “platinum benefactor” giver of over $100,000 in ASF’s 2023 Impact Report. Additionally, Chouinard owns stock in Sustainable Blue, a salmon tank farming company situated in Nova Scotia.
Funding controversy grows
ASF declined to share information last week when asked for a list and budget for their 2023 research and conservation initiatives in each province in the Atlantic Canada region. The NAIA stated,
“The truth is that they are spending very little on real wild salmon conservation projects in Newfoundland and Atlantic Canada while raising money off the backs of hardworking Atlantic Canadians in the seafood industry.”
“The Atlantic Salmon Federation should no longer receive any grant support from the federal or provincial governments. While the NGO has $5.7 million in reserve money, ASF Canada got $687,000 in government financing in 2023, which accounted for 21% of total earnings. Such dishonest NGOs that pose as charities ought to be required by law to operate independently of all governments and not be eligible to receive government subsidies funded by taxpayers. The false, out-of-date, and dishonest statements that ASF still makes regarding the aquaculture sector are not charitable. Donors to the ASF should likewise be critically examining the usage of their money. The NAIA stated that “time and time again, science has shown that aquaculture does not negatively impact lobster and has a minimal impact on wild salmon and other species,”
making ocean salmon farming the most carbon-efficient and environmentally friendly type of animal protein farming worldwide.
End support for NGO
We are grateful that our elected officials in Newfoundland and Labrador adhere to science and facts. “The industry, government, and environmental NGOs should all agree and align on protecting our oceans,” the NAIA stated. “It is disgraceful that ASF and others still engage in disinformation campaigns, which cloud the discourse to mislead stakeholders, sway lawmakers, and eventually draw in the donations they need to finance their heinous campaigns.” The report states that ASF Canada spent CAD 2.1 million on “conservation” projects, which include political campaigning, and CAD 2.2 million on research. Additionally, the US-funded NGO spent CAD 706,000 on publications and educational initiatives “to engage Canadians.” Salmon producers in British Columbia contend that forcing the industry to adopt new technology quickly disregards their readiness to implement substitute innovations that can produce the same results.
Call for funding review
They go on to say that creative solutions must be adapted to particular coastline features and in line with the objectives of ?First Nations rightsholders who own salmon farms on their lands. “Sadly, it appears that well-funded anti-salmon farming activists have seized these Trudeau government decisions. They have spent years spreading the myth that salmon farms pose a serious threat to wild Pacific salmon, despite peer-reviewed research to the contrary,” Kingzett said. The salmon farmers further state that long-term evidence continues to show that salmon farms are not a factor in sea lice levels on wild Pacific salmon and that both federal and independent scientists have consistently determined that salmon farms represent “minimal risk.” Prime Minister Trudeau is urged by the BCSFA and Coalition to take into account a more practical, tax-free option to transition that would accomplish the same goal as a ban without having devastating effects on the industry, First Nations’ rights, and BC’s coastal towns.
