The Salmon
Your grandfather caught salmon every summer. The river is still there. The salmon aren't.
The System
Wild salmon are collapsing on both coasts. DFO manages the fishery. Open-net pen salmon farms sit in migration routes, spreading parasites and disease. Deadlines to remove them keep getting pushed back. The fish don't get extensions.
Fraser sockeye forecast (2024)
Wild juveniles infected near farms
Bay of Fundy salmon (was 40,000)
567,180. That was the Fraser River's 2024 sockeye forecast — the lowest ever recorded. Scientists say you need at least 1 million for a healthy run. We're not even close.
94% of juvenile wild salmon near open-net fish farms were infected with sea lice parasites. BC has 79 active salmon farm licences in migration routes. The aquaculture industry employs roughly 13,000 Canadians — concentrated in rural coastal communities where alternatives are few.
Let's hear the other side
...and see if it holds water
After Discovery Islands farms closed, sea lice on wild salmon dropped 96% — but the sockeye run didn't recover. The lowe...
The Promise
The Cohen Commission spent $26 million investigating the decline of Fraser River sockeye. It produced 75 recommendations in 2012. DFO claims 100% have been addressed. Scientists who worked on the commission disagree.
75 recommendations. The Cohen Commission delivered them in 2012. DFO says they met 100%. The scientists who wrote them say that's not true. The open-net pen removal deadline was 2025. It's now 2029.
The Reality
Atlantic salmon are disappearing too. The Miramichi River in New Brunswick used to see 120,000 salmon a year. Now it's about 20,000. The Bay of Fundy inner population went from 40,000 adults to fewer than 200. This isn't a west coast problem. It's everywhere.
434,700 Atlantic salmon returned in 2024 versus a 5-year average of 771,200. The Miramichi went from 120,000 a year to roughly 20,000. The Bay of Fundy: from 40,000 adults to fewer than 200.
The Miramichi River — once the greatest Atlantic salmon river in the world — saw returns drop from 120,000 to roughly 20,000. Greenland's mixed-stock fishery still harvests Canadian-origin Atlantic salmon, adding pressure to already declining stocks.
What Works
When the Discovery Islands fish farms were closed, sea lice on juvenile wild salmon dropped 96%. That's real progress on parasite load — but it wasn't enough to reverse the decline. The 2024 sockeye forecast was the lowest ever recorded, even after the closures. Ocean warming is the dominant threat. The case for removing open-net pens is still strong: eliminating one stressor gives wild salmon a better chance against the others. Closed-containment technology exists. The transition is expensive. But so is extinction.
Sea lice impact: before and after farm closure
96% drop in sea lice after Discovery Islands farm closures. The experiment worked. The federal government extended the open-net pen deadline to 2029 anyway.
What You Can Do
Demand the 2029 open-net pen deadline is kept. Support wild salmon conservation groups. Buy only closed-containment farmed salmon if you buy farmed. Ask DFO to publish honest progress reports on the Cohen Commission recommendations.
Push your MP to hold DFO accountable on the 2029 open-net pen transition deadline. Support the Atlantic Salmon Federation and Pacific Salmon Foundation. If you eat farmed salmon, look for closed-containment operations.