In a recent article in The Tyee by Sarah Cox, the Hupačasath First Nation has served an eviction notice to Cermaq’s Boot Lagoon hatchery near Port Alberni, which supplies Atlantic salmon smolts to the company’s 14 open-net pen farms in Clayoquot Sound. Hereditary Chief Alton Watts says the Norwegian-owned company never sought the Nation’s permission to operate on its territory, and has told Cermaq to immediately stop transferring smolts and close the facility by the end of this year.

Watts says wild salmon he catches in the Somass River and its tributaries, which feed near Clayoquot Sound farms before migrating home, are showing missing skin, sores and parasites. He also worries the hatchery, beside Great Central Lake, could leak contaminants or escaped Atlantic salmon into waters that support one of the few remaining healthy salmon runs in Nuu-chah-nulth territory.

Dan Lewis of Clayoquot Action welcomed the eviction, pointing to a 2026 study that found 45 per cent of Clayoquot Sound’s original wild salmon stock is now genetically extinct, and calling the situation a “full-scale emergency.” Cermaq did not respond to The Tyee, and the BC Salmon Farmers Association said it was unaware of the notice. Watts says First Nations are still waiting for the Carney government to move forward on the 2029 ban on open-net pen farming.

First Nations are leading the way in protecting wild salmon in their territories. Ottawa must respect their rights and deliver the transition it promised.

Read more online at: https://thetyee.ca/News/2026/09/24/Hupacasath-Nation-Boots-Salmon-Farm-Hatchery/