‘Namgis First Nation to reactivate 2019 judicial review of DFO
Chief Victor Isaac, ‘Namgis First Nation, has announced plans to reactivate a 2019 judicial review application to challenge DFO’s policy of not testing for piscine orthoreovirus (PRV) before stocking open net-pen salmon farms in BC.
DFO’s reliance on the PRV policy, which refrains from testing for PRV before restocking open net-pens, is used to deny any claims that open net-pen feedlots stocked with Atlantic salmon pose harm to wild Pacific salmon. PRV causes heart and skeletal muscle inflammation in farmed Atlantic salmon, as well as a disease that results in the rupture of blood cells in infected wild Chinook salmon.
Chief Isaac emphasized that going to court is a last resort, but the ‘Namgis First Nation, located on northern Vancouver Island, must fight to protect wild Pacific salmon off BC’s coast.