Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) has been working behind closed doors with members of the salmon farming industry to develop a standard that would allow net pen salmon farms in Canada to be certified as "organic." This standard is now being considered for Canadian regulation and is open to a public comment period.

Public input is needed! As written, all an industrial salmon farm would have to do to qualify for the organic label is make two simple changes to their feed: use organic grains and use more wild fish to replace poultry by-products. Everything else about industrial net pen salmon farms—antibiotics, biocides, sea lice, disease, uncontrolled waste, and escapes—would remain unchanged.

The public comment period is open until August 30, 2010 and we are urging residents of Canada and consumers in the United States to take action and oppose the organic certification of net pen salmon farms. The US remains the largest market for Canadian farmed salmon and until US organic aquaculture standards are passed into regulation, Canadian “organic” salmon could be sold on American shelves and menus.

Note: We will add this formal comment submission as an addendum to this petition.

Posted by the Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform