Canada's new fisheries minister confirms plans to remove Mowi, Grieg and Cermaq from Discovery Islands by next year

Joyce Murray, Canada's new Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and Canadian Coast Guard (DFO), remains committed to phasing out 19 netpen farms owned by Mowi, Cermaq and Grieg in British Columbia's Discovery Islands by June of next year.

The measure proposed by former Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan has resulted in a reduction of more than 3.5 million farmed salmon in the Discovery Islands since December of 2020 when the decision was made, Murray said in a statement Dec. 22.

However, she said she will allow British Columbia-based Yellow Island Aquaculture to transfer fish at their Discovery Islands site, citing the fish are needed for scientific reasons.