Salmon delousing incidents kill 800,000 herring in BC

Cermaq's use of sea lice removing technology has been confirmed by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) as the cause of a major spike in incidental herring deaths linked to British Columbia salmon farmers in 2022.

In June 2022, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) became aware that wild Pacific herring had been incidentally killed during sea lice treatments administered at marine finfish aquaculture sites in British Columbia, the agency told IntraFish.

In 2022, over 817,000 wild fish -- mostly herring -- were reported by the DFO to have been incidentally killed in open netpen salmon operations in British Columbia.