Marine Harvest Canada's bid for Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) certification for its Shelter Bay salmon farming site in British Columbia is facing a two-year delay after six sea lions were trapped inside one of the cages and drowned, Clare Backman the company's director of public affairs, told IntraFish.
An equipment malfunction at the site allowed the sea lions to bypass the predatory exclusion net in one cage, but the animals were unable to escape once in and drowned.
"A rope, part of the rigging system, was chaffing and opened a small hole into the predatory exclusion net underneath the pen," Backman said.
