Grieg Seafood BC Ltd, charged over seals death

Sea lions near Sonora Island BC

Grieg Seafood BC Ltd, a West Coast salmon farm company that owns and operates 21 farms on the British Columbia coast, has been charged with violating the fisheries act at three different

locations.“The charges appear to refer to the accidental drowning of 52 California sea lions and one harbour seal over a six-month period in early 2010, all of which were immediately reported to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) by Grieg Seafood BC,” the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

 A court document filed by Gregory Barton Rusel, a fishery officer based in Gold River on the northwest coast of Vancouver Island, states the company “did unlawfully destroy marine animals by drowning." Seven counts deal with the deaths of an unspecified number of sea lions, and two counts are related to the deaths of an unspecified number of seals. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans did not immediately have a spokesperson available to discuss the case, but an official in the communications branch said it appears to be the first time such charges have been laid in BC. Read more ...

This blog is written by Martin Little, The Aquaculturists, published and supported by the International Aquafeed Magazine from Perendale Publishers. To get your copy of 'PPLAPP' click here.