Salmon Farming Kills Free Speech!
Norwegian Government abuses the Canadian Court system to crush criticism
by Global Alliance Against Industrial Aquaculture
The Global Alliance Against Industrial Aquaculture
(GAAIA) is fighting a lawsuit being threatened by the Norwegian
Government via the Norwegian-owned company Cermaq (which operates in
Canada via Mainstream and EWOS).
GAAIA will strongly defend itself from
any legal threats from the Norwegian Government and litigation which
seeks to expand Norwegian-owned salmon farming in British Columbia in
particular. GAAIA is campaigning to stop the farming of alien Atlantic
salmon in the pristine waters of the Pacific by Norwegian-owned
companies (Cermaq, Marine Harvest and Grieg Seafood) who now control 92%
of BC salmon farms.
“Bring
it on!” said Don Staniford, global coordinator for GAAIA.
“Where
there’s smoke there’s fire or as they say in showbusiness ‘where there’s
a hit, there’s a writ’. GAAIA relishes the opportunity to prove in
court that ‘Salmon Farming Kills’. Cermaq are blowing smoke and are all
smoke and mirrors when it comes to their claims of ‘sustainable
aquaculture’. Norwegian companies may have a monopoly on salmon farming
but the Norwegian Government does not have a monopoly on the truth.
Salmon farming, like smoking, seriously damages public health, our
environmental health and the health of wild salmon. For the sake of our
global ocean we need to quit salmon farming now and stub out farmed
salmon from the face of the blue planet”.
In
response to the threat of legal action from Cermaq, GAAIA yesterday
fired off a smoking hot letter to Cermaq, the Norwegian Government and
the King of Norway [1]. GAAIA will be seeking to file a private
prosecution and other legal remedies against the Norwegian Government
and Cermaq. GAAIA will soon be publishing a new report ‘Smoke on the
Water, Cancer on the Coast’ lifting the lid on the can of worms that is
the Norwegian-owned global salmon farming industry [2].
“Put
that in your pipe and smoke it Geir Isaksen (CEO of Cermaq) and Trond
Giske (Norwegian Minister of Trade and Industry)!” said Staniford.
“Norwegian-owned companies have blood on their hands and are responsible
for the deaths of millions of salmon, hundreds of marine mammals as
well as even their own workers. Cermaq’s disease-ridden feedlots have
left a trail of tragedy in their wake especially in Chile and in British
Columbia where they are spreading infectious diseases around the
Clayoquot Sound UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, the Broughton Archipelago and
the Wild Salmon Narrows. Even more alarmingly, the smoking gun of the
Cohen Inquiry in Canada is primed to pull the trigger on damning details
of how Norwegian-owned salmon farms are spreading infectious diseases
to wild salmon”.
GAAIA
finds it particularly curious that Cermaq chooses to fight the fact
that “Salmon Farming Spreads Disease” when data sourced from Cermaq’s
own farms and peer-reviewed scientific papers co-authored by EWOS/Cermaq
staff support GAAIA’s position. GAAIA yesterday wrote to the Canadian
Fisheries Minister on the ISA issue in particular.
“The
Norwegian Government – who are the largest shareholder and controlling
interest in Cermaq – must not be allowed to get away with murder in
British Columbia, Chile, Scotland and at home in Norway,” said
Staniford. “Is the Cermaq Board of Directors and Cermaq shareholders,
including the Minister of Trade and Industry, fully aware of the
potential implications of the disease problem in Canada on not just the
health of wild salmon stocks but also the health of Cermaq’s stocks?
Cermaq may be fuelled by billions of dollars of dirty Norwegian
oil-money but GAAIA is armed with the sword of truth and shield of
virtue and has GAIA, the goddess of Mother Earth, in our corner. Cermaq
and the Norwegian Government - see you in court.”
GAAIA
is seeking to support shareholder resolutions at this year's Cermaq AGM
(taking place in Oslo, Norway, on 11th May) calling for the resignation
of CEO Geir Isaksen and the full and transparent public disclosure of
disease records in Canada as well as Chile, Scotland and Norway.
