Who to Direct Letters to...
Grocery Stores and Distributors
Let your grocery stores or chains know that you want to see farmed salmon off their shelves - see
here. See
here to contact Costco representatives or to send regional directors a postcard. Thanks to Greenpeace for all the provided contact information.
Politicians
Please write to your elected representatives and federal and provincial Ministers about this issue and what you'd like to see happen next -
-
salmon farms OUT of coastal waters
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farmed salmon into closed containment (which support of Bill C-518 will propend)
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demand the resignation of Fisheries Minister Gail Shea unless she takes your concerns seriously
Please direct your letters to:
and
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Gail Shea, MP, Federal Fisheries & Oceans Minister (Shea.G@parl.gc.ca)
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Stephen Harper, Prime Minister, (Harper.S@parl.gc.ca)
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Gerry Byrne, MP, Liberal Opposition Critic for Fisheries & Oceans (Byrne.G@parl.gc.ca)
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Raynald Blais, MP, Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine (Blais.R@parl.gc.ca)
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Denise Savoie, MP, Victoria (Savoie.D@parl.gc.ca)
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Christian Paradis, MP, Minister of Natural Resources (Paradis.C@parl.gc.ca Environment Minister
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John Duncan, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (Duncan.J@parl.gc.ca)
Examples
We'd like to showcase examples of letters that the people are sending to their politcians. If you want to showcase your correspondence, post a new comment to this forum or email us a copy at
info@salmonaresacred.org.
Please indicate if you want your personal information removed for the purpose of privacy.
Comments
You have power to fix some good things
February 21, 2011 by Alexis Baker, 1 year 12 weeks ago
Comment: 144
We are a fast growing number of well informed citizens...
February 21, 2011 by Alexis Baker, 1 year 12 weeks ago
Comment: 143
Mr Harper Time is long due
February 17, 2011 by Alexis Baker, 1 year 12 weeks ago
Comment: 142
Time is long due to get those open net salmon farms out of our ocean. I hope you can feel some love for the people of Canada this Valentine's Day. Salmon Farm impacts are felt strongly on both coasts of this country and you will be hard pressed to find many citizens that support this industry. It is an industry that has manipulated its way into Canada and spreads disease and other troubles that directly harm our wild salmon, lobster and other marine life. Marine life that belongs to the people of Canada should never be allowed to be destroyed by such carelessness. I respect the process of the Cohen Commission and I sure hope that when the truth becomes public you act swiftly upon it and remove these farms. Be assured that the people will demand it.
Canada is nothing without it's resources and a healthy environment. I hope that you can see that.
Sincerely,
Anissa Reed
For the love of wild salmon
February 17, 2011 by Alexis Baker, 1 year 12 weeks ago
Comment: 141
For the love of wild salmon please please stop the fish farm from killing the wild salmon that are native to this Country
Joan Robertson
Your Majesty, We
February 17, 2011 by Alexis Baker, 1 year 12 weeks ago
Comment: 140
For the Love of Wild Salmon and future generations
February 17, 2011 by Alexis Baker, 1 year 12 weeks ago
Comment: 139
Your Majesty, King Harald of
February 17, 2011 by Alexis Baker, 1 year 12 weeks ago
Comment: 138
It is with great respect for you and your beautiful, ethical and progressive country, I am requesting, For the Love of Wild Salmon, please instruct your fish farmers to leave the ocean. The salmon feedlots are causing great harm to the worlds waters and to wild salmon. Salmon and all wild life deserve our respect.
Most importantly, please do not allow salmon feedlots to hurt Norway's respected citizens and its highly world regarded reputation by this harmful business practice.
The world is watching.
Thank for reading my email and being thoughtful with your powerful actions.
Sincerely,
Pamela Habel
San Francisco, CA
From A. Bod King Harald of
February 17, 2011 by Alexis Baker, 1 year 12 weeks ago
Comment: 137
King Harald of Norway
I thought fish farming would help.
20 years ago my sons and I were privileged to occasionally watch the oceans come alive; the water had salmon roll so close to each other it was as if we could walk from our boat to shore on their backs like stepping-stones. We saw small, classic rowboats. No motors were allowed as the rower slipped the boat into the currents and eddies of the tyee pool. The tyee fishing is still world renown. People from all over the world come to try to catch one of the great Tyees.
I lived by the wharf and saw large loads of ocean life brought in at night, (sea urchin, gooey ducks, cod, etc) all different people and races. Some fish had other types of fish mingled in the loads, some fish were too tiny and people seemed nervous around me when I went out for my walks. I would later realise why. I saw so many herring sold as bait, and yet even those have declined. It is all part of a vital food chain.
Today I am still privileged to live by the ocean, but now that my sons are older, we do not see the large salmon entering upstream on their way to spawn in their birth river like that anymore. Our beaches don’t look the same, the ocean life has been disappearing while the houses are put up closer to shore. I even went out with someone who had a fish finder and we did not see the salmon throughout the day. Now that was scary.
Living by the water, I was saddened at the fuel and garbage in the water. When I lived by Simms creek, I took my sons to pick up garbage and tried not to upset the way for the salmon to go upstream. We walked easily through the broken chain link fence and collected three bags, many construction items, in one day and saw a lot of sludge. A year later, there was an organized effort and these kids were in the newspaper with more garbage bags. Yet no education was introduced to the kids about why our creeks are vital was incorporated. I even saw a neighbor clean his paint off into a fish stream at night in the rain. I saw a fish boat put a large load of fish farm salmon on a conveyor unit to go to the processing plant, fall through the unit into the ocean because the trap door was left open.
What I do not understand is why, when we ask questions or try to speak up about something that was wrong, nothing happened. I do a lot without going to the newspapers, because I believe we should pick up garbage and look out for each other wherever we go from the heart. I thought fish farms would be an answer to the salmon decline. The commercial fishing and the sports fishing business were hurting and blaming each other for over fishing. The government was blamed for mismanagement. The natives were upset they would be affected. The oil tankers are blamed, but what has any one done worldwide for a problem that will get worse if we don’t pull our resources together and quit ignoring the numbers.
As I look with an open mind and no hidden agendas. I see studies are being ignored numbers are recorded or minimised is obvious. It is why there being ignored and publicly broadcasting that “we the public shouldn’t listen to everything we here”. People are so busy trying to look after the businesses of the world we don’t look after the world that keeps us alive.
Fish farms may have been the answer if they were not open net. We can put our heads together and come up with solutions that will not jeopardize the oceans; the ocean is suffering at our hands. The numbers of salmon declining should be more important than the people making the decisions, just because they are number one on the boss scale or money trail. It has taken thousands of people for someone to look at the numbers, and shows Canada to be true to its form....it’s true wimpy, sell out self.
People will eventually not have a home to live in. If the numbers are not going down from disease , lice, and other accusations then why not support the people trying to communicate with answers. Good book keeping, nothing hidden. I would love my sons to work with fish farms that made this world a better place, not farms that experiment with life.
1908 season from July 30th to August 26th. Sir John Rogers captured 41 Tyee weighing a total of 1738 pounds (the largest was 60 pounds), 15 Spring salmon, 126 Coho, and 37 trout.
Tyee fishing in 1912 one might see a half a dozen boatmen rowing an equal number of fisherman and there would be a dozen or twenty Natives hand-lining from dugouts.
April G. Bond
Courtenay, B.C.
--
´¯`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸><(((((º>
Namaste
April
Kong Harald av Norge
Jeg trodde fiskeoppdrett ville hjelpe.
20 år siden mine sønner og jeg var privilegert å av og til se havet bli levende, vannet hadde laksen roll så nær hverandre var det som om vi kunne gå fra båten vår til land på ryggen som stepping-steiner. Vi så små, klassiske robåtar. Ingen motorer ble tillatt som roer gled båten inn i strømninger og virvler av tyee bassenget. Den tyee fiske er fortsatt verdens kjent. Folk fra hele verden kommer for å prøve å fange en av de store Tyees.
Jeg bodde ved kaia og så store mengder av livet i havet bringes i natten, (sjø urchin, gooey ender, torsk, etc) alle forskjellige mennesker og raser. Noen fisk hadde andre typer fisk blandet seg i lasten, var noen fisk for små og folk virket nervøse rundt meg når jeg gikk ut for min tur. Jeg skulle senere skjønner hvorfor. Jeg så så mange sild solgt som agn, og likevel selv de har falt. Det er en del av en vital næringskjeden.
I dag er jeg fortsatt privilegert å leve av havet, men nå som mine sønner er eldre, har vi ikke ser den store laksen inn oppstrøms på vei for å gyte i sin fødsel elv som det lenger. Våre strender ikke se den samme, har havet livet vært forsvinner mens husene er satt opp nærmere land. Jeg gikk ut med noen som hadde en fisk finder, og vi så ikke laksen i løpet av dagen. Nå som var skummelt.
Living av vannet, var jeg lei på drivstoff og søppel i vannet. Da jeg bodde med Simms bekk, tok jeg mine sønner til å plukke opp søppel og prøvde ikke å rokke ved måten for laksen å gå oppstrøms. Vi gikk lett gjennom den ødelagte kjedeleddet gjerdet og samlet tre vesker, mange anlegg elementer, på en dag og så en masse slam. Et år senere, var det en organisert innsats og disse barna var i avisen med flere søppelsekker. Men ingen utdanning ble introdusert for barna om hvorfor våre bekker er vitale ble innlemmet. Jeg selv så en nabo ren hans maling ut i en fisk stream på natten i regnet. Jeg så en fisk båt setter et stort lass av fisk oppdrettslaks på et transportbånd enhet for å gå til prosessanlegget, faller gjennom enheten i havet fordi lemmen var igjen åpen.
Hva jeg ikke forstår er hvorfor, når vi stiller spørsmål, eller prøv å si ifra om noe som var galt, ingenting skjedde. Jeg gjør mye uten å gå til avisene, fordi jeg tror vi skal plukke opp søppel og se opp for hverandre uansett hvor vi går fra hjertet. Jeg trodde oppdrettsanlegg ville være et svar på laksen nedgangen. Den kommersielt fiske og sportsfiske virksomheten var vondt og skylde hverandre for overfiske. Regjeringen ble beskyldt for vanstyre. De innfødte var opprørt de ville bli berørt. De oljetankere er skylden, men hva har noen gjort verden over for et problem som vil bli verre hvis vi ikke trekke våre ressurser sammen og slutte å ignorere tallene.
Som jeg ser med et åpent sinn og uten skjulte agendaer. Jeg ser er studier blir ignorert tallene er registrert eller minimert er åpenbar. Det er derfor det blir ignorert og offentlig kringkastet at "vi det offentlige ikke skal høre på alt vi her". Folk er så opptatt med å forsøke å se etter at bedriftene i verden vi ikke ser etter den verden som holder oss i live.
Oppdrettsanlegg kan ha vært svaret hvis de ikke var åpne nett. Vi kan sette våre hoder sammen og komme opp med løsninger som ikke vil sette havet, havet er plaget av våre hender. Antallet laks fallende bør være viktigere enn folk å gjøre avgjørelser, bare fordi de er nummer én på sjefen skalaen eller penger sti. Det har tatt tusenvis av mennesker for noen å se på tallene, og viser Canada til å være sant å danne sin .... det er sant pysete, selge seg ut selv.
Folk vil til slutt ikke har et hjem å bo i. Hvis tallene ikke går ned av sykdom, lus og andre beskyldninger så hvorfor ikke støtter mennesker som prøver å kommunisere med svar. God bok å holde, ingenting skjult. Jeg ville elske mine sønner til å jobbe med anlegg som gjorde verden til et bedre sted, ikke gårder som eksperimenterer med livet.
1908 sesongen fra 30 juli til 26 august. Sir John Rogers fanget 41 Tyee veier totalt 1738 pounds (den største var 60 pounds), 15 Spring laks, 126 Coho, og 37 ørret.
Tyee fiske i 1912 kan man se et halvt dusin roerne rodde et likt antall fisker, og det ville være et dusin eller tjue innfødte hand-fôr fra jordkjellere.
April G. Bond
Courtenay, f.Kr.
--
´¯`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸><(((((º>
Namaste
April
Your Majesty King Harald of
February 13, 2011 by Alexis Baker, 1 year 13 weeks ago
Comment: 136
Your Majesty King Harald of Norway,
For the love of wild salmon! Take a position against open-pen fish farms.
The people of British Columbia have overwhelmingly rejected those fish farms. Their arrival two has been linked to the decline of local wild salmon runs.
Folks here are deeply attached to their wild salmon. It is an iconic species which supports our coastal ecosystem, is part of our cultural heritage, and in so many ways defines us as a people.
It is that ecosystem, that culture, that people which are being assaulted today by a transnational corporation bearing your country's flag. Because of Marine Harvest's operations, the image of Norway has been deeply tarnished in British Columbia. Right now we don't like your government or your flag too much, because frankly, we don't think you like us either. Otherwise, you wouldn't be putting our magnificent fish at risk.
I ask that you use your constitutional powers to influence your government's policy. Demand that your government withdraw its support for open-pen fish farm operations. Support land-based enclosed fish farms instead.
Ivan Doumenc
Vancouver, BC, Canada
Your consideration please,
February 7, 2011 by Alexis Baker, 1 year 14 weeks ago
Comment: 135
Your consideration please, your Majesty King Harald,
My great-grandfather was born on February 14th 1877, in Oslo . Nils left his beloved country and made Canada his home more than 100 years ago.
In Canada, February 14th is our Valentine’s Day, a day to express love to those we hold dear.
For the love of Wild Salmon, and for the health of all, we need to get salmon feedlots out of our waters and into closed containment. For more information, please visit, http://salmonaresacred.org/

Takk for du hjelper oss saving vill laksefisk i Canada
Sincerely, Don and Sandra Nelson
White Rock
British Columbia
CANADA
For His Majesty ( King Harald Of Norway )
February 4, 2011 by Alexis Baker, 1 year 14 weeks ago
Comment: 134
Here in Canada we celebrate
Valentine's Day on February 14th.
A day meant to express affection
for loved ones and our family.
Please accept this Valentine in the
name of friendship between
British Columbia and Norway
We would like to save our wild salmon here in British Columbia, Canada.
Please help us remove all the penned stock owned by your countrymen so that our wild salmon will survive.
Sincerely
Frank and Jane Martens
Summerland
British Columbia
Canada
Dear King Harald...
February 1, 2011 by Alexis Baker, 1 year 15 weeks ago
Comment: 133
1. ARTICLE: Wild Salmon Is Healthier Than Farmed Jan 10, 2011
Researchers analyzed the risk-benefit ratio based on levels of contaminants like dioxins, PCBs and chlorinated pesticides versus omega-3 fatty acid levels. While farmed salmon is higher in omega-3s, it is also significantly higher in these toxins (about 10 times) which can produce birth defects, lower IQ, and cause cancer. They determined the following based on origin of the salmon: "consumers should not eat farmed fish from Scotland, Norway and eastern Canada more than three times a year; farmed fish from Maine, western Canada and Washington state no more than three to six times a year; and farmed fish from Chile no more than about six times a year. Wild chum salmon can be consumed safely as often as once a week, pink salmon, Sockeye and Coho about twice a month and Chinook just under once a month."
How can you tell if the salmon is wild or farmed if the package does not indicate either? Any salmon labeled "Atlantic" is farmed because commercial Atlantic salmon fishing no longer exists due to the depletion of stocks. The only way to obtain wild Atlantic salmon is to catch it yourself during the short quota salmon season in places like Atlantic Canada. Anything labeled "Alaskan salmon," on the other hand, is by definition wild salmon.
1. Foran JA et al. Quantitative Analysis of the Benefits and Risks of Consuming Farmed and Wild Salmon. J. Nutr 2005 135:2639-2643
Source:
Cornell University
"Our hypothesis is that the genomic signal associated with elevated mortality is in response to a virus infecting fish before river entry and that persists to the spawning areas."
Dr. Alexandra Morton of Raincoast Research says, "it is evident from this paper that DFO has known about this potential virus since 2006, but after four years they are still not certain what it is. The evolution of new viral strains is often associated with abnormal concentrations of animals or birds, like avian flu. We need to know if this is indeed a virus, if it is related to the farm salmon disease, salmon leukemia and if there is something we can do about it."
DFO studies in the 1990s documented salmon leukemia in Chinook salmon farms and found it could infect Atlantic and sockeye salmon. At the same time the number of Fraser sockeye dying just before spawning began increasing, called "prespawn mortality". In 2006, Dr. Miller, found the genomic signature of these dying sockeye had a distinctive "unhealthy" profile that may be a form of leukemia. Salmon Leukemia is a retrovirus. Retroviruses are known to exhibit a high mutation rate.
"Did this virus start in the wild, become amplified in the farm Chinook and mutate to infect the millions of nearby introduced Atlantic salmon altering it to become unidentifiable?" asks Morton. "DFO has significantly delayed this critical research by keeping this secret."
There is one stock of Fraser sockeye that has not been on the rollercoaster of decline and boom. The Harrison sockeye, which have been steadily increasing over the past 18 years, are not found migrating to sea through the salmon feedlots of eastern Vancouver Island, researchers believe they go to sea via southern Vancouver Island.
In a Vancouver Sun article one of the co-authors, Dr. Scott Hinch of UBC notes there have been insufficient funds to tackle this issue.
In November, the Globe and Mail published a leaked memo to the Minister of Fisheries that suggested disease as a leading possibility for the 2009 Fraser sockeye decline, but DFO did not make this information public. Morton's attempt to cross-examine on that document at the Cohen Commission was refused at the time. "We hope that Commissioner Cohen will now look into what else DFO knows about this situation and the possibility that DFO has been protecting the salmon farming industry, at the expense of the $1 billion Fraser sockeye fishery," says Morton.
"I will also raise questions at the Cohen Commission whether DFO has fully supported Dr. Miller in her pursuit of this critical work and whether Miller has been given full access to the farm salmon populations for testing?" Last month Morton's lawyers asked for the Cohen Commission to hold a special portion of the hearing to look into whether this potential virus is impacting wild sockeye and whether this is a mutated form of salmon leukemia.
Morton has started a petition to urge Minister Shea to allow Dr. Miller to test the salmon feedlots for this disease: see here.
Source:
Raincoast Research
Support Bill C-518
June 9, 2010 by Megan Adams, 1 year 48 weeks ago
Comment: 95
MR. FIN DONNELLY, MP
HOUSE OF COMMONS
401 WEST BLOCK
OTTAWA, ONTARIO, K1A 0A6
Dear Sir:
Salmon Talks Lillooet strongly supports your Private Members Bill C – 518. It is extremely important for the survival of the Fraser River salmon stocks that Parliament insist on a timetable to hasten an industry-wide transition to land-based closed containment aquaculture systems. This would protect wild salmon and many other forms of marine life in our oceans. At the same time, it would provide thousands more jobs and improve the economic security of BC’s coastal communities far more than the currently foreign-owned aquaculture operations. The food needs of thousands of people and the health of ecosystems throughout BC depend on resolving this issue quickly.
We’ve learned about the collapse of populations of salmon and other fish species in other countries where salmon farms have a longer history than here in BC. Peer-reviewed scientific studies have linked fish farm locations to declines in wild salmon populations of more than fifty per cent. The current aquaculture industry in BC is archaic and denies responsibility for the harm being done while being shielded by the Provincial and Federal governments.
Bill C – 518 provides a completely win-win solution for all the interests involved in this impasse by creating a truly sustainable aquaculture industry in BC. And most importantly, wild salmon, which have sustained countless generations of people and animals, may have a chance to continue to survive. We believe that, here in BC, the welfare of the wild salmon is the key to our own wellbeing and prosperity.
Salmon Talks Lillooet is a group that arose in response to the extremely low numbers of wild Pacific Salmon returning to their spawning grounds in the Fraser Rivershed and the threats to their survival. Our membership is very diverse. Our purposes are to educate ourselves, to address issues affecting the survival of salmon, to ally ourselves with similar groups and with First Nations throughout BC, and to encourage everyone to protect wild Pacific Salmon.
If you wish to contact us:
Phone: 250-256-2435
Email: salmontalks@gmail.com
Thank you for all your efforts,
William Spencer
On behalf of Salmon Talks Lillooet
Cc:
Stephen Harper, Prime Minister, (Harper.S@parl.gc.ca)
Gail Shea, MP, Federal Fisheries & Oceans Minister (Shea.G@parl.gc.ca)
Gordon Campbell, Premier of British Columbia (premier@gov.bc.ca)
Gerry Byrne, MP, Liberal Opposition Critic for Fisheries & Oceans (Byrne.G@parl.gc.ca)
Raynald Blais, MP, Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine (Blais.R@parl.gc.ca <mailto:Blais.R@parl.gc.ca> )
Denise Savoie, MP, Victoria (Savoie.D@parl.gc.ca <mailto:Savoie.D@parl.gc.ca>)
Christian Paradis, MP, Minister of Natural Resources (Paradis.C@parl.gc.ca)
Jim Prentice, MP, Environment Minister (Prentice.J@parl.gc.ca)
Chuck Strahl, MP, Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs, (Strahl.C@parl.gc.ca)
Susan Farlinger, Regional Director General, Pacific Region, (Susan.Farlinger@dfo-mpo.gc.ca)
To MPs, MLAs, Ministers and Mr. Campbell:
May 31, 2010 by Megan Adams, 1 year 50 weeks ago
Comment: 90
Victoria BC
Wild salmon don't do drugs
May 31, 2010 by Megan Adams, 1 year 50 weeks ago
Comment: 89
In addition to my support of your bill to move fish farms out of the ocean along our West Coast, I am wondering how it is that the Norwegian companies are allowed to add a chemical that has not been tested for human consumption to a food product? Is there someone in Parliament who could explain this anomaly?
I enquired about this in a recent letter to the media:
Having tried farmed salmon and finding it sadly lacking in flavour and having an undesirable texture, I avoid it. I also wonder about its questionable economic benefit at the expense of our wild species, our local fishermen and First Nations along our West Coast. If one needs more incentive for avoiding farmed salmon, consider the sign in our local fish store that reads, "Wild salmon don't do drugs"!
Sincerely yours,
John P. Callas
Salt Spring, BC
Come to the table
May 31, 2010 by Megan Adams, 1 year 50 weeks ago
Comment: 88
Dear Sirs;
I join Alexandra Morton in a call for re-thinking the situation with Salmon farming on the BC Coast and the tragic effects it is having on our wild fish stocks.
http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/5858662-an-eloquent-plea-for-w...
The Federal and Provincial Governments must come to the table and discuss these problems with the affected communities.
Thank you for your time and consideration in this important environmental problem.
Yours truly,
Andrew Ian Mathisen
Smithers, British Columbia, Canada
Letter to Minister Shea
May 28, 2010 by Megan Adams, 1 year 50 weeks ago
Comment: 86