Canada to ban open-net pen salmon farming in British Columbia

Environmentalists hail decision to end practice in five years but aquaculture industry warns of 6,000 jobs at risk

Canada will ban open-net pen salmon farming in British Columbia coastal waters in five years, the government has announced, a decision that has been welcomed by environmental groups but opposed by the aquaculture industry.

The Liberal government made the decision in 2019 to transition to closed containment technologies to protect declining wild Pacific salmon populations.