VANCOUVER (The Canadian Press).- Some of the most vociferous critics of fish farming on the West Coast say they will ask a B.C. court to prevent the provincial government from renewing leases on existing fish farms.

Biologist Alexandra Morton said she and an association of gillnetters, the Vessels Owners Association and the Wilderness
Tourism Association filed a petition Tuesday in B.C. Supreme Court.

Their move comes about a month after the latest scientific report on sea lice off the B.C. coast found the infestation near Campbell River fish farms has spread beyond pink and chum salmon to juvenile sockeye and herring.

Ms. Morton said the petition challenges the right of the B.C. government to regulate fish farms and issue licenses.

It also calls for a judicial review to prevent the government from renewing leases on existing fish farms and names the minister of agriculture and lands, the attorney general of B.C. and Marine Harvest Canada as defendants.

The fish farm opponents say there are 22 fish farms operating with expired leases in the Broughton Archipelago, near the northern tip of Vancouver Island.

At a news conference outside the courthouse where the petition was filed, Ms. Morton said that the federal Fisheries Department “says there is no impact from fish farms so the province can regulate them.

“We think the oceans should be regulated by the federal government and not the provincial government.”

Her lawyer, Greg McDade, said Morton, the Pacific Coast Wild Salmon Society, the Southern Area (E) Gillnetters Assoc., and the Fishing Vessel Owners' Assoc. of Canada are going to court because “the federal power over oceans and fisheries goes right back to 1867 and the BNA Act.”

“We think there is a very strong chance of success in this [constitutional challenge] and we are turning to the courts because DFO is basically abdicated their responsibility over the fish.”

He said the group filed the petition to challenge the constitutional jurisdiction of the province to regulate aquaculture, “challenging their whole licensing scheme.”

And he expressed hope that the petition would be heard by the court in a few months “and a judge will decide whether the provincial legislation is valid or whether this should be something that DFO regulates.”

Source: The Canadian Press