Update April 29th, 2018: The BC government green-lighted the permit allowing Norwegian salmon farming giant Cermaq to dump 2.3 million litres of a highly toxic pesticide into the waters of Clayoquot Sound -- and the permit comes into effect on May 1. Our pressure already forced BC Environment Minister George Heyman to deny Cermaq's application and review of all pesticide use on open-net pen salmon farms in BC. But the review still hasn’t been released -- and the government still granted the permit. Environment Minister George Heyman and other key ministers have the power to revoke the permit and protect Clayoquot Sound before the permit comes into effect in 2 days.  

On Nov. 30th, 2017, BC will decide the fate of the waters of Clayoquot Sound, a UNESCO biosphere reserve. Industrial salmon farming giant Cermaq, has put in an application to use 2.3 million litres of a highly toxic pesticide off the coast of Vancouver Island to treat farmed salmon for sea lice.  

Farmed salmon are plagued by sea lice because of unhealthy and overcrowded conditions. Corporations like Cermaq are using ever more extreme methods to control the sea lice, threatening the marine environment and the livelihoods of communities who depend on it. 

Environment Minister George Heyman has the power to stop the application and protect Clayoquot Sound from Cermaq’s greedy practices. He needs to hear from us before December 1, when he is expected to decide on Cermaq's permit.  

Will you join me now in signing the petition to tell Minister Heyman to deny Cermaq its pesticide permit? 

Cermaq is a multi-million dollar Norwegian-based industrial fish farming company. By putting its profits before the health of the salmon and the surrounding ocean, it is threatening the pristine waters of Clayoquot Sound. 

The pesticide Cermaq wants to use, Interox Paramove 50, is a concentrated form of hydrogen peroxide, a chemical responsible for mass die-offs in fish farms. The pesticide irritates the fish while lowering their immune systems. Not only does it harm the fish but it persists in the marine environment.

The approval of this application could have dire consequences for Clayoquot Sound’s marine environment and must not go through. We have to act in the next few days to protect this beautiful marine ecosystem. 

Please sign today to tell Minister Heyman to deny Cermaq its pesticide permit. 

This petition was started by Dan Lewis from Clayoquot Action, and recognises the indigenous rights and title of the Ahousaht and Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations. 

Earlier this year over 30,000 SumOfUs members joined the call by Clayoquot Action to stop an open-pit copper mine in the rainforests of Clayoquot Sound. The intact forests that stand there today represent the outcome of tireless decades of protests. For as long as there are corporations that will try to plunder and pollute nature for their own short-term profits, we will need to stand together and resist.