Do fish farmers kill seals, sea lions, and birds that prey on their fish?
The aquaculture industry has minimized predation by mammals and birds through improved siting and the use of barrier nets around the farms. Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) closely monitors predator control on salmon farms, and licences farmers to kill marine mammals only as a last resort, if other deterrents have not worked. Marine mammal predator control licences are issued consistent with DFO’s conservation mandate. DFO data show a significant decline in seal and sea lion kills over the past few years. DFO is working with the industry to phase out the practice of lethal marine mammal control and to find effective, non-lethal solutions to predatory marine mammals.
