To: Susan Farlinger Regional Director Fisheries and Oceans Canada FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE MANAGEMENT BRANCH and To: Paul Sprout Regional Director General Fisheries and Oceans Canada REGIONAL DIRECTOR GENERAL'S OFFICE Re: Salmon Talks to DFO This morning, myself and Mr. Graham Girarad of the Wild Salmon Circle visited the Environment Canada Building to request a meeting with you. Both you and your close representatives were unfortunately unavailable but we are rather determined to connect with you. To follow up our visit of this morning, this email is a formal request for a meeting. We respectfully ask for a very timely response due to the urgent nature of our concern This morning's visit was to show solidarity for one of the many initiatives taking place provincially, nationally and internationally on behalf of the Pacific Salmon. At 10:00 this morning Salmon Talks Lillooet took action to get coastal fish farms out of the way of Fraser salmon smolts. Individuals representing the group went to the DFO office in Lillooet to request that three fish farms, Sonora, Cyrus Rocks, and Venture Point, be harvested and emptied immediately and that this be completed before mid-May when the Fraser smolts will be reaching the narrows near Quadra Island in the Georgia Strait. They went to ask and find out who is able give a direct order to the fish farms to make this happen. "The salmon crash that we are experiencing calls for emergency protective and precautionary measures.... (We want the) farms harvested and emptied by the earliest possible time, with mid-May being the latest date of acceptability. These three farms hold adult Atlantics, which are the greatest threat to smolts, and are all very close to harvest. These farms are placed in a seaward bottleneck that the smolts must pass, and so have been shown to be in the place of highest risk to wild Fraser salmon outmigrations. Who can order their immediate harvesting and fallowing?" Find their full letter to Tom Grantham, Supervisor, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Lillooet, BC attached. In a natural system without aquaculture on the migration routes, outward migrating juveniles do not come into contact with concentrations of sea lice from adult salmon in the natural systems anywhere near close to the concentrations of lice that the migrating juveniles now face as they make their way through the Straight of Georgia. Open pen fish farms on the wild salmon migration routes ARE a factor in the wild stock's decline. Removing farms from the "Wild Salmon Narrows" is imperative.With each farm the migrating juveniles pass, the more chances they currently face of having a sea louse attach them selves. The higher the number of lice on a juvenille, the less likely they are to survive pressure from predators and other "natural selection" processes. The numbers of the numerous Pacific salmon stocks have been declining since the mid 90's and it's time to address the factors that are contributing to this decline. Someone needs to speak for the salmon. Salmon Talks Lillooet spoke to DFO in Lillooet. We would like to speak for the salmon as well. Michelle Nickerson The Fraser River Ripple Effect Poisson D'Avril Campaign - "We can no longer be so foolish with our fish"