On November 14th the shíshálh Nation announced they are decommissioning all of the fish farms located within the shíshálh Nation territory by February 2023, operated by Grieg Seafood (click here for full news release).
Since its inception Salish Soils has been accepting this “waste” and turning it into high quality fish compost.
Aaron Joe says “We’re sorry to hear this news. We’ve had a great relationship with Greig for the past 12 years. Yet I think it’s a great step for the Nation to take control of their swiya however I am sad to see the loss of a good partner. As First Nation groups are taking back control of how resources are managed within their territories or lands, my belief is that we are just inheriting the status quo of “business as usual”. I like to see us as a Nation examining these businesses to see how they align with our values as First Nations People, from the environment to our people. This will involve setting a new path forward by innovating old processes.
This change will give us at Salish Soils the opportunity to focus on our other local resources for feedstock such as food waste and biosolids”.
It will depend on how the farms are phased out, but we expect to be out of fish compost by late 2023, early 2024.