Premier John Horgan says industry, government and Indigenous nations on northern Vancouver Island are collaborating on a four-year program to transition away from marine-based salmon farms.

Horgan says the health of British Columbia's wild salmon stocks depends on the joint work being done in the Broughton Archipelago to improve environmental conditions and move away from open-net farms.

Three area First Nations, two aquaculture companies and the government reached an agreement earlier this year to establish Indigenous oversight of salmon farms in their traditional territories as they transition away from the open-net away pens.

Horgan told a conference on Thursday at the B.C. legislature that five farms in the area have already been decommissioned, five more will be out of service by 2022 and seven more could close by 2024.

Conservationists raise alarm over wild fish killed inside B.C. salmon farms

A conservation charity said it's concerned by what it calls a "growing trend" of wild fish killed by the salmon farming industry on British Columbia's coast.

A bucket of salmon is collected during a Department of Fisheries and Oceans fish health audit at the Okisollo fish farm near Campbell River, B.C. on Oct. 31, 2018. Seventeen fish farms off the northeastern tip of Vancouver Island will be phased out by 2023 under a new agreement between First Nations and the province, the premier announced Friday.

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The society crunched the number of 'incidental catches' self-reported by industry to government.

DFO to begin testing for harmful virus at B.C. fish farms

Testing for strains of a virus that is harmful to farmed Atlantic salmon in Norway will soon begin at B.C. fish farm operations, the federal fisheries minister announced Tuesday.

Aquatic science biologist Shawn Stenhouse writes down results during a Department of Fisheries and Oceans fish health audit at the Okisollo fish farm near Campbell River, B.C. Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2018.   Members of the DFO routinely visit farms surrounding British Columbia to make sure that the health of the salmon populations in fish farms is up to standard.

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Aquatic science biologist Shawn Stenhouse writes down results during a Fisheries and Oceans Canada fish health audit at the Okisollo fish farm near Campbell River, B.C., in October 2018. 

Namgis First Nation Chief Don Svanvik says the decommissioning program is a monumental step to protect wild salmon and recognize the interests, values and jurisdictional rights of Indigenous peoples.

David Kiemele of Cermaq Canada, which has 28 salmon farms around Vancouver Island, says negotiations ahead could hit rough patches but success is important for wild salmon and the coastal economy.

Some of the timbered rock cliffs and deep blue waters of Broughton Archipelago are shown on Nov. 4, 2003. The province announced 17 fish farms in the area are going to be phased out over the next four years.

Salmon farm decommission in B.C.'s Broughton on track, says premier

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