Many groups on the Island are fighting to make our home a better place.
Ten years ago, Bonny Glambeck and Dan Lewis got together to create one of the Island’s most iconic activism groups, and they’ve been on a whirlwind journey ever since.
It all began with bringing people from across BC together behind a common cause.
The 1993 Clayoquot Summer Blockades.
Protecting the ancient forests of Clayoquot Sound was the beginning of a movement which would grow to cover a whole lot more than just blockades.
The initial focus on protecting old growth was expanded to cover all threats to Clayoquot’s biodiversity.
From mining, oil spills from increased tanker traffic, and industrial salmon farming – there were a lot of threats to focus on.
People got more creative with their protests, a mock oil spill on Fossil Fools Day, human banners, and Bonny’s arrest on Burnaby Mountain opposing the TransMountain pipeline.
Clayoquot Action was fully born on the twentieth anniversary of the Clayoquot Summer Blockades in 2013.
Over the last ten years, that action has become much more streamlined and direct.
Five years into campaigning, they chose a new focus – removing salmon farms from BC waters.
Their Clayoquot Salmon Investigation (CSI) program gets out to monitor fish farms regularly.
“CSI has been able to expose mass die-offs, viral outbreaks, sea lice infestations, herring being killed by sea lice treatments, pesticide dumping in grey whale feeding habitat, tainted blood water in downtown Tofino, sea lions trapped inside fish farms (on an ongoing basis), and much more.” the organization wrote in an open letter to The Westerly.
Everything they’ve exposed has come to a head, with the government promising to remove ocean fish farms from BC waters by 2025.
This is a massive win for BC’s wild Salmon.
They wrote, “Independent science is clear that salmon farms are having population-level impacts on wild Salmon…Any stressor we have control over must be managed—failure is not an option.”
All the hard work over the last ten years is leading to a big win.
Twenty-two organizations have just signed up to take action against floating factory Fish farms that continue to expand in the region.
They’re close to their goal, which is rare for an organization to accomplish in just a decade. For this, they’re thanking all the locals and businesses that have supported them on the way.
They’re a small force, but all their action has helped keep Clayoquot, their home, sound.
Check out their website for more info on Clayoqout Action or to take action yourself.
