After months of investigative diving at farmed salmon processing plants near Campbell River and Tofino, independent filmmaker Tavish Campbell has just released his unsettling short film.
The footage, collected between April, June and October of 2017, shows infected effluent from salmon farming processing plants being released into wild salmon migration corridors along Vancouver Island.
Blood Water: B.C.’s Dirty Salmon Farming Secret from Tavish Campbell on Vimeo.
According to Campbell, this untreated "blood water" is infected with piscine reovirus, which is a highly infectious virus that causes heart and skeletal muscle inflammation, a deadly disease for wild salmon.
Less than 24 hrs after its release the video is causing quite the stir across B.C., having already been shared 14, 000 times.
"At these plants on Vancouver Island, there is probably a bit of fine screening so large chunks don't come out of the pipe. But there is still gales coming out, medium sized chunks and lots of blood with live worms in it, which means the blood is clearly not sterile," said Campbell.
"We're not trying to vilify these companies. At this point, what they're doing isn't illegal. It's up to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to make the necessary changes to the process."
Click here to visit Campbell's's website and learn more about the project.
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