6 | British Columbia Salmon Farmers Association
the public and stakeholders about salm-
on farming, the BCSFA also coordinates
industry-wide activities such as a Viral
Management Plan, vital research, and
community events.
Through facilitating such programs,
the BCSFA has been integral to advanc-
ing initiatives which speaks both to sus-
tainability of enterprise as well as the
environment. In fact, BCSFA Members
have been recognized for modeling the
best practices within the industry, setting
world class standards in term of opera-
tional responsibility and methodology es-
sential to the supply of healthy seafood.
As Walling notes, it takes a healthy
ocean to grow healthy fish. She says the
industry and the environment are en-
tirely interwoven, but for the matter, so
too is the government. Salmon farming
is among the most strictly regulated ag-
ricultural industry with BC. Fortunately,
Walling says farmers are committed to
making environmentally and economi-
cally responsible choices, which makes
sense since they live in the very coastal
communities in which they work; they
have a vested interest in ensuring that
their operations provide stability and op-
portunity with minimal impact. As an ex-
ample of these efforts, Walling points to
the development of a viral management
plan. “This plan involves all of the com-
panies farming Atlantic salmon and has
