Sea Shepherd Launches Website for Operation Virus Hunter in British Columbia

Sea Shepherd’s research vessel, Martin Sheen returns to the west coast of Canada for a second year as part of Operation Virus Hunter II – to study the impact that farmed salmon has on wild salmon populations in British Columbia. Working in collaboration with biologist Alexandra Morton, and indigenous peoples along the coast, Operation Virus Hunter puts a spotlight on a secretive industry with devastating impact.

Established in 1977, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) is an international non-profit, marine wildlife conservation organization. Their mission is to end the destruction of habitat and slaughter of wildlife in the world’s oceans in order to conserve and protect ecosystems and species.

The purpose of Operation Virus Hunter II, is to investigate open net salmon farms that are carelessly contaminating coastal waters and infecting wild fish. Salmon farms operate along the migration routes of wild salmon and herring, disrupting their lifecycle; these farms occupy the territories of First Nation peoples who are fighting for the survival of wild salmon. Farmed salmon are unsustainable, and a serious threat to coastlines around the world.

Wild salmon feed British Columbia’s environment and oceans, as well its culture. We all depend on wild salmon for life, because they feed the trees that make the oxygen we breathe. Because wild salmon are a keystone species, their decline puts the Pacific Northwest oceans at risk. Wild salmon migrate from inland fresh water rivers deep into the open Pacific before returning to their home. We stand to lose the very species that bridges the divide between land and water.

Find out more about Operation Virus Hunter, Sea Shepherd’s Wild Salmon Defense Campaign at www.seashepherd.org/virus-hunter