Coast residents concerned about the plight of British Columbia’s wild salmon marched from Lower Gibsons’ Pioneer Park to Charman Creek Sunday, May 1, to show support for wild salmon-preservation campaigner Alexandra Morton’s ‘Get Out Migration’ trip on Vancouver Island which protests open-net fish farming.

“The Get Out Migration is a call to action to make government aware that we want wild salmon to take higher priority than farm salmon,” Morton writes in a mission statement on her campaign website.

Morton is travelling by foot and canoe from Sointula, on the north end of Vancouver Island, to Victoria over a two-week period. Her trek culminates in a rally and march on the provincial legislature tomorrow (Saturday).

“There has to be a political will from the government to really address the multitude of issues for wild salmon,” said Denise Lagassé, who participated in the Coast event. Lagassé emphasized the subtitle to Morton’s walk: “Wild Salmon are Sacred.”

“[The campaign is about] understanding that salmon is not just a financial commodity — it is the backbone of the West Coast ecosystem,” she said. “So [it’s about] understanding salmon from a much deeper perspective than the money that it brings in.”

Lagassé said at Earth Day events in Roberts Creek, she collected 100 signatures on salmon-shaped postcards which she will send on to the premier’s office to support Morton’s efforts.

Morton’s campaign has gathered more than 7,500 signatories for a petition that calls on the federal government to end open-net aquaculture in federal waters.

“We the undersigned citizens of Canada stand against the biological and social threat and commerce of industrial marine net-cage feedlots using our global oceans,” the petition reads. “The science is clear: these operations risk wild salmon populations by intensifying disease and deplete world fishery resources to make the feed. They privatize ocean spaces and threaten our sovereign rights to food security.”

But Morton’s campaign has drawn some backlash from fish farmers.

“We respect people’s right to protest and express their concerns,” said Colleen Dane, communications manager for the British Columbia Salmon Farmers Association, “but we feel that the walk’s specific demands for removing fish farms is short-sighted and misguided considering the level of regulation and the important contribution the industry makes to the province.”