SMITHERS - The approval yesterday of two finfish and two shellfish aquaculture licences near Klemtu by the BC Ministry of Agriculture and Lands is wrong, says Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Nathan Cullen.

"It is incredibly arrogant and a betrayal by the Gordon Campbell government to issue these licences in the face of overwhelming public opposition to fish farms of any sort in northern waters," Cullen said this morning.

"The decision also mocks the BC Special Committee on Sustainable Aquaculture report released two months ago, which strongly recommends no salmon farm development be permitted north of Cape Caution."

The two finfish licences were issued to Marine Harvest and are located at Lime Point and adjacent Sheep Passage near the village of Klemtu on the central coast of B.C. In a separate statutory approval, the ministry also approved the offering of two Crown land tenures to Kitasoo Aqua Farms Ltd. for these sites.

Yesterday's approvals bring the number of Kitasoo finfish licences on the central coast to a total of seven.

In April, Cullen introduced a Private Member's motion in the House of Commons calling for a fish farm free northern BC. He also spoke out
against open net salmon aquaculture at committee hearings in Smithers in October.

"Salmon management cannot be a partisan issue," Cullen said. "Science, the health of the resource and the public's wishes must be the guiding forces in developing fish farm policy."