We know that many organizations fighting against the salmon farming industry lack access to funding and support from larger entities. Competing against a multi-million-dollar industry in the communications arena is a formidable challenge. That is why we provide re-grants to members working on active and urgent campaigns. This approach gives them a more equitable chance to win the fight, wherever it takes place. After all, there is only one ocean.
GSFR Leading a worldwide alliance to fight open-net salmon farming.
The GSFR is a global community of NGOs, activists, and scientists collaborating toward a common vision: an ocean free from open-net salmon farms, where marine ecosystems can thrive. Salmon farming involves raising millions of fish in overcrowded nets submerged in the ocean, under such extreme conditions that their survival depends on heavy use of chemicals, vaccines, and antibiotics. These, along with untreated waste like excrement, pesticides, microplastics, and heavy metals, are dumped into the ocean in quantities lethal to marine life. Devoid of oxygen, the seabed becomes dead, and toxic algae may bloom, destroying entire ecosystems. Yet, the industry claims salmon is raised sustainably and is healthy to consume, continuing to operate in the same harmful ways wherever it settles.
Despite rejection by coastal communities, the salmon farming business is one of the fastest-growing industries in the world. As the seas warm, the industry is running out of suitable sites for new farms, leading to increased stocking densities in existing ones or relocation to the last pristine places on Earth. This is precisely what led to the birth of The GSFR. In 2018, the Norwegian and Tierra del Fuego governments signed an agreement to establish intensive salmon farms in the Beagle Channel. However, in 2021, thanks to support from international and local NGOs, activists (including PEM's founders and team members), the local community, and decision-makers, the Tierra del Fuego government banned intensive salmon farming in its waters, making Argentina the first country to regulate the industry. The three years of joint strategic campaigning against the industry laid the foundation for The GSFR.
Today, as leaders of this global alliance, our role is to unite members worldwide and amplify local campaigns to broaden their reach and increase their impact. Our mission is to halt the expansion of the salmon industry and remove open-net salmon farms from the ocean.
01 Fast Grants
02 International Reach
Some NGOs have been battling the salmon industry for many years in their home countries. Through our communications and strategy team, we support their creative process and help design and implement plans to scale their local campaigns. In doing so, we expand their reach and deepen their impact, both locally and internationally.
03 Global Awareness
The salmon farming industry operates in the same way and creates the same issues wherever it is established, relying on myths perpetuated by companies around the world through press and marketing to fuel its growth. We are working to identify key messages that can debunk these myths, such as “salmon is healthy,” “salmon is sustainable,” or even “salmon is produced in pristine seas.” Based on these insights, we are designing awareness campaigns targeting the salmon farming industry and its consumers with a consistent message worldwide.
04 Shared Assets
Information and knowledge are powerful tools that can help GSFR members build stronger arguments and develop new strategies against the salmon industry. To this end, we regularly provide frameworks for organizations and activists to share information and exchange experiences.
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Milestones
01
TDF AIAS, Argentina
In July 2021, thanks to the joint efforts of the local community, chefs, NGOs, and activists, open-net salmon farming was banned in Tierra del Fuego, Antártida e Islas del Atlántico Sur, Argentina, before the industry could begin producing salmon in the Beagle Channel.
02
Islas Malvinas | Falkland Islands
Inspired by Argentina's campaign, the community of the Falkland Islands/Islas Malvinas fought against the installation of salmon farms. In April 2022, the Executive Council resolved to ban large-scale aquaculture, including salmon farming, in the Falkland Islands/Islas Malvinas.
03
British Columbia, Canada
In June 2022, thanks to collaboration between different countries, local leaders, organizations, and individuals, the local government limited the renewal of salmon farm licenses to two years (previously renewed for six years at a time). This was a major step toward the federal government’s commitment to transitioning open-net salmon farms out of British Columbia by 2025. Unfortunately, this transition has now been postponed to 2029.
04
United Kingdom
The Off the Table campaign was launched in 2022, performed exceptionally well in 2023, and continues to run in 2024. This campaign has been replicated in Iceland, Australia, and Canada, and efforts are ongoing to expand it to other countries.
05
Tasmania, Australia
A campaign by Neighbours of Fish Farming (NOFF), funded by GSFR, is achieving significant results: 72% of Tasmanians support the reduction of inshore salmon farming sites, prioritizing the cessation of operations in sensitive, sheltered, and biodiverse areas.
06
Washington State, USA
Thanks to the combined efforts of activists, Washington's native peoples, businesses, local and international organizations, chefs, fishing groups, scientists and elected officials, and the persistence of Commissioner Hilary Franz, commercial aquaculture in open net farms was banned by law in Puget Sound, Washington state waters.