Subscribe & stay up-to-date with ASF
Satellite images taken over a 13-year period starting in 2011 reveal large-scale disposal of plastic at sea by salmon farming companies in Newfoundland and Labrador.
The survey focused on neighboring coves near Gaultois – L’Anse à Flamme and The Locker. The coves are close to nine salmon farming sites leased to subsidiaries of Mowi and Cooke.
ASF staff visited the area around Hermitage and Gaultois by boat in the summer of 2024, documenting aquaculture industry waste in multiple locations. The Locker, however, had the most discarded industry plastic, including dilapidated and partially sunken sea-cages, netting, and feed bags.
To determine the timeline of dumping in The Locker, ASF partnered with a U.K.-based marine observation firm. Five high resolution images of the cove from the Maxar constellation taken in 2011, 2013, 2015, 2018, and 2024 were retrieved, allowing for a count of sea-cage structures.
A single abandoned sea-cage was present in The Locker in 2011, a peak of 25 sea-cages were counted in 2018, and there were 15 in the most recent image.
In addition to the abandoned, ring-shaped sea-cages, the satellite images captured what appears to be an old-style rectangular salmon pen close to shore in 2011. By 2015, the structure had broken apart, sending large pieces adrift.
Dumping industrial garbage at sea is a violation of multiple provincial and federal laws and is a violation of provincial salmon farm lease conditions that companies agree to. Fines for corporations in Newfoundland and Labrador can reach $1,000,000.
In August, after visiting The Locker by boat, but prior to the completion of the satellite survey, ASF reported The Locker to Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Environment and Climate Change Canada, and the Newfoundland and Labrador Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture. ASF is not aware of any follow-up enforcement action.
“What we observed on the ground and from space is the industry’s complete disregard for the law, the environment, and other users of the ocean,” said Neville Crabbe, ASF’s Executive Director of Communications.
“ASF takes our responsibility to inform the public seriously. We believe aquaculture companies and government agencies should be held accountable,” said Crabbe.
ASF is currently working on an expanded satellite survey to identify additional aquaculture dumping sites in southern Newfoundland.
If you have information about plastic pollution or other aspects of the aquaculture industry, contact ASF: investigate@asf.ca
For a map of L’Anse à Flamme and nearby aquaculture leases, click here.
For a gallery of satellite images of The Locker, click here.
For a gallery of ground images of The Locker, click here.
To read ASF’s argument against salmon farm expansion in Maine and Atlantic Canada, click here.
To arrange interviews contact:
Kristen Noel, ASF Communications
knoel@asf.ca | (902) 499-1801