The Pristine Coast Movie

Description

The marine ecosystem off the coast of British Columbia is collapsing. In the late 1990’s, Alexandra Morton, a whale biologist who lives in the Broughton Archepelago, began to document the decline of pink and chum salmon in her area.  At the time, I was an avid sport fisherman.  I spent many days on the Vedder River fishing for salmon. One day, I noticed dozens of silver bright salmon floating belly up in the river. Initially, I was angry at other anglers for mishandling fish.  But then I heard about Morton’s observation that sea lice from fish farms were impacting the pink and chum runs in her area. I called her and asked if she thought those impacts could be reaching the fish populations in my area. She didn’t know, but it was a moment for both of us to ponder that this issue might be much more widespread.

I decided to make the issue the subject of my next film. But I found out two other film makers were already on the story. I began interviewing subjects looking for a fresh way into the story. Finally, in the spring of 2010, Alexandra planned a protest walk from the tip of Vancouver Island to the provincial capital, Victoria. The protest was dubbed the “Get Out Migration” as a call to action for the fish farms to get out of the way of wild salmon migration.  The protest started off with just a handful of supporters. But by the time she got to Victoria thousands of people joined her on the lawn of the provincial legislature.