JOIN THE FIGHT!
Save Colpoy’s Bay.

Bruce Peninsula Water Watch is a non-profit citizens’ action group concerned about the proposed industrial aquaculture factory planned near Colpoy’s Bay. If built, it will have an irreversible damaging impact to the pristine waters of Colpoy’s Bay, from which more than 4,000 residents source their drinking water.  

Water Quality is THE Priority.

Colpoy’s Bay, part of Georgian Bay, has long been known for its pristine clear blue water. It’s so clear you can see the rocks more than 20 feet below the surface. Located in South Bruce Peninsula, this incredible area situated in the Niagara Escarpment is the traditional territory of the Saugeen Ojibway Nation (SON) and is part of a UNESCO Biosphere. Residents and visitors worldwide appreciate this rich biodiversity, where they can enjoy boating, fishing, scenic trails, the rugged wilderness and crystal clear water of Colpoy’s Bay and Georgian Bay.

In the Spring of 2021, Georgian Bay Innovation Group (now renamed GB Salmon) purchased 200 acres on 83 Berford Lake Road and they propose to build the largest land-based industrial sized aquaculture factory of its kind in the world.
At 500,000 sq. ft. or 11.5 acres it will equal the size of three Costco warehouses.

UPDATE: December 27, 2024

The world’s leading proponent of genetically engineered salmon, AquaBounty, has closed their last production facility. Find out how this decision came about and why it’s a win for people, animals, and the planet in this press release from the environmental nonprofit Friends of the Earth.

Originally Published as a Press Release by Friends of the Earth
Following decades of controversy, widespread market rejection, and legal and regulatory challenges, US-based biotechnology and aquaculture company AquaBounty Technologies announced it will stop producing all genetically engineered (GE) AquAdvantage salmon, cull all its remaining fish, and close its last working facility.

After selling its fish farm in Indiana earlier this year and putting its other major site in Canada up for sale (at Rollo Bay, Prince Edward Island), AquaBounty announced yesterday that it is shutting its remaining GE salmon facility in North America (at Bay Fortune in Prince Edward Island, Canada). The company says it does not have sufficient liquidity to maintain the operation.

“This company was propped up by the hype but had nothing of value to sell. Genetically engineered food is a losing investment,” said Lucy Sharratt, Coordinator of the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network.

Genetically Engineered Salmon Pose Many Risks

A growing body of science suggests that GE salmon may pose serious environmental and public health risks, including potentially irreversible damage to wild salmon populations critical to the livelihoods, cultural heritage, and well-being of Indigenous and fishing communities.

AquaBounty was producing genetically engineered Atlantic salmon, the world’s first commercialized GE animal food intended for direct human consumption. The salmon was engineered with a growth hormone gene from Chinook salmon and genetic material from ocean pout.

“The development of GE salmon violates Wild Salmon and all the human and more-than-human communities that Wild Salmon supports. Wild Salmon underpins our cultural, spiritual, emotional, and physical well-being as Indigenous Salmon Peoples. We need to build on this victory to ensure that no other company takes up the colonial project of genetically engineering salmon,” said Carl Wassilie, a Yup’ik biologist, co-founder of Salmonberry Tribal Associates, and organizer with the Block Corporate Salmon campaign.

Consumer opposition to genetically engineered animals is high in the US and Canada. Polls in the US show that many Americans believe GE animals for protein production are not an appropriate use of biotechnology. Most consumers won’t eat genetically engineered fish if it is available, and 95% of consumers believe genetically engineered food animals should be labeled.

Successfully Blocking the Sale of GE Salmon to Consumers

Due to environmental and health concerns, consumer rejection, and an ongoing campaign led by Indigenous peoples and environmental groups, grocery retailers, food service companies, and major restaurants committed to not selling genetically engineered AquAdvantage salmon. The marketing campaign was run by Friends of the Earth, Block Corporate Salmon, North American Marine Alliance, Community Alliance for Global Justice, Canadian Biotechnology Action Network, American Anti-Vivisection Society, Center for Food Safety, and allies. The campaign moved more than 80 grocery retailers to reject GE salmon, including Walmart, Costco, Albertsons, and Kroger; food service companies Sodexo, Aramark, and Compass Group; and restaurant chains, including Red Lobster and Legal Seafood.

“Genetically engineered salmon is unwanted, risky, and unnecessary,” said Dana Perls, Food and Technology senior program manager at Friends of the Earth US. “People deserve the right to know what they are eating and have made the choice to reject GE salmon. Instead of genetically engineered animals designed to fit into industrial systems, we need sustainable wild salmon that supports fishing, Indigenous communities, and our environment.”

AquaBounty’s Legal Trouble

 Public challenges in Canada and the US have long plagued the company. In 2020, a US federal judge ruled that the FDA’s approval of GE salmon violated environmental laws, in response to a lawsuit filed by environmental, consumer, and fishing groups, and the Quinault Indian Nation. This past September, the FDA released an amended environmental assessment of AquaBounty’s Bay Fortune and Rollo Bay facilities in Prince Edward Island.

“It’s heartening to see we’ve dodged this bullet. If AquAdvantage had made it to market, it would have set a dangerous precedent, opening the floodgates to more GE animal products. This is a false solution that distracts from the real issue at hand, which is unfettered corporate control over our food systems,” said Jon Russell, organizing coordinator of the North American Marine Alliance.

In a 2022 whistleblower report titled “AquaBounty Exposed,” a former employee at the Indiana site shared evidence of food and worker safety violations, animal welfare concerns, and routine environmental and water contamination infractions. AquaBounty sold this US facility at a loss in July 2024.

Shutting Down Farming Facilities

In February 2023, AquaBounty announced it was closing its second genetically engineered salmon production facility at Rollo Bay, Prince Edward Island. The building went up for sale in September 2024. The company is now also shutting down its smaller, remaining facility at Bay Fortune in Prince Edward Island, which it said would produce genetically engineered salmon eggs for its not-yet-built facility in Ohio.

“If AquAdvantage had made it to market, it would have set a dangerous precedent, opening the floodgates to more GE animal products.”

Jon Russell, Organizing Coordinator of the North American Marine Alliance

Construction of the Ohio operation has been on hold since 2023, and the company has been selling equipment from the site. Recently, AquaBounty announced it is looking for “alternatives for our Ohio farm project.” Residents have fought the proposed Ohio project for years, raising concerns about groundwater contamination.

“We hope these announcements ring the death knell for AquaBounty’s proposed facility in Pioneer, Ohio. Over the last few years, we’ve built a strong grassroots movement locally to oppose this facility. Its operations would threaten the Michindoh Aquifer and St. Joseph River, key sources of drinking water for our communities in Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan,” said Sherry Fleming, organizer with the Williams County Alliance in Ohio.

A Victory for People and the Planet

“Companies like AquaBounty claim that they want to ‘feed the world,’ yet they displace local food systems in favor of the global industrial food system, and they show no respect for the wild ecosystems and animals that community-based, artisanal, and traditional fisherfolks like myself rely on to feed our communities. If they truly cared about feeding people, they wouldn’t be wiping out the livelihoods of community-based food producers,” said Jason Jarvis, an artisanal fisherman and founder of Quonochontaug Fish Company, a fishermen’s cooperative in Rhode Island.

“While the demise of the AquaBounty salmon is a landmark victory for public health and the environment, the specter of future similarly wrongheaded GE food animals remains. We will be pushing the new administration to deny any future approvals of GE food animals, among other efforts to keep our food supply safe,” said Jaydee Hanson, policy director at the Center for Food Safety.

“GE salmon was always a false solution. We know that if we breach the dams, the salmon come back en masse. Breach the dams, restore salmon habitat, regulate factory trawlers, decenter industrial aquaculture from policy, build local infrastructure so fishers can distribute their fish more widely, and invest in fishing communities! Those are real policy solutions,” said Estefania Narvaez, organizer with Block Corporate Salmon.

This diagram represents the scale of the 11.5 acre proposed factory if it was placed in Wiarton.
It would cover an area equivalent to one extending from The Beer Store & CO-OP to the Town Hall and Post Office.

Long time resident of Colpoys Bay, Ron Gatis speaks out against the proposed Fish Factory. “Our local council seem to think they are not elected to look after the 9000 property owners in the Town of South Bruce Peninsula. It is of no value to us whatsoever. It is a terrible deterrent to those living close to it and it would be a disaster for those of us taking water from the bay. So in my opinion, it has to be stopped and it is as simple as that.”

Let’s hope the new Mayor and Council are listening to you, Ron.

Watch video excepts from the public meeting held June 3rd, 2022 in Wiarton. Guest speakers were available to answer many questions that were not provided by GB Salmon.

Click here to view the complete PowerPoint Presentation.

McMaster University Master of Science candidates deliver their report on the potential impacts of the proposed Georgian Bay Salmon facility on Colpoy’s Bay.

FINAL REPORT JUNE 3, 2022 - The graduate’s final written report can be viewed by clicking on this link:
https://greatlakeswetlands.ca/publications/1014/ To view the pdf, download the ‘Summary Potential Impact of GBS RAS in Wiarton’

View more videos on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmKpruMyGNh8sZ-m9S0a_Mg
Please show your support and sign the petition https://www.thepetitionsite.com/en-ca/684/577/962/demand-a-stop-to-georgian-bay-innovation-groups-plans-to-take-water-from-georgian-bay/

With no proven track record and a questionable past, are we willing to let GB Salmon experiment with Colpoy’s Bay?

GB Salmon held two public information sessions in December 2021. They have stated that to date, there is not a single facility in the world using the technology they propose that is economically viable.  It became evident to the people in attendance that the efficacy of the proposed industrial facility was questionable. 

Other than empty claims of expertise, GB Salmon has not disclosed any evidence of the skills, experience and funding needed to execute this ambitious project. 

GB Salmon plans to construct an underground pipeline over a mile in length from the factory into Colpoy’s Bay.

They will take over 1.8 million litres of water per day (6.8 HUNDRED MILLION litres annually) from Colpoy’s Bay and return 1.5 million litres per day (5.7 HUNDRED MILLION litres annually) of wastewater back into the Bay where it will blend with water in the bay in a designated 'mixing zone’. 

How will the millions of litres of wastewater dumped into the bay annually impact the water quality?

The proposed factory is located on part of the UNESCO Niagara Escarpment Biosphere Reserve (NEBR) that has significantly protected wetlands and biodiversity. It is an important fishing area for the Saugeen Ojibway Nation as well as for anglers. The proposed facility will require staggering amounts of water from Colpoy’s Bay and will also consume a significant amount of power to operate and desalinate the water. GB Salmon has not offered any information on how these power sources will be met.

Environmental testing is underway by GB Salmon, who are required to adhere to minimal Provincial standards. Water quality in Colpoy’s Bay far exceeds Provincial standards and should be protected for future generations.  It is up to all of us to protect Colpoy’s Bay as part of Georgian Bay and the Great Lakes ecosystem.

The Town of South Bruce confirms that current agricultural zoning is compliant and remains quiet on this issue. Is industrialization their long term vision for our community?

The Town of South Bruce has confirmed that the fish farm proposal can operate under current agricultural zoning. The provincial  Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry has issued an aquaculture licence. However, further permits to construct pipes into Colpoy’s Bay have not been issued by the region and putting wastewater back into the bay has not been approved provincially or federally.

Concerned residents continue to speak out.

‘Where is our local leadership and why are you so quiet? The GBSC team admitted this would be the first land-based salmon aquaculture facility in Ontario! They also told us that it is planned to be the largest - a huge, industrial operation. So Colpoy’s Bay and its concerned citizens will be the guinea pigs with all the risks and uncertainties a new venture brings. We already know the negative environmental impact of sea-based aquaculture - makes perfect sense to bring that to our beautiful Colpoy‘s Bay right? Without asking some basic questions? Really?’

Glynnis Rengger, excerpt from a letter written to Mayor Janice Jackson and Council after GBSC public information session held on Dec 9, 2021

View more videos on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmKpruMyGNh8sZ-m9S0a_Mg
Please show your support and sign the petition https://www.thepetitionsite.com/en-ca/684/577/962/demand-a-stop-to-georgian-bay-innovation-groups-plans-to-take-water-from-georgian-bay/

It’s not too late to stop this Fish Factory!

Be a part of the growing movement to protect Colpoy’s Bay and our region.

• Spread the word and inform your neighbours.
  Direct them to the website www.smellsfishy.org to learn more, and share your thoughts on social media. (links below)

• Volunteer! Contact us (using the contact form below) and let us know you’d like to help.

• Contribute to the cause! We are also accepting contributions towards ongoing expenses, such as signs, mailers, advertising, experts and legal costs. Any amount helps. Visit the ‘DONATE’ page on our website for more information.

• Speak out and speak up! Call or email the Mayor, your councillors, your MP and MPP

Mayor Garry Michi
519-534-1400 ext. 200
garry.michi@southbrucepeninsula.com
PO Box 310 Wiarton, ON N0H 2T0

Deputy Mayor Jay Kirkland 
519-534-1400 ext. 201
jay.kirkland@southbrucepeninsula.com
791 Bruce Road, 8 Hepworth ON N0H 2T0

Councillors

Terry Bell 
519- 534-1400 ext. 202

Kathy Durst
519-534-1400 ext. 203

Caleb Hull
519-534-1400  ext. 204

Economic Development Officer , Town of South Bruce Peninsula 
Danielle Edwards
519-534-1400 ext. 148

Rick Byers MPP
Bruce - Grey - Owen Sound
519-371-2421 or 1-800-461-2664
rick.byers@pc.ola.org

Alex Ruff MP
Bruce - Grey - Owen Sound
519-3711059
alex.ruff@parl.gc.ca

Updates to this website will occur regularly as we learn more. Check back often.