Leonardo DiCaprio wants to remove breeding cages from British Columbia

The star of “Titanic”, “Aviator” and “Wolf of Wall Street” joins the fight against open cage farming in Canada.

DiCaprio, who has 62 million followers on Instagram, criticizes the Canadian government’s breaking from its previous promise to phase out salmon farming in open cages by 2025.

“The Canadian government is considering extending licenses for open cage salmon farms in British Columbia (BC) by up to six years. This would break their pledge to phase out open-cage salmon farms, which contain non-native Atlantic salmon, from coastal BC waters by 2025,” writes the Hollywood actor.

DiCaprio then encourages his followers to join the fight to stop new concessions after 2025.

Currently, there are 57 operational salmon farms in British Columbia. In February 2023, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) closed 15 open Atlantic salmon farms at the Discovery Islands.

The debate about these facilities is polarised. Environmentalists claim that these pose a threat to wild salmon populations. However, many First Nations communities support the facilities for the economic benefits they provide to the areas in which they operate.

In a response to the actor’s post, the BC Salmon Farmers Association strongly disputes any connection between fish farming and the challenges facing wild salmon.