Sea lions enter salmon farm, refuse to leave even weeks after gorging on fish in Canada  

In western Canada, dozens of sea lions, who had entered an industrial salmon farm, seem to be refusing to leave even after gorging on fish for weeks.  

The predators, who seem to have slipped into the farm located near Tofino in British Columbia, are not moving on even after several attempts.  

The farm is owned by Cermaq, which has operations in Chile, Norway and Canada. 

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In late March, these predators evaded netting and electric fences during a “breach event” at the Rant Point farm, the aquaculture giant said.  

The efforts carried out by the company to drive the sea lions away have garnered negative response. They seem to have used loud noises to scare them.   

The exits are also available to the animals “should they choose to leave”, the company said.  

After the first breach, several more sea lions have joined the heist.  

The company looks to finish harvesting the fish by the third week of April, if anything is left by these predators.  

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In the past, sea lions had breached another Cermaq fish farm. At that time, Canada’s department of fisheries and oceans (DFO) had authorised the company to shoot the animals.  

But now, the DFO has said there is a “strict requirement” that sea lions are not killed.   

(With inputs from agencies)