When DFO released its Integrated Geoduck Management Framework (IGMF) in March of 2017, we at ADIMS responded with a petition calling for a moratorium on geoduck aquaculture until it was proven safe within the marine environment.
We gathered several hundred signatures on a paper version of the petition before putting it online at Change.org. We also included a Take Action link to the petition on our redesigned website, adims.ca. In total, we collected 1100 signatures.
The issue gained a national profile when Gord Johns, our Member of Parliament, initiated a new action, by offering to sponsor in Parliament a petition against geoduck aquaculture. His sponsorship gave ADIMS an avenue through which we could directly address Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister for Fisheries and Oceans, and challenge him to declare a moratorium on our coast.
All we needed was 25 signatures to give Mr. Johns the chance to rise in the House and speak for 1 minute about geoduck aquaculture. In a couple of weekends at our local farmers market, we gathered 240 signatures! This number allowed Mr. Johns to stand up in the House for 10 one-minute periods.
As we collected signatures on the parliamentary petition, we offered people postcards to send to their the Minister for Fisheries and Oceans, Mr. Wilkinson. His office would have received over 200 of these.
We will be launching another postcard campaign in mid- to late November.
Please go to our geoduck pages for information about geoduck aquaculture.