Protester yells 'our salmon are dyingProtester yells 'our salmon are dying,' at B.C. premier during news conference Premier John Horgan's news conference about protecting British Columbia's wild salmon stocks was interrupted by a protester shouting ``you sold us out,'' and ``our salmon are dying.'' The Canadian Press Updated: June 15, 2018 Minister of Agriculture Lana Popham is joined by Premier John Horgan and Green Party MLA Adam Olsen to announce a wild salmon advisory council to develop a strategy over the summer to present to government in the fall session during a press conference in the Hall of Honour at the Legislature in Victoria, B.C., on Friday June 15, 2018. CHAD HIPOLITO / THE CANADIAN PRESS VICTORIA A heckler interrupted Premier John Horgans news conference on protecting British Columbias wild salmon by shouting the province is allowing the aquaculture industry to continue operating while fish stocks are struggling to survive. You sold us out, she yelled Friday. Our salmon are dying. If thats your view youre welcome to put your name on a ballot any time soon, Horgan responded. The woman, who identified herself as Tsastilqualus, said she is from the Alert Bay area off northern Vancouver Island but has been living in a tent on Swanson Island near several commercial salmon farms. She said she has also protested outside Horgans constituency office and his home in Langford, just west of Victoria. Tsastilqualus said salmon farms should be removed from ocean waters and operated on land in containment facilities. I want them out of our waters completely, she said. We dont have time to waste. Our salmon is the most important thing to us as Indigenous people. Its our culture. Its in our songs, our dances, everything. If there is no salmon, what are we? Horgan, who announced the formation of a 14-member advisory council to develop plans to restore and protect B.C.s wild salmon stocks, rejected Tsastilqualus statements that his government was stalling on protecting wild salmon. Its a tragedy that we find ourselves in 2018 on the crest of perhaps losing this important species, he said. Horgan said the council will submit its recommendations to the government this fall. He said bureaucrats recently travelled to Ottawa to consult with federal officials in advance of proposed amendments this year to the federal Fisheries Act, which governs Canadas oceans and fish. Brian Riddell, a salmon expert who spent 30 years at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and is the current Pacific Salmon Foundation chief executive officer, said Horgans appointment of a wild salmon advisory council is the start of a necessary journey to save the species. Its not a simple thing to solve, he said. It will take time. It takes a lot of collaboration. Riddell said he expected the future of open-net aquaculture to be one of the major areas the council will examine, especially since some scientific studies are finding links between viruses that impact farmed salmon present risks to wild salmon. If there is the connection that these viruses that were finding can affect Pacific salmon then it makes the argument that theres a risk to Pacific salmon from open-net pens much stronger, he said. Horgan said the government will soon have further comment on the future of salmon farm tenures that are due to expire June 20 for many of the aquaculture operations located on the north side of Vancouver Island. The Green partys Adam Olsen, who was appointed to the council, said bold leadership is needed to tackle the threats facing salmon populations. We cannot continue to manage salmon runs to zero, he said. We are facing a crisis.