Cermaq told the Ahousaht that they would remove their fish pens from Yaakswiis at dawn on Monday. They did not. It was a slap in the face of the Ahousaht Warriors who spent 9 days occupying the farm to protect the area from pollution of their food resource.
On Friday Lennie John phoned Cermaq and reached James Costello. James Costello said that the Cermaq barge would be at Yaakswiis at daybreak on Monday. The farm was to be removed. This was a moment of celebration. A feast was planned for Monday evening and the people prepared to see the Cermaq farm leave a place that the Ahousaht wanted left clean so that they could continue to gather food there. Vessels were decorated to commemorate this day.
We left at dawn.
We went out with happiness in our hearts,
And we waited…. and waited.
Finally Lennie started making phone calls to Cermaq and to the Ahousaht Band Office. At 10:45am we were told the barge was coming.
A few hours later we were told Cermaq would have to reschedule the barge and they were not coming.
The barge is sitting ~2km from the farm with the tug tied to it.
