As federal Fisheries and Oceans Minister Dominic LeBlanc was in West Vancouver Tuesday, promising that his government would act on all 75 recommendations from the 2012 Cohen Commission into the decline of Fraser River sockeye salmon, independent biologist Alexandra Morton was sailing into friendly waters on northern Vancouver Island and casting doubt on the government’s intentions.

“There is no substance to it,” said Morton, pointing out that LeBlanc has avoided any commitment to act on the Cohen recommendation to separate promotion of aquaculture from its duty to protect wild salmon or to put the brakes on the salmon farming industry.

The progress report, delivered by LeBlanc, noted that Fisheries and Oceans  oversight of salmon farming meshes with the department’s mandate and LeBlanc said at the news conference that DFO has a responsibility to promote the sustainable use of “fish resources in a way that is good for the local economy.”

That does not go down well with Morton, a thorn in the side of the salmon farming industry and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans for decades.

In addition to the federal Liberal’s apparent reluctance to rein in the salmon farming industry, Morton is discouraged by government’s earlier decision to extend fish farm licences from one to six years, running counter to Cohen’s recommendations.

That is a decision that disrespects First Nations, said Morton in an interview from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s research vessel Martin Sheen as she sailed into Musgamagw Dzawada’enuxw territory, where one-third of B.C.’s salmon farms are located.