Vancouver Canucks defenceman Willie Mitchell is the latest star to voice support for the protection of British Columbia's wild salmon and the move towards closed containment farming, joining William Shatner in a growing cast of celebrity salmon defenders.

The defenceman grew up in Port McNeill, B.C. and serves as a board member for Save Our Salmon.

"What we're trying to do is basically move these farms from open pen on the ocean to closed containment, so we're not going to have these outbreaks and sea lice issues any longer," said Mitchell, in a video posted on the David Suzuki Foundation website.

Closed containment farming puts a barrier between fish and the ocean environment, which allows farmers to control the escape of farmed salmon and the spread of disease to wild salmon. It's an alternative to open-net farming, where fish are held in nets suspended in shallow ocean water.

A statement on the foundation's website further explains Mitchell's interest:

Willie wants to see immediate action taken in the Broughton Archipelago of B.C., an area notorious for sea lice infections from salmon farms. These sea lice harm wild salmon while the salmon are in critical migration and nursery areas. The wild salmon fry are exposed to disease outbreaks as soon as they enter the ocean. Because they have yet to develop scales, the salmon fry fight to survive.

"We're hoping to create a lot of economic development for the people of B.C., create jobs, and find a way to sustain the global pressures of fish from the ocean," added Mitchell. "The demand is there, it's always going to be there, but we're not going to be able to sustain that with the oceans."

Robyn Smith is completing a practicum at The Tyee.