Biologist Alexandra Morton is planning a 500 km walk from Sointula, on Malcolm Island, to Victoria in April and May. It's the next step in an ongoing campaign to force the provincial and federal governments to start protecting wild salmon.

Writing on her blog, Morton reported some successes in the battle:

Every week is bringing much needed progress on the issue of fish farm impact on our oceans. The courts are behind us every step of the way. Now if we can just communicate to our politicians that wild salmon must be given top legislated priority over farm fish, because wild salmon are essential to our economics and ecology, supporting towns and 200 species, including us.

This week Simon Fraser University announced they are awarding me an honorary Doctoral Degree in Science! I am so happy about this. I am so hoping this helps people understand that the science I have done with my colleagues on the impact of salmon farms has the support of my peers, that it is real and valid and managers must separate farm and wild salmon.

Morton also updated her readers on the threat of drug-resistant salmon being processed in a way that could spread that resistance:

Jody Eriksson and Twyla Roscovich dove down 90’ again to check the effluent pipe where the Grieg salmon are being processed and found blood and fish guts are still pouring into the Fraser River migration route. We all know blood carries disease. It is negligent of government to allow this to continue.

This week’s sample contained sea lice and a live salmon intestinal worm. Is this effluent a factor in the collapse of our Fraser sockeye? The provincial Ministry of Agriculture and Lands is not bringing the science of epidemiology to this issue to protect wild salmon.

The Hook reported on this issue in February.

Morton says she's getting in shape for her walk by blogging while on a treadmill.

Crawford Kilian is a contributing editor of The Tyee.