Non-profit organization Pacific Wild is rolling out a campaign to encourage Canadians to safeguard salmon and British Columbia waters from open-net fish farms.

The “F*** Off Open-Net Pen Salmon Farms” campaign encourages adults to abandon the politeness that characterizes Canadians and advocate for a ban on salmon farms. A one-and-a-half minute video, starring actor William Shatner, retired NHL player Kirk McLean and actress Mary Galloway, invites citizens to sign “The F***ing Letter” to demand a quick response from the government.

Pacific Wild’s project director Natasha Wehn tells strategy that, in addition to pressuring the government to eliminate open-net salmon farms, the campaign’s goal is to raise awareness among Canadians about the urgency of the problem.

Wehn notes that environmental advocacy organizations can struggle to capture the public’s attention because they employ careful and delicate language in their campaigns to avoid offending. So Pacific Wild wanted to do the opposite with its latest campaign.

“We wanted to cut right through that by using everyday language that real people speak about this issue,” Wehn says.

The team also felt it was necessary to take a different approach, as it might be difficult for people to understand the threat of open-net salmon farms when using official terminology.

Pacific saw it was the perfect time to launch the campaign, since 120 First Nations in British Columbia are supporting the elimination of the farms. It’s also a response to the five-year extension granted last week by the federal government to salmon farms in the province.

“Wild salmon cannot withstand another five years of a threat to their survival,” Wehn says. “By 2029, it will have been 17 years of open-net pen farms, after the Cohen Commission’s recommended removal in 2012.”

The organization says that more than half of the Pacific wild salmon runs are in decline with many listed as endangered or threatened, and fish farms are making the problem worse. They also spread diseases to wild salmon, are breeding grounds for sea lice, and pollute the environment with biohazards and pesticides.

Explicit and censored versions of the campaign video, as well as 30-second and 15-second cuts, will be broadcast through paid and donated media and shared organically on the organization’s social networks. Pacific Wild is also encouraging conversation on social media using the hashtags #FckOffFishFarms and #FOFF. All campaign creative is directed to Pacific Wild’s microsite.

Maximum Effort handled creative behind the campaign, and Edery & Lord was in charge of PR.