When you think of William Shatner, you might think of the decades the now 93-year-old actor spent playing Captain James T. Kirk in the Star Trek universe, or his Emmy-award-winning role as Denny Crane on “Boston Legal,” or maybe even that album he released where he somewhat…uniquely covered Pulp’s nineties hit “Common People.”  

But in a recently released video, Shatner is playing an incredibly angry version of himself, and it’s all connected to Canadian fish farming practices. In the clip, produced for British Columbia-based environmental organization Pacific Wild, Shatner rages against what “open-net salmon farming is doing to the environment and wildlife.” He then gets explicit, telling the companies who operate the open-net fish farms, calling them a “s***stain on our nation.” He’s joined in his outrage by Stanley Cup-winning goalkeeper Kirk McLean, a bear, and an infant, all who give their own (equally profane) opinions about open-net salmon pens. 

The video, which was produced by Ryan Reynolds’ production company, Maximum Effort, was released in response to the Canadian government’s recent decision to renew the licenses for 63 fish farms for five more years. According to the Times Colonist, in 2019, the government pledged to “phase out” open-net Atlantic salmon farms, due to the negative effects they could have on wild Pacific salmon populations. The original deadline was set for the summer of 2025, but it has been extended through 2029 to “accommodate the production cycle for fish.” 

Those who oppose open-net salmon farming say that the practice puts wild salmon populations at risk of contracting sea lice, a condition called mouth rot, and other diseases, and it also puts extra stress on habitats that are already starting to see the effects of climate change. According to Canadian conservation organization Wild First, British Columbia is currently the only region on North America’s Pacific Coast that allows open-net salmon farms. 

Under the government’s recently announced five-year plan, open-net farms will be “fully terminated” by June 30, 2029. Instead of open-net pens, any farmed fish will need to be raised in marine or land-based closed containment systems, which Fisheries and Oceans Canada says can better restrict any interactions between farmed fish and the natural environment. 

“We really need to get going on this. It’s urgent,” minister of energy and natural resources Jonathan Wilkinson said. “Our wild salmon are already facing so many risks. This is a precautionary measure, and by isolating the threats [in closed containment pens] we are taking away some of that risk to our wild salmon.”

William Shatner and his co-critics are upset because the government’s original plan was to phase out open-net pens by next year, not five years from now. “That’s five more years of bombarding wild salmon with parasites and viruses from factory fish farms,” Aaron Hill, the executive director of the Watershed Watch Salmon Society, told CBC. 

But those connected to the salmon farming and aquaculture industries have warned that banning the practice — even five years from now — could cost the country thousands of jobs and eliminate three-quarters of a billion dollars ($880 million) from the economy.

“The idea that 70,000 tons of [British Columbia]  salmon can be produced on land in five years is unrealistic and ignores the current capabilities of modern salmon farming technology, as it has not been done successfully to scale anywhere in the world,” Brian Kingzet, the executive director of the BC Salmon Farmers Association, said. 

Regardless, it sounds like William Shatner may have to be angry for five more years.