The federal government is launching consultations on salmon farms with the aim of developing a concrete plan for removing open-net pens from B.C. waters.
CanadaB次元官网网址檚 fisheries minister, Bernadette Jordan, was given the mandate to develop the plan by 2025, and today announced Parliamentary Secretary Terry Beech will lead the engagement with B.C. First Nations, the aquaculture industry, conservation groups and provincial government counterparts.
In an online press conference today, Beech described a sense of urgency to move forward but could not provide specific dates on when the transition will be achieved.
B次元官网网址淚 can tell you with certainty, this is not simply us having a consultation to build a plan,B次元官网网址� Beech said. B次元官网网址淲e are beginning the transition now. We are going to be utilizing resources now.B次元官网网址�
He added the migratory nature of wild salmon potentially impacted by net-pen farms dictates that communities throughout the provinceB次元官网网址檚 salmon-bearing watersheds will have a voice in the consultations.
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The government is exploring the use of an area-based management approach to salmon aquaculture, meaning DFO will analyze the cumulative effects of multiple farms in any given area, versus a B次元官网网址渃ookie-cutterB次元官网网址� approach, Allison Webb, director of aquaculture management said.
B次元官网网址淲e will also consider the specific conditions of those areas for things like timing windows for wild salmon that are migrating, and we can customize the conditions of licence for sea lice management to protect those wild stocks,B次元官网网址� Webb said.
The plan will also be influenced by the Framework for Aquaculture Risk Management, which the ministry says is grounded in the precautionary approach. That document is now being finalized.
B次元官网网址淲e know that open-net pen fish farms affect wild stocks. Much of the debate is how much the farms affect those stocks, and what is an acceptable level of risk,B次元官网网址� Beech said.
Conservation groups point to open net-pen salmon farms as reservoirs of harmful pathogens and parasites that pass to vulnerable migrating juvenile salmon.
The David Suzuki Foundation welcomed todayB次元官网网址檚 announcement of a transition.
B次元官网网址淩ecord low numbers of returning Fraser River sockeye this year show that urgent action is required and that removing open net-pen fish farms from the critical migration route for juvenile salmon in the Discovery Islands when they expire in December this year needs to be a part of the transition plan.B次元官网网址�
Some groups are pushing for a transition to land-based tenures to avoid all potential contact with wild fish. Industry and government studies, however, reveal several pitfalls to this, including high costs, large environmental footprints and an inferior-tasting product, as stated in the federal governmentB次元官网网址檚 2019 research, .
The other viable options are closed or semi-closed systems that provide a physical barrier between farmed salmon and the natural environment, and offshore farms still in the development stage.
Cermaq Canada is now experimenting with a semi-closed containment system in Clayquot Sound following positive trials in Norway.
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John Paul Fraser, executive director of the BC Salmon Farmers Association said he is optimistic the the right balance of industry needs and conservation interests will be found.
B次元官网网址淚nnovation and transition is always something weB次元官网网址檝e been focused on,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淎rea-based management is a key transitional element that weB次元官网网址檝e actually been pushing to government for a very long time, so weB次元官网网址檙e happy to see them moving on that.B次元官网网址�
A government from 2016, which the ministry is partly building upon in its current consultations, supports the doubling of sustainable Canadian aquaculture production within the next decade.
Beech said aquaculture is perfectly positioned to help drive economic growth, citing United Nations studies showing more than 50 per cent of global seafood comes from the aquaculture sector as wild stocks plateau or shrink do to over-fishing and mismanagement. He said salmon farms are an important part of the governmentB次元官网网址檚 blue economy strategy and an example of how the economy and environment go hand in hand.
A recent commissioned by the BC Salmon Farmers Association states the industry is poised to invest $1.4 billion into innovation, technology and infrastructure in the province if provincial and federal governments provide a stable policy approach. Such an investment would generate $44 billion in economic output and create 10,000 jobs, according to the report.
The new consultations are separate from those already underway with some First Nations over whether to renew salmon farm licences in the Discovery Islands next month.
B次元官网网址淚 will not be providing any further details on how thatB次元官网网址檚 going except to say itB次元官网网址檚 ongoing,B次元官网网址� Beech said. B次元官网网址淲e need to chart a path for what happens once we get beyond those decisions in the Discovery Islands, and thatB次元官网网址檚 what IB次元官网网址檒l be working on.B次元官网网址�
Beech will present an interim report to the minister this spring.
