Liberals miss target for new salmon farm plan

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OTTAWA – The federal government missed its own deadline to provide a plan for the multi-billion-dollar salmon farm industry, creating new uncertainty according to industry representatives.

The Liberals made the decision in June to close open-pen salmon farms in British Columbia, giving the industry five years to move to either fully contained pens or move their operation onto land.

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At the time, they also promised a draft transition plan for the industry by the end of July. Brian Kingzett, executive director of the BC Salmon Farmers Association, said they’re still awaiting that plan.

He said the Liberals’ plan to close the farms is not supported by science and the current proposal will force many farms to close, because the costs to move onto land are too high. He said the delay of the transition plan creates even more uncertainty.

“This is going to give the company some indication about whether they ramp down in British Columbia, whether they leave British Columbia, or whether they make an investment,” he said. “When you’re talking about capital coming into Canada to support Canadian businesses that uncertainty sends a giant red flag.”

Kingzett said they had hoped the government would take an approach based on clearly defined goals, but the complete ban on open-pen farms will be expensive and extremely difficult for the industry.

“We have to be sustainable. We have to protect wild salmon. We all agree on that, but we have to create an investment climate that provides some certainty for the industry,” he said. “Show us what the objective is and what the goalposts are and we’ll come up with technology solutions and investment in the hundreds of millions of dollars to make those happen.”

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Axel Rioux, a spokesperson for Fisheries and Oceans Canada, said the government is still working on the transition plan.

“First Nations and stakeholders have been made aware of a delay, and the Government of Canada remains committed to releasing the draft plan as soon as possible,” he said in an email. “Implementing this transition is a whole-of-government effort that the Government of Canada takes very seriously.”

Rioux was asked directly what the cause for the delay was and whether there was a new deadline, but declined to elaborate.

The decision to close open-pen farms came over concerns about the environmental impact the farms have on wild salmon runs. Environmentalists and some Indigenous groups lobbied the government for the change over concerns about sea lice and other diseases.

Kilian Stehfest, a marine conservation specialist with the David Suzuki Foundation, was among those who welcomed the news of a plan to end open-pen farms.

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“We are glad to see that the five-year extension will be backed by stricter licensing conditions that prioritize wild salmon protection. We look forward to a strong transition plan that enshrines an end to open-net pens in law or regulation and supports workers and communities.”

Research by the Fisheries Department concluded that salmon farms possessed minimal risk to wild salmon and Liberal MP Wayne Long spoke out against the government’s decision at the time, calling it “shameful.”

“As a party of science it’s difficult to understand how we haven’t followed our own scientists’ recommendations,” Long said in a statement. “As a party of reconciliation we are imposing an impossible timeline on coastal First Nations communities who choose to have salmon aquaculture to determine a realistic and responsible path for their economic futures.”

National Post

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