Fish farmers support salmon research
Times Colonist, January 22, 2014
Re: “Safety first on fish farms,” editorial, Jan. 18.
The editorial makes some important points about salmon farming, but we want to address a lingering misconception that a “moratorium” has been lifted on the entire B.C. coast. While a delay in site-amendment application processing was in place during the Cohen Commission, this delay has now ended, aside from a small area identified by Cohen as requiring more research where a moratorium is now in place.
Most applications the Department of Fisheries and Oceans has on file were submitted before the Cohen Commission began. The acceptance of an application is the first step in a long, complex process, and this return to business does not mean there will be a flood of new applications or rapid expansion.
However, we do believe that well-managed growth is a good thing because of the reasons outlined in the editorial. Salmon farming is a significant component of B.C.’s economy. Done properly and safely, aquaculture is a reliable and healthy food supply that helps to conserve our oceans. We agree that government policy and regulations should be science-based and accept Cohen’s conclusion that while he found no evidence that salmon farms were impacting Fraser River sockeye, more data was needed to confirm his findings. This is why B.C.’s salmon farmers are supportive of and co-operating with new research on wild salmon in British Columbia.
Allowing site-amendment applications to proceed will enable our member companies to continue doing business in B.C., setting the standard for environmental protection and sustainability while raising a world-class, in-demand and delicious food.
Colleen Dane, communications manager
B.C. Salmon Farmers Association
Here is another Letter to the Editor on the same topic. The editorial both letter writers reponded to is below:
Nature responsible for poor salmon runs
Times Colonist, January 22, 2014
Re: “Safety first on fish farms,” editorial, Jan. 18.
The editorial does not correctly identify what Justice Bruce Cohen found to be the most likely factor for the poor survival of 2009 Fraser River sockeye. This direct quote, taken from the final report, states with no ambiguity what Cohen deemed responsible:
“I am also satisfied that marine conditions in both the Strait of Georgia and Queen Charlotte Sound in 2007 were likely to be the primary factors responsible for the poor returns in 2009. Abnormally high freshwater discharge, warmer-than-usual sea surface temperatures, strong winds and lower-than-normal salinity may have resulted in abnormally low phytoplankton and nitrate concentrations that could have led to poor zooplankton [food for sockeye] production.”
Cohen’s statement alone is as close as one will ever get to a smoking gun — and it was held by Mother Nature. It is truly unfortunate that selective reading of the final report fostered misconceptions of responsibility.
Dr. Wayne Dwernychuk
Parksville
Editorial: Safety first on fish farms
Times Colonist, January 18, 2014
Assurances that the federal government is making major investments in aquaculture research sound a little hollow coming from an entity that just closed regional Department of Fisheries and Oceans libraries and appears to have little respect for environmental science.
The Harper government has lifted its moratorium on fish-farm licences, but rather than making public announcements, Fisheries Minister Gail Shea informed fish farmers of the decision in October, then sent letters about the decision to several First Nations last week.
The DFO is reviewing 11 applications, two for new fish farms and the others for expansion of existing farms.
Ottawa placed a moratorium on fish-farm licences in 2011 while Justice Bruce Cohen conducted his inquiry into the 2009 collapse of the Fraser River sockeye run.
After three years of hearing and analysis, Cohen issued a massive report in 2012 that called for, among many other things, a freeze on salmon-farm development in the Discovery Islands area and recommended more research into the role of fish farms.
Cohen didn’t put the blame on fish farms for the salmon decline — he said the inquiry didn’t find a “smoking gun,” a single cause for the collapse, but evidence indicated predation, infectious diseases and contaminants were contributing factors. Still, his nervousness about fish farms should not be discounted.
“I accept the evidence that management practices taken within net pens are intended to reduce the risk of disease as much as possible and to keep both farmed and wild fish healthy,” Cohen said. “However, I cannot determine on the evidence before me whether those measures ensure that the risk of serious harm from disease and pathogen transfer is a minimal one.”
In the absence of certainty, caution should prevail.
But the Harper government doesn’t seem to be cautious, except in the way it announced — or more accurately, didn’t announce — the lifting of the moratorium on applications for fish-farm licences. Quick to make assertive announcements on developments that will show it in a good light, the Harper government is more taciturn about decisions on issues that will stir public protest. This is one of those issues.
Shea said in an October statement that in its 2013 budget, the government included $57.5 million over five years to “bolster our environmental protection in the aquaculture sector through science, enhanced regulatory regime and improved reporting.”
The statement invokes science, but this is the government that muzzles it scientists, the one that drastically cut the marine contaminants program at the Institute of Ocean Sciences on Patricia Bay. Who will do the research? And if that research produces negative findings, who will tell the public?
Science should help shape public policy, but the Harper government increasingly seems bent on shaping science to fit its political goals. While research sometimes turns up findings that are unpleasant in the short term, science looks beyond the next election. The Conservative government has turned “short-term pain for long-term gain” upside down, yet science and good government shouldn’t be at odds with each other.
We are not stating flatly that fish farms are harmful — they are a significant component of B.C.’s economy, worth more than $400 million in 2012. They produced more than 73,000 tonnes of fish that year, compared to 9,000 tonnes harvested in the wild salmon fishery. Done properly and safely, aquaculture can be a reliable food supply.
But we need to be sure they are safe. Further research into the impacts of aquaculture will not only help protect the wild salmon fishery, it could be beneficial to the long-term viability of the fish-farm industry.
