The federal government is giving British Columbia’s aquaculture industry another five years to move away from open-net pen farms.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised in 2019 to phase out the controversial open water industry, and the federal government had set a 2025 goal.
Fisheries Minister Diane Lebouthillier and Energy Minister Jonathan Wilkinson revealed the new timeline in twin announcements in Vancouver and Ottawa on Wednesday, saying the license extensions through 2029 will allow for a “responsible, realistic and achievable transition.”
“The industry knew changes would be made and I believe that together we will build sustainable fisheries for our population in the future,” Leabouthlier said.
Wilkinson said the removal remains necessary given the declining population of wild Pacific salmon and the critical role the fish plays for First Nations people and the ecology and economy of British Columbia.
While there remains “significant scientific uncertainty” about the impact of fish farms on wild salmon populations, the federal government must act on the “precautionary principle” and address all potential causes of the species’ decline.
“Proponents of open-net pen salmon aquaculture have argued that the impacts on wild Pacific salmon populations are not significant,” Wilkinson said.
“On the other hand, many scientists, including those from a wide range of academic institutions and from respected institutions such as the Pacific Salmon Foundation, have strongly argued that the potential impacts of open-net cages on wild Pacific salmon populations are indeed significant”.
Wilkinson noted that no other jurisdiction in North America currently allows open-net pen farming of salmon. Washington state, the last to do so, banned it in 2022.
The new five-year extensions will come with stricter licensing conditions, while after July 1 only marine or land-based closed containment facilities will be considered.
Ottawa will also introduce new nine-year licenses for facilities that commit to moving to closed-containment farms within five years.
The government intends to publish a transition plan before July 31.
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That plan will address how to support workers, First Nations and communities, identify the economic supports needed for clean aquaculture technology, address criteria for the five-year phase-out, and address the management of existing open-net facilities until for the ban to take effect, Wilkinson said. .
Opponents of the fish farming industry, including environmental groups and a large coalition of First Nations, praised the plan to phase out the industry.
But Bob Chamberlain, president of the First Nations Wild Salmon Alliance, said it was disappointing to see a five-year delay given the multitude of threats salmon already face.
“There is a critical need to immediately safeguard wild salmon,” he said.
Chamberlain said the announcement was a “significant move” to address food security and reconciliation with British Columbia’s First Nations, 90 per cent of whom rely on wild salmon.
But he said the quality of the plan will depend largely on its finer details, which have not yet been published.
“Like the conditions of the license. Will they be replenished after being harvested? What are the new regulations? Will there be independent First Nations monitoring and oversight? he said.
“I know it’s something that the majority of First Nations who participated in the transition planning process presented to the government, and it’s certainly not something we’re going to stop doing.”
The British Columbia Salmon Producers Association said meeting the federal government’s transition schedule would be “a major challenge.”
“We have been willing to invest hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars, in new technology, but it is very doubtful that a step towards completely closed containment as discussed today will be possible within a five-year period,” the director said. executive Brian Kingzett. Global news.
Just licensing and deploying new technology could take more than five years, he argued.
Kingzett said the industry employs about 5,000 people, including 500 First Nations workers, and contributes about $1.2 billion to B.C.’s economy.
“They are literally putting thousands of jobs at risk,” he said.
Dallas Smith, spokesperson for First Nations for Finfish Stewardship, which supports the aquaculture industry, said the decision does not take into account the impacts that climate change, habitat loss and overfishing are having on wild salmon.
“It’s really important for us to look at all the stressors and impacts on wild salmon,” he said. “To simply say that salmon aquaculture is the reason for the decline of wild salmon is irresponsible.”
Lebouhillier has been consulting with Indigenous leaders, industry stakeholders and coastal communities on the government’s transition plan involving 79 salmon farms after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised during the 2019 election that his government would phase out the farms. in ocean pens.
Last year, the federal government announced it would not renew licenses for 15 farms off the Discovery Islands, a key migratory route for wild salmon.
The ecological effects of marine salmon farming continue to be hotly debated.
Opponents point to the sea lice, viruses and bacteria they say farms spread as critical threats to juvenile salmon that are already threatened by a variety of forces.
The salmon farming industry maintains that there is no scientific evidence of widespread harm to wild fish and that farms provide needed seafood without depleting wild salmon populations.
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