September 5, 2007

Salmon industry in British Columbia face brain drain
 

Environmental regulations are strangling the life out of the aquaculture industry in British Columbia's salmon industry, with scores of industry veterans leaving the area either to start off fish farms of their own or work for other companies abroad, the region's Salmon Farmers' Association said.

Strict environmental laws have deprived the West Coast of hundreds of millions in potential revenues, while droves of workers who were pioneers of the industry are leaving to take up jobs in countries like Australia, New Zealand or Chile, where aquaculture is a growth industry, the association said.

Although the salmon industry in BC is many times larger than that of New Zealand, its best days are over, disillusioned industry veterans said.

One issue which irked industry workers was the fact that BC's aquaculture prospects were not fettered by space constraints or environmental concerns but politics.

Applications for new fish farms had been on hold for the past five years, costing the industry close to US$450 million, more than the value of the industry's entire 2006 sales.

Despite strong salmon demand and the economic benefits that fish farms would bring, there is a powerful environmental lobby in the region that opposes fish farms in any form, the region's Salmon Farmers Association said.