June 21, 2024

 

Decision looms on British Columbia, Canada salmon farm licenses amid industry uncertainty

By the end of this month, Canada's Federal Fisheries Minister Diane Lebouthillier is expected to decide on the renewal of 66 federal licenses for salmon farms in British Columbia (BC), a decision that could significantly impact an industry that directly employs 5,000 people, Business in Vancouver reported.

 

Fish farm opponents and the First Nation Wild Salmon Alliance are lobbying Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Minister Lebouthillier to honour Trudeau's 2019 election promise to transition open-net salmon farms out of BC coastal waters.

 

Meanwhile, salmon farmers are advocating for six-year license renewals to enable investments in technology and aquaculture practices aimed at reducing interactions between wild and farmed fish and minimising disease and pest transmissions.

 

In a recent letter, 46 conservation, community, and animal welfare organizations urged Trudeau to keep his commitment. "Do not renew these licenses for a duration past 2025 and begin the removal of salmon farms from British Columbia immediately," the letter stated.

 

Trudeau's mandate to fisheries ministers has been to develop a transition plan for BC salmon farms by 2025. Anti-fish-farm activists interpreted this to mean all open-net salmon farms would be out of the water by 2025. However, the original mandate has been somewhat adjusted. Minister Lebouthillier told Ha-Shilth-Sa newspaper in December that there "will be no closure of aquaculture centres in 2025."

 

The salmon farming industry and supportive First Nations are lobbying for a compromise involving technology and hybrid systems to minimize interactions and disease transmission. Proposed methods include rearing salmon longer in land-based recirculating aquaculture systems before transferring them to open-net cages, reducing the time fish spend in open water. Technologies such as the laser system by Stingray Marine Solutions, which eliminates sea lice in salmon farms, are also being considered.

 

These technological approaches require significant investment. Salmon farmers argue that six-year license renewals are necessary to justify these investments. "The minister has said farms will not be moving out of the water in the near term, but we are waiting to see what the term of licenses will be," said Brian Kingzett, executive director of the BC Salmon Farmers Association.

 

Sonia Strobel, CEO and co-founder of Skipper Otto, supports shutting down open-net salmon farms, citing threats to wild salmon. She expressed concern that the original mandate for transitioning salmon farms is being diluted to accommodate hybrid systems supported by the industry.

 

Those opposed to salmon farming believed the Trudeau government's "transition" plan meant relocating open-net salmon farms to land using recirculating aquaculture systems by 2025. However, a 2022 study commissioned by the provincial government estimated this would cost about CAD 1.8 billion (US$1.3 billion), and no major investors have proposed building large-scale systems in BC so far.

 

Fisheries and Oceans Canada reported in 2019 that such systems were ready for commercial development in BC, but large land-based systems in Florida and Nova Scotia have faced significant financial losses. In Nova Scotia, Sustainable Blue went into receivership in April after losing an entire harvest of mature Atlantic salmon due to equipment failure. Similarly, Atlantic Sapphire ASA in Florida reported significant financial losses in its 2023 annual report.

 

In BC, Kuterra Salmon, initially co-developed by the Namgis First Nation, faced challenges after the federal government's closure of 15 open-net salmon farms in the Discovery Islands disrupted its supply chain. Cody Smith, general manager of Kuterra, emphasized the importance of a stable supply chain for land-based salmon farming.

 

Despite the financial difficulties of large projects like Sustainable Blue, Smith believes in the future of land-based salmon farming but warns against shutting down the existing salmon farming industry in BC, citing potential job losses in coastal communities. "We believe there's a place in aquaculture for a variety of operators," he said.

 

-      Business in Vancouver