This briefing contains a synopsis and links on the following topics below. One government after the next has refused to deal with the impacts of salmon feedlots allowing a foreign–owned, privatized fishery to displace Canadian public fisheries. This issue has been hidden behind endless reviews, each providing valuable recommendations that are never applied. Now the European viral research is taking this to the international stage as Canada fails to meet world seafood standards.
The next government of British Columbia will inherit a mess that only the Province of BC can fix. The BC government is the landlord to this industry and has the exclusive power to ban Norwegian salmon feedlots from key wild salmon migration routes and thereby rescue one of the greatest wild fisheries left on earth.
1. Salmon Feedlots Pollute
2. The Trouble with salmon Feedlots
3. Aquaculture much smaller than wild fish economy
4. Taxpayers compensate salmon feedlot owners
5. Many First Nations – Zero Tolerance
6. Salmon Feedlot Industry failing on global markets
7. Salmon feedlots threaten Canada’s trade reputation
8. Legislation
9. Salmon Feedlot Reviews
Fraser sockeye began declining as soon as they were exposed to salmon feedlot diseases
1. Salmon feedlots pollute.
Salmon farms are feedlots growing as many fish as possible, as fast as possible, in as small a space as possible. Most feedlots are in quarantine.
Worldwide, wild salmon have never survived near this industry. Salmon feedlots are a series of net pens hanging from a floating structure anchored to the seafloor. Sea lice are controlled with de-lousing drugs, but viruses are flowing through the nets into the surrounding ocean. When migration routes are cleared the wild salmon return.
Salmon farmers are the only farmers who never shovel their manure. They produce several tons of waste per day/ per site. Opposition is global.
There are 130 salmon farm sites in BC. http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/omfd/fishstats/aqua/salmon.html of them farm Atlantic salmon. Statistics that cite “aquaculture” include scallops and oysters.
2. The trouble with salmon feedlots in BC is the dense siting. 65 billion viral particles are released/hour during outbreaks. Wild salmon swimming through this disease plume in narrow channels become infected.
Cohen Commission recommendation #18 “If at any time between now and September 30, 2020, the minister of fisheries and oceans determines that net-pen salmon farms in the Discovery Islands (fish health sub-zone 3-2) pose more than a minimal risk of serious harm to the health of migrating Fraser River sockeye salmon, he or she should promptly order that those salmon farms cease operations.” (Vol.3)
This strong statement names the Discovery Island region, because the mandate of this Commission was exclusive to the Fraser Sockeye. The BC government’s mandate is all the wild salmon runs traveling through the other clusters of salmon feedlots (red dots) that need the same protection too.
3. Aquaculture value much lower than wild fish economy
The highly mechanized salmon feedlot industry is 95% Norwegian-owned by just three companies.
Marine Harvest
Grieg Seafood
Cermaq (Mainstream)
This industry never made jobs.
2011 Gross Domestic Product 9- The value added to the economy (wages, profits, interest income, value of inventories, depreciation)
Wild fisheries Sport + Commercial .……..$536.7 million
Aquaculture - ………………………………...........………$61.9 million
Wild fish are worth 8xs more to BC economy than aquaculture
2011 Employment
Sport fishing …….... 8,400
Aquaculture …........1,700
Capture fishery….... 1,400 (declined 50% since salmon feedlots arrived)
Wild fisheries employ 5xs more people than aquaculture
2011 Wages
Sport fishing ……... $ 218.9 million
Capture Fishery ..…..… $8.4 million in wages, $70 million in self-employed income
Aquaculture …......…. $55.7 million
Wild fisheries provide 5xs more income to British Columbians
2011 Revenue includes cost of goods and services purchased from other industries
Sport fishing …….….. .$936.5 million
Aquaculture …………..... $469.0 million
Capture Fishery …..…. $344.8 million
Wild fisheries produce 2.7 xs more revenue to BC
Total Revenue:
Wilderness tourism (70% salmon-dependent) ……....…….$2.2 billion*
Sport fishing …………………………………………………..........…...………...$936.5 million
Aquaculture (Scallops, Oysters, salmon, etc.) .………….$469.0 million
Commercial fishing …………………………….…….………………...........….$344.8 million
* direct, indirect and induced
Wilderness tourism earns 4.7xs more than aquaculture
The Wilderness Tourism Association is asking government for help:
“… the WTABC wants the Province and the government of Canada to close or fallow the salmon farms on BC’s key salmon migratory routes such as in the Discovery Islands, the Broughton Archipelago, and Clayoquot Sound.” (March 27 Press Release)
Aquaculture vs wild fisheries - economy
Sport angling a runaway leader in B.C.’s fishing and aquaculture sector 12
4. Taxpayers compensate salmon feedlot owners
Unlike other countries Canada compensates salmon feedlot corporations13 when they are asked to cull/kill their fish. This may be why the CFIA now allows them to grow and market ISA virus infected fish. ISA is in the influenza family.
We are not only risking our wild salmon, along with the food security, our salmon-based ecosystem and billions of dollars in economic activity, we are also paying hundreds of millions of dollars to subsidize a foreign-owned industry. While the government continues to cut funding for protection of wild fish stocks (slashing the Fisheries budget by $300 million.) they are giving $57 million to "to enhance regulatory certainty" in the aquaculture industry.
5. Some First Nations – Zero Tolerance
Because viruses have “fingerprints”, they can be traced, similar to H1N1. When Fraser First Nations learn they have Norwegian viruses in their fish, there will be grounds for legal challenges. The Provincial NDP sited most of the salmon feedlots on the migration routes of the Fraser salmon with no consultation with the Fraser First Nations. Granted they knew less then, but it is essential government act now and swiftly to limit the spread of these salmon viruses.
6. Salmon Feedlot Industry failing on global markets
There is a glut of farm salmon on the market. Disease is eroding profits in all countries where these companies operate, US/Canadian dollar parity hurt this industry, the price of feed is rising as the bait fish stocks they use become depleted and the people who buy salmon are becoming increasingly insistent on sustainable product.
Marine Harvest Americas results point to weak Q4s for Cermaq, Grieg
Diseases force Grieg into 4Q write downs
http://alexandramorton.typepad.com/alexandra_morton/2012/06/how-viable-is-salmon-farming-.html19
7. Salmon feedlots threaten Canada’s trade reputation
DFO and provincial scientists and senior bureaucrats tried to prevent Atlantic salmon egg imports, citing risk from exotic pathogens. In the absence of consultation however, eggs were imported to avoid trade disputes arising from complaints of unfair impediment to salmon farm company profits. Today, Canada is risking WTO disputes for the opposite reason - unacceptable threat to wild fish.
In 2006, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) reported farm salmon are rejected by international markets because Canada has allowed the industry to threaten wild fish with disease. “Disease is a significant threat to sustainable farmed and wild aquatic stocks in Canada, killing fish populations and damaging interprovincial and international trade.” An “intervention” was attempted.
“This federal regulatory intervention allows Canada to meet international trade standards and prevent the loss of aquatic resources due to the introduction or spread of disease and to ensure access to international markets for Canadian exports.” REPORT 2/3 down the document
This intervention has failed. After a series of outbreaks the CFIA now permits ISAv infected farm salmon to remain among threatened wild populations in Nova Scotia and is ignoring ISA virus positive test results in BC farm salmon from international labs. READ MORE. In Chile, where ISA virus caused $2 billion in damages the disease recently broke out again, infected salmon are being culled. This is the international standard.
The US is clear they do not want ISA virus infected salmon from Canada
The DFO hid ISA virus positive test results in 100% of Fraser sockeye from the Cohen Commission into the decline of the Fraser sockeye see the film Salmon Confidential25 for Cohen testimony.
Samples of BC farm salmon have produced numerous positive test results26.
British Columbia is ignoring ISA virus positive test27 results in BC farm salmon from 7 government, academic and industry labs. An epidemic outbreak is increasingly certain.
Earlier this year Marine Harvest was allowed to put ~500,000 piscine reovirus-infected smolts onto the Fraser sockeye migration routes. Government refuses to stop this high-risk practice. This is not in the public interest.
8. Legislation
Every salmon feedlot has a provincial Licence of Occupation. This makes the Province of BC the landlord of the industry. As such, the province has all the power required to protect wild salmon. The province can ban salmon feedlots from wild salmon migration routes if it is in the public interest.
2.1.4 Licence of Occupation (Section 39)28
“A licence of occupation conveys fewer rights than a lease. It conveys non-exclusive use…Replacement of tenures is at the authorizing agency’s discretion. The authorizing agency may decline to replace a tenure,… where it is deemed to be in the public interest.”
2.4.7 Prohibition of Use – Order in Council (Section 66)
A prohibition of use may be applied in circumstances where the restriction of a specific use or activity on Crown Land is deemed in the public interest:
• a specific use or activity is adversely affecting Crown land and its resource values or attributes
Early 2013, Marine Harvest put piscine reovirus-infected Atlantic salmon into pens on the Fraser sockeye migration route. Transferring diseased Atlantic salmon into salmon feedlots is a substantive threat to BC’s wild salmon economy.
The province of BC has the power to protect British Columbians from this threat, to remove the industry from key wild salmon migration routes. The federal government has proved itself unwilling to protect British Columbians.
Licence of Occupation of BC salmon feedlot issued in 2005
s.8.1(g) (Termination) If “…it is in the public interest to cancel this Agreement and we have given you 60 days written notice of such requirement or opinion, this Agreement will, at our option and with or without entry, terminate your right to use and occupy the Land will cease.”
s.8.3(a) (Termination) “You agree with us that (a) you will make no claim for compensation, in damages or otherwise, upon the lawful termination of this Agreement under section 8.1”
It is in the public interest to terminate salmon feedlot licences of occupation on wild salmon migration routes. The viral situation has made this urgent.
9. Salmon Feedlot Reviews
The BC public are tired of paying for salmon farm reviews. We have spent at least $50 million on these reviews. Virtually none of the recommendations have been implemented. One government after the next has used these reviews to stall implementation of recommendations that would have headed off the current political and biological crisis. Instead of addressing the issue, they have all done a review. The public sees this as a stalling tactic.
1984 – BC Science Council “The days of common property fishing are over” in favour of industrial aquaculture development. It was stated that employment would be low, investment foreign and wild fisheries an obstacle to growth. When any support salmon feedlots, they support this model. READ MORE
1986 – Gillespie Report (p. 100) – End Atlantic egg import
1988 - BC Ombudsman Aquaculture and the Administration of Coastal Resources in BC (p. 108) – Recommendation #2 community planning and control of siting
1989 – Coastal Resource Interest Study (p. 88) created salmon feedlot exclusion zones, designed to avoid conflict with other users of the regions, but these exclusion zones were not honoured, salmon feedlots were sited and remain in locations the Province of BC told the public they would never put them.
1995 – Salmon Aquaculture Review This document is not easily located on the web, but it recommended complete disease transparency with First Nations and local communities.
2001 – Leggett Inquiry “There is no question that net cages are the root cause of environmental damage, including massive escapes of Atlantic farm salmon, disease transfer and pollution of marine waters and the ocean floor. A specific finding is that pollution of the environment caused by net-cage salmon farming may well violate the federal Fisheries Act, particularly Sections 35 and 36 that deal with fish habitat protection and pollution prevention.” The Honourable Stuart Leggatt
2006 An Audit of the Management of Salmon Aquaculture for the Protection of Wild Salmon in British Columbia (p. 18) Gave BC a “0” in farm fish husbandry standards and a “0” in monitoring and enforcement.
2007 BC Pacific Salmon Forum recommendation #9 take action on farm salmon when sea lice exceed background levels on juvenile wild salmon outside the pens. #15 share useable data (raw) with British Columbians
2007 The committee concluded that scientific opinion and evidence was so compelling that it was imperative to “act immediately” to reduce the impacts of aquaculture in BC, making 52 recommendations.
Recommendation: “A rapid, phased transition to ocean-based closed containment begin immediately. Within three years ocean-based closed containment must be developed. Once developed, industry must transition to this technology within the subsequent two years” (This largely NDP committee included many current MLAs. BC’s major marine environmental groups tried to transition the industry and failed. So now it is down to transitioning the 1,700 workers).
2009-2012 Cohen Commission Recommendation #18 “If at any time between now and September 30, 2020, the minister of fisheries and oceans determines that net-pen salmon farms in the Discovery Islands (fish health sub-zone 3-2) pose more than a minimal risk of serious harm to the health of migrating Fraser River sockeye salmon, he or she should promptly order that those salmon farms cease operations.” (Vol.3).
This is a strong statement. European viruses in Pacific salmon are a greater than “minimal threat of serious harm”. While the mandate of the Commission was restricted to Fraser sockeye, the BC government’s mandate is the wild salmon economy of the entire Province of BC.
Summary
Salmon Feedlots in BC are a growing scandal passed on from one government to the next. However, the next BC government is going to face what may be the biggest scandal in the history of British Columbia and the issue matures onto the world stage.
Please contact me if you have any questions.
Alexandra Morton
As feedlot salmon exports increased, British Columbians did not benefit