Court quashes government PRV fish farm policy

[Birdsnest]

Perhaps read post #53 slowly and repeatedly until it sinks in. I'm tired of this never ending assault on our wild salmon and your latest finger pointing that it's overfishing of Chinook and coho as the reason for the decline here in BC. The facts is your side lost this debate and the courts have spoken. Get to work and you just might find that there are many of us that will support your industry in getting off the migration routes and/or onto land. That's the path forward as post #53 points out.

added: Is see your using your other hand to point to Alaska. It's their fault. It seems it's always someone else's fault, never look at what your doing.

let me get this clear. When you post a graph and with an idea it is absolute and not to be challenged and not finger pointing but when I post a few graphs to show similar coronations with identical timelines its just me finger pointing. It must get tiring shifting the goal posts constantly. Really at one time you were all about the science and now that the issue has come to a boiling point where the scientists cant agree suddenly you're all about how strong and informed governments are and the court system is so amazing. Thats quite a shift in beliefs. Now you're finalizing your opinion as fact and very article you site doesn't say what you seem to think it is saying.
from your article that i had to read very slow, some terms:

should be shifted out of sensitive wild salmon migration pathways This is non descriptive.
His department’s scientists cannot agree whether open-net farms of Atlantic salmon pose health risks to wild Pacific salmon. As I noted earlier.
Mr. Wilkinson said he will err on the side of caution. Great! Nothing stoping this from happening to sport fishing when decisions are based on unquantifiable Maybe's.
That will put the federal government in compliance with a Federal Court decision that quashed a Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) policy allowing fish farms to transfer salmon to open-net fish farms without testing for piscine orthoreovirus, And these court decisions to not apply to hatchery releases?
We need to move to area-based management, which means we are actually thinking about siting of these facilities in areas where you don’t run into issues around migration pathways, areas where communities are actually interested in the economic development that comes through [fish farming] rather than in areas where those communities are very much opposed.” Just wow. This is almost saying two opposite things. I refer back to what are "sensitive areas"?
Indigenous opponents of open-net fish farms negotiated a pact with the B.C. government, which will shut down at least 10 farms over the span of four years in the Broughton Archipelago off the north coast of Vancouver Island. What then when first nations appose sport fishing? This is a slippery slope.

And now I will be accused of being a fear monger.

does PRV shrink the size of salmon???

You'll have to take that to the government and the courts apparently lol.

 

[GLG]

As the borg would say "Resistance is Futile" mind you in the end they lost so..... LOL

Canada keen to support technology overhaul for salmon farms: fisheries minister

The federal government is keen to help transition B.C. salmon farms to designs and technologies that address nagging environmental concerns, says Fisheries Minister Jonathan Wilkinson.

The key is to address the huge cost difference between net-pen farms and alternative systems by supporting the development of sustainable farms, he said.

“There may be levers we can pull to help close that gap in the same way that we did with solar and renewable energy over the past couple of decades,” the North Vancouver MP said in an interview.

A fast-tracked study of aquaculture technology — funded by the federal and provincial governments with the participation of First Nations and the aquaculture industry — will help identify how that support will be applied.

The study, to be delivered in May, will look at ways the industry around the world is able to minimize interaction between wild and farmed salmon, including land-based farms, ocean-based closed containment, and open-ocean and off-shore farms.
“Based on what we find, there will be opportunities for the government to participate in large-scale and medium-scale demonstrations of technology that looks promising — that’s exactly what Sustainable Development Technology Canada does,” said Wilkinson.

With better technology “there is an opportunity to significantly grow the industry and make Canada an even bigger player in aquaculture,” he said.

Canada’s economic strategy calls for aquaculture production to nearly double from 2016’s output of 200,000 tonnes to 382,000 tonnes by 2028. This province produces more than two-thirds of Canada’s farmed salmon and it is B.C.’s biggest value food export by a wide margin.

The study, and the creation of Canada’s first aquaculture act, signal a new dedication to “the precautionary principle,” said Wilkinson.
“There is scientific debate out there, so we need to address the issues that people have expressed concern about,” he said. “Should we be siting fish farms on wild salmon migration pathways? Given the debate around pathogens, probably not.”

Environmental groups have raised concerns that net-pen farms may harm wild fish through the transfer of sea lice and other pathogens, most recently pressing the industry to test farmed fish for piscine reovirus (PRV).

“We are moving toward area-based management which means moving to sites that are more environmentally suitable, where communities are supportive and — in the long run — looking at closed-containment technology and how we get to the point where those (designs) are economically viable,” said Wilkinson.

As people transition away from red meat and the output of the world’s wild fisheries declines, demand for farmed seafood is expected to increase.

“The answer to feeding those people will not be to catch more fish, so there is an opportunity to solve that challenge through aquaculture if we can do it sustainably,” he said.

Fisheries and aquaculture present huge opportunities for the reconciliation process with First Nations, said Wilkinson.

“Some First Nations have expressed concerns about farms in their traditional territories and the Namgis are a good example of that,” he said.
Late last year, B.C. struck an agreement with the Kwikwasut’inuxw Haxwa’mis, ‘Namgis and Mamalilikulla First Nations to move at least 10 fish farms from the Broughton Archipelago to create a “farm-free migration corridor” for wild salmon.

But nearly 80 per cent of the farmed salmon in B.C. is produced under agreements with First Nations. About 20 per cent of the industry’s work force is of First Nations heritage, and farming is particularly important to remote coastal communities.

Mowi Canada West (formerly Marine Harvest) and the Kitasoo/Xai’xais First Nation have developed a salmon aquaculture program that provides local jobs processing 5,000 tonnes of salmon a year in a community only accessible by boat and plane.

 

[fogged in]

It's simple .... get the farms off the migration routes. Chinook and coho have little time for your arguments Birdsnest and it would seem that both Provincial and Federal governments agree with me.

Washington State agrees with you too.

 

[wildmanyeah]

China's mega salmon farm can fit seven Stanley Parks

https://www.seawestnews.com/chinas-mega-salmon-farm-can-fit-seven-stanley-parks/

 

[fogged in]

China's mega salmon farm can fit seven Stanley Parks
https://www.seawestnews.com/chinas-mega-salmon-farm-can-fit-seven-stanley-parks/

I certainly hope we do not follow China's example!
This from the Sea West news release.
“Chinese scientists have in recent years started to test rearing salmon in the Yellow Sea’s cold water mass, a seasonal low-temperature water body, as the country’s offshore fish farming faces a lack of space, disease outbreaks and other environmental problems.”
And more on China...
”China, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand & Vietnam dump more plastic into oceans than the rest of the world combined.”
“High levels of air pollution in China's cities caused to 350,000-400,000 premature deaths.”
“You may think that the package of ‘wild’ salmon you just picked up from the store is legitimate, but chances are it’s not. It’s highly likely that ‘wild’ Atlantic salmon was actually raised in a salmon farm in China. And salmon farms in China could be full of health risks.”
My guess and hope is this is referring to the USA and world market. Not Canada.

 

[patbay]

You should always try to verify the information when reading anything from Seawest. Fabian is not a reputable source for accurate information.

 

[wildmanyeah]

Alexandra Morton: Rule of law must be applied in Trudeau government management of West Coast fisheries

https://www.straight.com/news/12079...e-applied-trudeau-governments-management-west