Requiem for Wild Salmon?

December 1999 - January 2000

This is an article from WaveLength Magazine, available in print in North America and globally on the web.

by Laurie MacBride

Despite years of work by citizens to expose the dangers of the fish farming industry, the BC government has decided to allow what effectively amounts to an expansion of netcage salmon farming on our coast.

The package supposedly 'caps' the industry at current levels, but the government is defining 'current levels' as 121 farms, not the 89 active sites that actually exist. That's an increase of 32 farms. The larger number includes tenures that have expired and others that are about to. But there is no legal requirement to renew them, so why do it?

The policy package has no requirement for closed containment, and no provision to ban Atlantic salmon in open netcages. It does include some closed containment pilot projects, which would have been a good idea if they hadn't been paired with new netcages, bringing the total of marine netcage sites to 126—a 42% increase. How is this holding the line on the industry?

There is nothing in the package that ensures industry's buy-in to closed containment now or in the future. There's nothing to guarantee that the results of the pilot projects won't be undermined in the industry's interest in reverting to less costly netcages.

We're told that all farms will be more closely monitored—but the industry will be responsible for collecting the data. It's clear that self-regulation, in an era of government cutbacks and chronic field staff shortages, is not in anyone's interest except the polluters.

There are a few good pieces in the package: the development of new regulations that will provide government with better tools to control the industry, some processes to give more public oversight and input into siting decisions and implementation of new regulations, and immediate relocation of the most-polluting farms (including, we are told, moving some of them out of the Broughton Archipelago). But these fall far short of what is needed: put simply, the political will to deal with an industry that is out of control—an industry which has increased its production by 60% even while the so-called 'moratorium' has been in place over the past four years.

Government officials have said this is 'the best deal they could get'. Why didn't they just let lapsed tenures expire, and set a fixed date for conversion of remaining farms to closed containment (for example, the five years we were suggesting)?

Yet while the package falls short of what we wanted, it's worth noting that we have made some important gains. We've raised tremendous public awareness of the problems of salmon farming. We've brought closed containment into the equation, even if it's just pilot projects at this point. And we've won a commitment to new regulations that should tighten the standards for waste discharges. Most importantly, we've built a remarkable and unprecedented network of allies—First Nations, outdoor and ecotourism interests, fishermen, environmentalists, researchers, local government people and a great many others—who have learned to identify common interests, and work together, from Vancouver, Port Hardy, Sointula, Ahousaht, Campbell River, Tofino, Nanaimo, Victoria, the Broughton Archipelago and many other communities.

Now we have to refocus the campaign. We must ensure good systems of public oversight and transparency and that new regulations are strong and effective. We must make sure that in relocating the problem farms, new areas don't get polluted and the wishes of First Nations and other coastal communities are respected. We must get tools into the hands of coastal people so they can have a real involvement in siting and monitoring of farms. And we must make sure that the provincial and federal governments start putting an honest effort into rebuilding the wild fishery, which they should have been focusing on all along.

There's a lot to do. But we've built a solid foundation and will fight on for a rational policy on wild salmon and fish farming. I hope you will continue to support these efforts.

Laurie MacBride is Executive Director of the Georgia Strait Alliance, the largest marine environment organization in the region