Marine Harvest gives in to ENGO pressure in BC

When the issue of sea lice on juvenile wild salmon first came to light in 2002, the B.C. salmon farmers agreed to a program of voluntary monitoring and treatment of farmed salmon for sea lice. In addition, the fish from one single farm were relocated to a site adjacent to the Tribune- Fife waterways. In 2003, the lice loads on wild salmon in the Broughton were low, and environmental groups (ENGO's) were quick to herald the virtues of "fallowing". The pressure to maintain a "migratory route", free of adult salmon has since escalated, with suggestions that the Tribune-Fife route should be free of adult salmon one year, and the Knight Inlet route should not have large fish in farms in opposite years. Now, Marine Harvest has committed to avoid having any adult fish in Broughton farms during any out-migration periods, and no fish period in farms located within these "migratory routes" in alternate years, starting in 2010. There is no mention in this program of Broughton area farms owned by Mainstream Canada, one of which sits in the middle of the Tribune-Fife corridor- the very one "fallowed" in 2003.

   

In a release issued today, Marine Harvest states:

"BC's largest aquaculture company today announced a commitment to coordinate its operations in the Broughton Archipelago to create corridors during the spring out-migration of wild juvenile fish. Under its Coordinated Area Management Plan (CAMP), Marine Harvest will create migratory corridors in the Broughton Archipelago during the outmigration season from March 1st to June 30th each year. Beginning in 2010 the company's four farms in Lower Knight Inlet will be emptied of fish during this time period. In odd-numbered years beginning in 2011 Marine Harvest's five farms in Tribune-Fife will be empty during the out-migration. At no time during the out-migration will any Marine Harvest Broughton-area farms contain adult fish. During the out-migration season in 2009 only one farm at the western end of the Tribune-Fife corridor will have fish present. This site will be closely monitored to ensure the wellbeing of out migrating juvenile wild salmon. The plan is intended to continue for six years while monitoring the effectiveness of the migration corridors. "We are ready to move forward with CAMP pending the required government approvals," says Clare Backman, Director of Environmental Compliance and Community Relations at Marine Harvest. "We briefed the government, First Nations and environmental groups on this Plan in March. We took this step as a precautionary measure. The amendments we require have already been applied for and do not increase our overall production in the Broughton," says Backman. "The amendments, which have gone through the required technical review will provide for the operational flexibility needed to implement CAMP, but we need government to make a decision quickly. "We developed this plan to bring forward a real and practical measure that responds to the government's request that industry come up with solutions to public concerns about the impacts of sea lice on wild fish," says Backman. He also notes that some First Nations in the area have not yet lent support for the Plan".