Newfoundland fish farmers looking to improve bio-security infrastructure

Tor-Eddie Fossbakk  An article in The Western Star, published in Corner Brook says that this will be the case at least until there is a national aquaculture policy framework in place. Correspondence obtained by Transcontinental Media, owner of The Western Star, under provincial freedom of information laws, reveals there is concern among aquaculture operators on the province's south coast about finding appropriate funding programs to improve bio-security infrastructure, such as wharves, for farmed fish. The situation is dire. Fish farmers are putting out their nets in areas where dead fish, dirty nets and other refuse float ashore. Some use the same wharf as the local passenger ferry, according to the newspaper. A local group, The Coast of Bays Corp. contacted the provincial Fisheries Minister, Tom Rideout, last spring, explaining their concerns. The Minister replied, suggesting that the establishment of an “as-yet-unrealized” aquaculture framework agreement with the federal government would deal with their concern. He also, according to the newspaper article, “warned them not to hold their breath” because such a framework agreement would not be in place in the very near future. The minister also called for industry participation and that all users of existing wharves have to implement bio-security protocols to mitigate health concerns until new infrastructure is in place. In August last year, Minister Rideout announced that Newfoundland and Labrador would provide CAD 1.2 million towards a CAD 4.3 million aquatic veterinary diagnostic facility at St. Alban’s. At the same time, he also told that CAD 1.9 million would be allocated for wastewater treatment equipment at plants in Harbour Breton, Gaultois and Hermitage. According to Rideout, this would give the province’s aquaculture regions the highest level of bio-security, fish health monitoring and surveillance. A national aquaculture agreement was discussed at a meeting of aquaculture ministers late November. A new aquaculture framework idea has been “in the works” since 2005.