No need for Closed Containment in B.C

Odd Grydeland When the Special Committee on Sustainable Aquaculture released its report to the B.C. Legislature last month, it became clear that one of the main recommendations in the report was to move conventional salmon farms into some form of closed containment. There was no description of what this closed containment technology would look like; “The Committee recognises such ocean-based closed containment is not yet in commercial use and so recommends government incentives for this transition”. The B.C. salmon farming industry operates in an international marketplace. The extra cost of pumping and filtering water would make the B.C. industry non-competitive. And B.C. has one of the most appropriate regulatory regimes for salmon (finfish) aquaculture; · Finfish aquaculture waste regulations ensure that any measurable impact is temporary, reversible and limited to the immediate area underneath the farm. Recovery from temporary impact must be demonstrated before new fish can be stocked following harvest · Fish escape prevention regulations and an industry Code of Practise have resulted in very few fish escaping from farms, and Atlantic salmon has not been found to colonize any watersheds in B.C., despite deliberate attempts to introduce some 8.5 million of them · Interactions with wildlife have been on a steady decline over the past number of years, due to the adaptation of new technology. The exceptional episodes in Clayquot Sound involving a huge influx of sea lions is expected to be managed by the adoption of such technology While there are many examples of closed containment technology being used in the aquaculture industry world wide, farming salmon for human consumption is best done in conventional net pens.