Nova Scotia rejects calls for moratorium on new fish farms
Opinion
Apparently learning a lesson from well-funded environmental groups and individual critics of the salmon farming industry in British Columbia, environmentalists in Eastern Canada are increasingly adopting the same tactics of fear-mongering that is well known on Canada’s west coast. A big issue has recently been made by the fact that an endemic fish virus- Infectious Salmon Anemia (ISA) has been found in farmed, native Atlantic salmon in Nova Scotia. Wikipedia describes “endemic” as “characterizing an infection that is maintained in a population without the need for external inputs”. In other words, the virus causing ISA has been found in fish in the Atlantic Ocean for a long time. The fact that it has shown up in a Nova Scotia fish farm is hardly a scientific surprise, although critics of the industry would like to present it as such, ignoring common sense and sound science in the process.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) reports that the announcement of a rejection of a call to the establishment of a moratorium on new fish farms in Nova Scotia- similar to the existing moratorium on the northern half of British Columbia- resulted in environmental groups being disappointed and insisting that new job projections from additional fish farms were false, without providing any evidence to support the statement. But the province stood its ground;
The call for a moratorium on open pen salmon farms followed confirmation of Infectious Salmon Anemia found at the Cooke Aquaculture operation in Shelburne. When the virus was first suspected, Cooke voluntarily destroyed two pens. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency ordered a third pen destroyed once ISA was confirmed. Dozens of community, angling and tourism groups called on Nova Scotia this week to halt expansion. "We have no intention of looking seriously at a moratorium at this time or any time in the future, Nova Scotia Fisheries Minister Sterling Belliveau said at a news conference Thursday. "I'm encouraged to bring forward some factual information forward to those who have some possible concerns about aquaculture."
New fish farms
Three salmon farm sites on the eastern shore are under active consideration. Belliveau said the review process guarantees the environment is protected when farms are approved, and that more aquaculture means more economic growth. "To me, I see an opportunity when we have our coastline and opportunities for coastal communities," Belliveau said.
"He's been promised a pig in a poke," said Ray Plourde, wilderness co-ordinator for the Ecology Action Centre. Opponents say the jobs being promised are inflated by the aquaculture industry, particularly 350 jobs promised in the minister's own riding of Shelburne. "He is wrong and I can guarantee you his government will be considering a moratorium in the not too distant future or face the wrath of an awful lot of angry Nova Scotians," Plourde said. Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter also spoke Thursday about how fish farms are part of growing Nova Scotia's economy.
