Study confirms importance of salmon farming
Opinion
There is a major marine use planning process going on in British Columbia these days. The Pacific North Coast Integrated Management Area (PNCIMA) is an initiative by the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO). The idea is to get all government and marine sector interests in one room and then designate appropriate uses for certain areas, as well as to designate areas for protection due to their ecosystem values. Once established, Marine Protected Areas will be off-limit to most economic development initiatives. The area in question ranges from Campbell River on Vancouver Island right up to the border with Alaska.
A similar planning initiative was done years ago for almost the same region’s terrestrial areas, resulting in the establishment of protected areas with a size similar to that of Belgium. A fund set up to specifically help the local aboriginal (First Nation) communities get on with various “environmentally-friendly” projects that would provide jobs and benefits specifically excluded net-pen fish farming activities from getting any support. Shellfish aquaculture has, however been given much support. Half of the fund was provided by US-based philanthropic organizations- the rest by the Canadian and B.C. governments.
Environmental groups like the Living Oceans Society have firmly inserted themselves in this marine use planning process- mostly with ample funding from the same US organizations that helped create the terrestrial “Great Bear Rainforest”. It will be interesting to see how this latest report will affect the outcome of the PNCIMA process. Colleen Dade, Communications Manager with the B.C. Salmon Farmers Association issued a release today, including the following;
The importance of BC's salmon farming industry to the economy of North Vancouver Island has been confirmed in a report undertaken by the Regional District of Mount Waddington and Living Oceans Society. The study, received March 15 by the regional district board, rates aquaculture as the largest contributor among marine resource sectors in the area. Worth $178.3 million (~€130 million) in revenue, $19.2 million (~€14 million) in wages and 400-person years of employment within the regional district directly, this report emphasizes the important role aquaculture plays in communities such as Port Hardy and Port McNeill. "Our contribution to local communities - not only through direct employment, but indirect business support, donations, scholarships and more - is something we're very proud of," said Mary Ellen Walling, Executive Director of the BC Salmon Farmers Association. "Building an economic cluster that supports these communities is very important to us."
The report, prepared by GSGislason and Associates Ltd. from Vancouver is unique in that it looks specifically at the role of the marine environment in the economy of the regional district. After salmon farming, the next largest contributor is commercial fisheries, with $8.3 million (~€6 million) in wages and 305 person-years of employment. The study is also interesting in that it isolates the benefit to the local economy - including only job, wages and benefits that are directly contributing within the regional district. "It's great for communities on the North Island to have a clear reference of what the industry is providing economically," said Walling. "We know that's only part of the bigger picture - that the industry in those communities contributes outside of the regional district borders and is important to the whole province."
