British Columbia back in Business- for Fish Farming

Odd Grydeland odd@fishfarmingxpert.com

When the federal government announced the appointment of Justice Bruce Cohen in November, 2009 for the purpose of investigating the reasons for an unexpectedly low return of sockeye salmon to that Fraser River that year, officials within the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) set an internal policy that they would not entertain an expansion of the salmon farming industry in British Columbia until they had received and reviewed the up-coming report. DFO at the time was under scrutiny by most of the many environmental groups that are based in and/or operating in British Columbia to put additional restrictions on the business of salmon farming. But while this pressure continues today, it was somewhat subdued by the findings of Justice Cohen, which didn’t identify salmon farming as the “smoking gun” that the environmental community had long argued it was. It also didn’t support the accusations by environmental groups that the Province’s salmon farms were responsible for the unusually low return of salmon to the Fraser River in 2009, when over 35 million fish came back to the river the following year, while salmon farming had been continuing as usual. Justice Cohen submitted his final Commission report to the Canadian government on October 29, 2012. The 1,200 page report included some 75 recommendations, among them 11 that directly dealt with salmon aquaculture, and the Commissioner said- among else- that “I am also satisfied that marine conditions in both the Strait of Georgia and Queen Charlotte Sound in 2007 were likely to be the primary factors responsible for the poor returns in 2009. Abnormally high freshwater discharge, warmer-than-usual sea surface temperatures, strong winds, and lower-than-normal salinity may have resulted in abnormally low phytoplankton and nitrate concentrations that could have led to poor zooplankton (food for sockeye) production.” And he also said that “…data presented during this Inquiry did not show that salmon farms were having a significant negative impact on Fraser River sockeye…” The recommendations regarding salmon farming were mostly related to a small area of islands and inlets just North of Campbell River, dubbed the “Salmon Narrows” by environmentalists that insist that pathogens such as sea lice and virus from salmon farms in the area have a detrimental impact on out-migrating juvenile salmon swimming by these farms. Here is the list of the Cohen Commission report’s recommendations regarding salmon farming and its management in B.C.:

DFO’s obligations in relation to net-pen salmon farms 3) The Government of Canada should remove from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans’ mandate the promotion of salmon farming as an industry and farmed salmon as a product.

Fish health data from salmon farms 11) In order to provide a longer time series of data on which to test for relationships between stressors found at salmon farms and the health of Fraser River sockeye salmon, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans should continue to require the collection of fish health data directly from operators of salmon farms and through DFO audits. 12) For research purposes beyond routine monitoring, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans should require, as a condition of licence, that the operator of a salmon farm provide, on reasonable demand by DFO, fish samples, including live fish or fresh silvers (recently deceased fish), in a quantity and according to a protocol specified by DFO. 13) The Department of Fisheries and Oceans should give non-government scientific researchers timely access to primary fish health data collected through DFO’s routine monitoring programs, including data that relate to farmed or wild salmon.

Limiting salmon farm production and licence duration 14) Beginning immediately and continuing until at least September 30, 2020, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans should ensure that • the maximum duration of any licence issued under the Pacific Aquaculture Regulations for a net-pen salmon farm in the Discovery Islands (fish health subzone 3-2) does not exceed one year; • DFO does not issue new licences for net-pen salmon farms in the Discovery Islands (fish health sub-zone 3-2); and • DFO does not permit increases in production at any existing net-pen salmon farm in the Discovery Islands (fish health sub-zone 3-2).

Revising and applying siting criteria for salmon farms 15) The Department of Fisheries and Oceans should explicitly consider proximity to migrating Fraser River sockeye when siting salmon farms. 16) After seeking comment from First Nations and stakeholders, and after responding to challenge by scientific peer review, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans should, by March 31, 2013, and every five years thereafter, revise salmon farm siting criteria to reflect new scientific information about salmon farms situated on or near Fraser River sockeye salmon migration routes as well as the cumulative effects of these farms on these sockeye.

17) The Department of Fisheries and Oceans should apply revised siting criteria to all licensed salmon farm sites. Farms that no longer comply with siting criteria should be promptly removed or relocated to sites that comply with current siting criteria. Re-evaluating risk and mitigation measures for salmon farms 18) If at any time between now and September 30, 2020, the minister of fisheries and oceans determines that net-pen salmon farms in the Discovery Islands (fish health sub-zone 3-2) pose more than a minimal risk of serious harm to the health of migrating Fraser River sockeye salmon, he or she should promptly order that those salmon farms cease operations. 19) On September 30, 2020, the minister of fisheries and oceans should prohibit net-pen salmon farming in the Discovery Islands (fish health sub-zone 3-2) unless he or she is satisfied that such farms pose at most a minimal risk of serious harm to the health of migrating Fraser River sockeye salmon. The minister’s decision should summarize the information relied on and include detailed reasons. The decision should be published on the Department of Fisheries and Oceans’ website. 20) To inform the decision under Recommendation 19, the minister and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans should take the following steps: • Conduct the research and analysis recommended in Recommendation 68 and publish the results of this research. • Assess any relationships between salmon farming variables compiled in the fish health database and Fraser River sockeye health or productivity. • Invite from the salmon-farming industry and from other interested parties written submissions respecting the risk that netpen salmon farms pose to the health of migrating Fraser River sockeye salmon. • Publish on the DFO website the full text of all submissions received. • Provide to submitters a reasonable opportunity to respond in writing to other submissions and publish such responses on the DFO website. In a statement issued by Justice Cohen at the time of the release of the report, he said that “Some, I suspect, hoped that our work would find the “smoking gun” – a single cause that explained the two-decade decline in productivity – but finding that a single event or stressor is responsible is improbable,” said Cohen. He noted that the inquiry uncovered extensive information about potential causes for the decline of Fraser River sockeye, but it also demonstrated how much is still unknown about individual stressors as well as cumulative effects and delayed effects. He found that stressors specific to the Fraser River, as well as region-wide influences, may both have contributed to the long-term decline. “Further research is crucial to understanding the long-term productivity and sustainability of Fraser River sockeye salmon,” said Cohen. “Notably, a better understanding is needed of the migratory and feeding patterns in all marine areas. I heard enough evidence about warming waters to conclude that climate change is a significant stressor for sockeye and in combination with other stressors, may determine the fate of the fishery.”

At the time of the issuance of the report, a number of interesting numbers about the Cohen Commission and its activities during the two years of hearings were also released such as;

• More than 3 million pages in 573,381 documents were disclosed to the Commission- 98% of them from the Canadian government • Over 600 people attended public forums, with some 109 of them making presentations • 892 submissions were received from members of the public • 133 days were spent conducting evidentiary hearings, with 179 witnesses being heard • Number of lawyers or other representatives who appeared before the Commissioner at evidentiary hearings: 95 • 4,007 GB of memory required for storing of the data from the Commission

The inquiry was said to have cost some CAD$ 27 million (~€18 million).

When the Cohen Commission issued its final report, the salmon farmers in B.C. were quick to respond, with the B.C. Salmon Farmers Association (BCSFA) issuing the following statement, suggesting that its membership support the report:

The final report of the Cohen Commission into the Decline of Fraser River Sockeye lays solid ground for protecting the future of the iconic salmon run, said BC’s salmon farmers today. Among the 1200 pages and 75 recommendations detailed in the final report, items regarding aquaculture noted that: • Farming is allowed to continue in all areas of British Columbia – including the Discovery Islands. • New farms are allowed in appropriately sited and planned areas. • The quality and quantity of our farmers’ information and data collection is impressive. • More research on farmed/wild interactions in the Discovery Islands area should be undertaken and production levels be capped in this area at current levels during this period. • The wild salmon policy apply to our farm practices – which our operations already exceed the standards of. These are all things that we as farmers are supportive of. “These recommendations are all about protecting wild salmon, which is central to the work that we do each day on our farms,” said Clare Backman, Board Member of the BCSFA. “We’re confident that our farms are not a risk to wild salmon and support more research to confirm that.” Commissioner Cohen emphasizes in his report that there was no single cause for the poor 2009 return of Fraser River Sockeye, but he draws attention to topics that are either at issue or that need further information to understand any potential impact. Warming water temperatures was called the “elephant in the room,” while the risk of enhancement hatchery fish was also highlighted as serious risk. “As farmers and British Columbians, it’s imperative to us that the marine environment be protected,” Stewart Hawthorn, Board Member of the BCSFA. “Commissioner Cohen highlighted the data we already collect to monitor our environmental impacts as impressive and we expect that information will continue to be helpful as we move forward.”

In July, 2013 the BCSFA issued another release explaining how the industry was moving ahead with the recommendations of the Cohen Commission: In a follow-up to the Cohen Commission recommendations, the BC Salmon Farmers Association has continued work on gathering additional scientific evidence to further demonstrate that fish farms do not harm Fraser River Sockeye. In his final report, released October 31st, 2012, Justice Cohen found that there was not enough evidence to conclusively prove that fish farms were not impacting Fraser River sockeye. Immediately following the release of the report, the BCSFA and its members issued a statement supporting the recommendations.

One of those recommendations referred to net-pen salmon farms in the Discovery Islands-area: “If at any time between now and September 30, 2020, the minister of fisheries and oceans determines that net-pen salmon farms in the Discovery Islands pose more than a minimal risk of serious harm to the health of migrating Fraser River sockeye salmon, he or she should promptly order that those salmon farms cease operations.”

“What Justice Cohen found was an information gap in wild fish knowledge,” said Provincial Fish Pathologist, Dr. Gary Marty. “We don’t know the potential interactions of all the variables that might be impacting wild fish health. We have some knowledge of ocean temperature, salinity, plankton blooms, microbes, and fish farms, but if these factors are studied only in isolation, we might misunderstand the big picture. The challenge is that we don’t yet have all the pieces.”

As one of the first steps, the BCSFA organized a workshop, entitled Managing Risk and Defining Research Priorities. The purpose was to bring together a group of scientists, fisheries experts, and fish health specialists and veterinarians to objectively review risk management approaches and define research priorities for salmon aquaculture. “Originally, our goal was to come away with a list of research priorities – an idea of where the knowledge gap is in terms of wild fish health and what research should be done,” said Mary Ellen Walling, Executive Director of the BCSFA. “What we found was that there was a knowledge gap in terms of what research is currently being done on wild fish, who is doing the research and what it’s focusing on. There are a number of groups doing fish health research and they don’t always talk to each other, so there’s no database of that information.”

The next steps from the workshop will be to identify the current research that is in progress and bring it together for a second workshop, “Wild Salmon: Addressing the Knowledge Gap”, planned for September. “Our goal with all of this work to have a good picture of both wild and farmed fish health,” said Walling. “The more we know, the better informed our farm management will be.”

The salmon farming industry in British Columbia is dominated by the three Norway-based companies Marine Harvest, Cermaq and Grieg Seafood. All of them are said to be interested in growing their business here, given the proximity to one of the fastest growing markets for farmed salmon. In its latest financial report, Marine Harvest recently announced that 2013 was the company’s best year ever, with “Both Scotland and Canada have record year for profit. We congratulate the teams responsible for the achievement”. Annual reports from Cermaq and Grieg Seafood are anticipated later this month. The word about DFO lifting the unofficial “moratorium” on salmon farm expansion in B.C. came to the industry last fall (October, 2013), and was confirmed by DFO Minister Gail Shea in a Letter to the Editor of a Campbell River-based newspaper (the Courier-Islander) last week:

“Aquaculture is the fastest growing food production sector worldwide, now supplying over 50 percent of the global demand for fish and seafood. In Canada, aquaculture is worth over $2 billion (~€1.33 billion) annually and employs more than 14,000 Canadians. With the global demand for seafood expected to increase by seven per cent every year, it’s clear that aquaculture has great economic potential. Our government supports aquaculture development that is both economically sound and environmentally responsible. Canada has a transparent regulatory system - one of the most rigorous in the world - to ensure that the industry is ecologically sustainable and protects our marine resources. In 2011, our Government made the decision not to allow expansion of aquaculture production until the Cohen Commission had reported its findings. What we are doing now is absolutely consistent with Justice Cohen’s recommendations on aquaculture: we are maintaining the moratorium on new developments in the Discovery Islands area, and are further investing in science. Economic Action Plan 2013 included three major measures that directly respond to Justice Cohen’s recommendations. Our Government committed $54 million (~€35.9 million) that will help bolster our environmental protection in the aquaculture sector through science, an enhanced regulatory regime, and improved reporting. We also introduced a new program to support recreational fisheries conservation activities through partnerships with community groups. Twenty-eight projects related to Pacific salmon in B.C., totalling $1.8 million (~€1.2 million), were approved in the first round of the program. In addition, we are dedicating all revenue collected from the Salmon Conservation Stamp to the Pacific Salmon Foundation, which will mean approximately $1 million more every year to support the Foundation’s great work. All of these initiatives are in addition to our government’s annual investments related to Pacific salmon. Currently we invest more than $65 million (~€43.2 million) per year, of which about $20 million (~€13.3 million) is directly related to Fraser River sockeye. Let’s keep in mind that after the very low returns in 2009, more than 30 million sockeye returned to the Fraser River in 2010 - the most in almost a century. In 2013, the sockeye runs were above average and 26 million pink salmon returned, more than double what was expected. Other rivers saw similarly encouraging results. Our government has recently decided to resume the review of applications for new aquaculture sites and amendments to existing sites in British Columbia, outside of the Discovery Islands area. I want to stress, however, that all applications that are received will continue to be carefully evaluated through the lens of environmental sustainability. Our government is committed to protecting Pacific salmon, including Fraser River sockeye. We are confident that we can achieve that while allowing the aquaculture industry to thrive and create much needed jobs in rural areas and Aboriginal communities”.