Aquaculture improving?..The Fish Farm Thread

[OldBlackDog]

So, new government can be new rules, but need to get involved now.
Now is the time to get involved and get inside where you can do good and influence policy.

 

[agentaqua]

B.C. Indigenous leaders lobby for transition from open-net salmon farms

OTTAWA - Indigenous leaders from British Columbia have called on the federal government to stand by plans to transition away from open-net salmon farms, but an industry spokesman suggested the

www.thecanadianpressnews.ca

Ottawa accused of stalling on campaign vow to end ocean fish farms in B.C.

Conservationists fear Ottawa is walking back election pledge to close down open-net fish farms on B.C. coast

www.theglobeandmail.com

 

[Hardy Guy]

Why anti-salmon farming activists fear Canada’s new Fisheries Minister

seawestnews.com

 

[Whole in the Water]

Because she is a long time social worker that knows absolutely zero about fish and the fishing sector. She is a blank slate for the foreign owned multi national corporations that will get their well paid myopic lobbyists to turn her into a pro fish farm/feedlot fan and make things worse for wild salmon. That's why!!!

 

[agentaqua]

Because she is a long time social worker that knows absolutely zero about fish and the fishing sector. She is a blank slate for the foreign owned multi national corporations that will get their well paid myopic lobbyists to turn her into a pro fish farm/feedlot fan and make things worse for wild salmon. That's why!!!

She knew someone that operated a lodge on the Gaspé, and she hopes her claim of being the owner of camping cabin rental counts as "fish experience". More importantly, she is "pure laine" - so that satisfies the hard right in Québec. The same ones that celebrate "Je me souviens" (i.e. I still remember the Battle on the Plains of Abraham and I am still plotting my revenge) on their licence plates.

So that qualifies her for a cabinet post in the Trudeau Liberal Cabinet - if one doesn't know what a Potatoe is - one doesn't recognize a hot Potatoe.

And we have a drama teacher for a PM. What more qualifications do we need?

 

[agentaqua]

Fish farm giant Mowi suing fisheries ministers, taxpayers for Discovery Islands closures

The lawsuit appears to be the first tied to the Discovery Islands closures intent on making the federal government and taxpayers pay for decisions by ministers with the authority to protect Canadian fisheries and oceans, says a B.C. salmon conservation group.

www.nationalobserver.com

On the hunt for thousands of salmon that escaped Icelandic fish farm

Some 3500 salmon have escaped from a fish farm pen in Iceland and now the hunt is on to catch them before they hybridise with the local wild, genetically distinct salmon in the fjords

www.newscientist.com

Fish farm escape puts Bay of Fundy wild salmon in jeopardy | The Narwhal

When wild and farmed fish mate, their hybrid offspring have less chance of survival. But advocates say the governments of Canada and New Brunswick still aren’t taking action

thenarwhal.ca

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/fight-over-salmon-farm-expansion-standing-decision-1.7008198

 

[agentaqua]

Oceans away: Is raising salmon on land the next big thing in farming fish?

Giant tanks full of Atlantic salmon could help meet rising demand while lowering environmental impact

www.science.org

 

[agentaqua]

Quite the enlightening and informative email train following below that details the development of DFO's speaking notes to the FOPO Senate Committe on fish health and other issues.

I am yet again humbled and impressed with Kristi's dedication to truth, transparency and honesty - as well as her professional focus and scientific skill set. Kudos to you Kristi - all those on here that also love wild salmon and acknowledge it is DFO's key, legislated priority and focus (unlike certain individuals in the aquaculture branch) - appreciate you and your team's success in developing cutting-edge science and generating the critical data on fish health.

I am - in stark contrast - consistently frustrated, disappointed and angry of the exact opposite intent & ongoing successful efforts of certain key members within the aquaculture branch of DFO that can be readily seen by reviewing their individual comments, & their attempts to mislead decision makers within this email train. You and NOT Kristi dishonour the Crown of which you are a representative, and you are instrumental in generating distrust, imho. You should be ashamed of your actions - if you had any noticeable morals and professionalism. You know who you are. So do we.

 

[agentaqua]

 

[agentaqua]

 

[agentaqua]

 

[onefish]

The corruption in DFO boggles the mind.

 

[Whole in the Water]

Hard to say what boggles the mind more - the corruption within DFO, or those on this forum and elsewhere that defend and support DFO's corrupt support of salmon fish farm feedlots. Methinks it is the latter...

 

[onefish]

.

 

[agentaqua]

Well, as Justice Cohen ever-so aptly put it OF:

Cohen Recommendation #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.

Cohen’s supporting remarks:

In relation to fisheries, DFO’s paramount regulatory objective is the conservation of Fraser River sockeye salmon and other wild fish species.

DFO’s response to the introduction of salmon farms should be no different from its response to other stressors: DFO must protect the health of wild stocks. However, the current role of DFO in relation to salmon farming is broader than the protection of wild stocks. It extends to promotion of the salmon-farming industry and farmed salmon as a product. there are circumstances in which it may find itself in a conflict of interest because of divided loyalties. For example:

There is a risk that DFO will not proactively examine potential threats to migrating sockeye salmon from salmon farms, leaving it up to other concerned parties to establish that there is a threat.

There is a risk that DFO will impose less onerous fish health standards on salmon farms than it would if its only interest were the protection of wild fish. Farmed salmon may tolerate certain diseases or pathogens differently from wild salmon, such that the farmed fish would not necessarily require treatment except for their potential to spread disease or pathogens to wild fish. (The treatment of sea lice is a good example: see the discussion in Volume 1, Chapter 9, Fish health management.)

There is a risk that DFO will be less rigorous in enforcing the Fisheries Act against the operators of salmon farms. As long as DFO has a mandate to promote salmon farming, there is a risk that DFO will act in a manner that favours the interests of the salmon-farming industry over the health of wild fish stocks. The only way to address this potential conflict is by removing from DFO’s mandate the promotion of salmon farming as an industry and farmed salmon as a product, and by transferring the promotion of salmon farming to a different part of the Executive Branch

 

[agentaqua]

and there's been a lot of ivory-castle building in the Aquaculture Branch that depends upon the industry being there and having a right to veto inconvenient results. see: https://sportfishingbc.com/threads/aquaculture-improving.76888/post-1177320

Imagine if the existence of the RCMP depended upon not just the existence but the close cooperation of the Hell's Angels - and the Hell's Angels had a veto over whether or not DFO could charge them for crimes or traffic violations.

That would be seen as a bizarre and ineffective regulatory process at the best - and most likely totally corrupt. But it's been normalized in DFO's institutionalized Aquaculture department for so long - nobody blinks an eye.

 

[agentaqua]

BC and Washington Salmon Farms Interactive Map

This map was created using data published by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the BC Government, and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to display finfish aquaculture farm tenure and licence status. The data displayed on this map can also be downloaded and viewed in...

livingoceans.org

 

[agentaqua]

CSI Tofino

Last season we heard a lot about fish farms on the east side of Vancouver Island, the farms in the Discovery Islands and the Broughton Archipelago. The west side of the island has 20 fish farms, 14 of them operated by Cermaq, one of the big three Norwegian-based companies. It turns out Tofino...

www.nationalobserver.com

16 Scientists

Just days before Fisheries Minister Joyce Murray was expected to announce a decision on the closure of fish farms in the Discovery Islands, a last-minute study on sea lice shocked the scientific community.

www.nationalobserver.com

Shock & Awe Among First Nations

In Episode 13 of The Salmon People, we learn what the closure of fish farms means for the wild salmon

www.nationalobserver.com

Pushing and Pulling

The much awaited final episode in season two of Canada’s National Observer’s award-winning podcast The Salmon People dropped today. Throughout season two, investigative reporter Sandra Bartlett brings you the very best of what boots-on-the-ground Canadian journalism has to offer, taking...

www.nationalobserver.com

 

[wildmanyeah]

B.C. First Nations want nine-year salmon farm licences

First Nations that support salmon farms say they need 'runway' for transition

biv.com

 

[rockdog]

B.C. First Nations want nine-year salmon farm licences

First Nations that support salmon farms say they need 'runway' for transition

biv.com

9 year transition? Seems a little ridiculous considering the industry has known since 2012 their time is closing. Our wild fish don't have that kind of time left in some areas where the farms have wreaked havoc on them, such as Clayoquot Sound. Some rivers in the Sound are down to single digit returns while the farms struggle with up to 35 sea lice per fish during the out migration.
We can't have both so Canada has to pick, wild or Open Net Pens. We already know BC is 75% in favor of removing farms.