Thanks RD (blush!). Wouldn't want that job, thanks - but it certainly would be great if we had someone as FM who could read thru the lies presented to them. Guess that was the problem for Joyce Murray - she saw the lies and took action that precipitated political payback:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/federal-court-salmon-farms-1.7229677
I don't want to spend a whole pile of time derailing this thread and being distracted over shellfish, HG - as this is the "Fish Farm" Thread.
But I also don't want to gloss over valid critiques, neither. So attempting a middle-of-the-road approach on this post.
The shellfish industry (as I see it) is a very different "kettle of fish" than ONPSF.
The ONPSF is a very large and vertically integrated multinational industry that has had the husbandry of Atlantics figured out for some decades. And one of the biggest reasons they use Atlantics is because of their potential heavy stocking densities that can be accommodated using Atlantics verses Pacific salmon. More fish = more profits, and vice-versa. You don't get anywhere near as much financial returns for the same infrastructure/time using Pacific salmon verses Atlantics due to their lesser stocking densities.
And there is also a large support network of allied industries such as net-washing, and fish-cleaning well boats, etc. And most importantly - once the net pens are in position - the 10-18mo smolts can be dropped in and within another ~18mo or so - you have product coming out - and the big company with all the expertise, resources & experience takes all the financial risks. It is an easy drop & grow in any FN territory - as long as they are paid off - typically with a few jobs. Most of the jobs are actually in the fish plant and NOT the farms - a reality Klemtu/Kitasoo knows too well.
Very much NOT the case for most shellfish ventures. Most shellfish farms are usually small mom-n-pops operations with a couple species perhaps (commonly Manila clams and pacific oysters , as HG pointed out) - and the products are usually targeted for the high-end restaurant market in the lower mainland. There is alot of labour (e.g. tumbling to remove unwanted attached & smothering organisms, & to change encrusted lantern nets). Most of the costs are front-end labour costs.
And for many shellfish species they can only grow in a narrow range of the right salinities; and growers need limited red tide outbreaks stopping them from selling their products, regularly. Some sites are now too often "hot", and getting hotter all the time wrt
Alexandrium/PSP outbreaks.
So, shellfish sites also need decent, cheap transport to that lower mainland market (shellfish weights alot in relation to the $/lb paid to the growers) and decent WQ/plankton to grow the shellfish. That's why the biggest part of that industry started with Reid in and around Union/Fanny Bay area, and it would be a big challenge to extend that industry North to the North & Central Coasts due to those shipping costs & transport time for fresh product.
But WQ in the Deep/Union/Fanny Bay area is becoming more and more degraded by upwelling events where the pH drops precipitously and often now suddenly due to a wind secchi that forces anoxic low pH bottom water up from SoG into the areas of shellfish rafts. Lower pH means the veliger stages don't settle on the shell crush and don't grow into new shellfish. And existing shellfish may become stressed & die if it continues long enuff. And norovirus outbreaks likely from the herring fleet is another constraint there - and a liability.
And there is little to no testing for PSP, ASP & DSP North of Cape Caution, as well - with only a few small-scale site exceptions. That reality is for another long post about CSSP & CFIA and the testing of shellfish products, and CFIAs/DFOs current lack of capacity to facilitate growth of the shellfish industry.
So, all of these reasons is why shellfish has not taken off in all of the ~11 FN communities that instead have ONPSF verses shellfish farms.
There are a number of invasive species (tunicates, etc.) that affect the viability of shellfish operations due to smothering, but I never heard that green crabs were the fault of the shellfish industry. I heard it was ballast water. Maybe you could provide that reference, HG?
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
