By Roy L Hales

Two competing fish farm presentations: the BC Salmon Farmers Association will be talking about the Discovery Island’s salmon farms at the March 10 Strathcona Regional District Board Meeting and Sierra Quadra believes they will be responding.*

The two groups wish to speak about very different topics. The Salmon Farmers wants to talk about ways to address the economic hole left by closing down 19 salmon farms. Sierra Quadra is concerned about past and ongoing environmental impacts.

Looking into the pens at the Phillips Arm fish farm (2016). Photo by Roy L Hales.

Environmental disaster from the beginning

Ray Grigg, one of the environmental group’s directors, claims that fish farms have been a disaster form the beginning.

“For a period of about 13 years, they were killing about 500 seals a year because they were predating their salmon farms," he said. "This does not account for the otters that they probably killed, the blue heron, anything that  was eating their fish. They have acoustic devises that scare the orcas away from their fish farms and those orcas are just returning to the Broughton Archipelago now that the salmon farms have been moved out.”

Another Sierra Quadra Director, Angela Koch, said “they keep saying that the science is done, but we just found out that seven new viruses were discovered on the farms.”

She was one of the participants in the Cohen Commission, where they learned that "one in four farms has a major fish health event every year.”

Estimated employee losses from consequences of the decision to shut down salmon farming in the Discovery Islands, RAIS in, Feb. 2021. Photo courtesy of the the BC Salmon Farmers presentation to the SRD Board.

John Paul Fraser, executive Director of the BC Salmon Farmer’s Association, came to speak about.

“We had a lot of support from local government and it isn’t something we’ve had to rally, it is real. Local government has so often been left holding the bag. What we are talking about here is how to execute the removal of a number of salmon farms,” he said.

Fraser is critical of the lack of leadership DFO has shown throughout this process.

“We are almost three months into this and I ask you and your listeners, how many calls do you think we’ve had returned? Letters that have been returned; emails; anything from Ottawa after this decision was made? If your answer was zero, you win the prize,” he said.

Fraser believes the best way to go forward is to renegotiate the manner in which the farms are phased out. This should not be an artificial timeline, like the 18-month limit DFO imposed last December. Instead, industry and all the government stakeholders should come together to discuss the best exit strategy.

Estimated salmon losses from consequences of the decision to shut down salmon farming in the Discovery Islands, RAIS in, February 2021. Graph courtesy of the BC Salmon Farmers presentation to the SRD Board.

A place at the table

However, Fraser does not want the environmental sector to have a seat at that table.

“It has to be focused, let’s not turn this into a circus,” he said.

“I do not know why they deserve a seat at the table, quite honestly," he added. "This is based on a consultation between governments, Indigenous and non-Indigenous. Now it is about how to implement a decision the government has made. If environmental groups get upset about that, it doesn’t really matter. What really matters is doing this in a manner that works and is in the best interests of the communities, indigenous and non-indigenous. So let’s get to it.”

Whether Sierra Quadra will get an opportunity to speak at tomorrow’s SRD Board meeting, remains to be seen.

Grigg believes they will, because they applied last Friday, but Sierra Quadra’s name does not appear on the agenda.

In response to the idea that fish farmers do not want environmentalists at the larger table, Grigg responded.

“This has always been their position. They are not an environmental problem so they do not want any representation from the environmentalists. The very reason they are being evicted from open net pens is environmental problems," he said.

He added that while moving on land may cut into the aquaculture sector’s profits.

“They wouldn’t have the disease problems, and they wouldn’t have the environmentalists to deal with.”

Listen to more on the story in the CKTZ podcast below: 

Links of Interest:

• (SRD) Consequences of the decision to shut down salmon farming in the Discovery Islands, RAIS in, Feb 2021
• (Cortes Currents) Reporters Roundtable: Fish farms and seaweed production
• (Cortes Currents) Phasing out one of Campbell River’s three pillars
• (Cortes Currents) SRD protests DFOs failure to consult
• (Cortes Currents) Tahsis supports decision to phase out fish farms
• (Cortes Currents) North Vancouver Island Mayors support fish farms
• (Cortes Currents) articles about the Discovery Island fish farms
• (DFO) Government of Canada moves to phase out salmon farming licences in Discovery Islands following consultations with First Nations 

*By the morning of March 9, it was clear the Sierra Quadra presentation will be on March 24 rather than the 10.