“We welcome this opportunity to frankly discuss salmon farming in B.C. with the new minister”.
At Ottawa’s Parliament Hill, Member of Parliament (MP) Taylor Bachrach.and new Minister of Fisheries, Oceans, and the Canadian Coast Guard Bernadette Jordan met with the industry to discuss salmon farming on Aquaculture Advocacy Day.
Industry
Attending was President of CAIA (Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance) Tim Kennedy, Mowi Canada MD Dr Diane Morrison, Cooke Vice President of Public Relations Joel Richardson as well as aquaculture scientist Cyr Couturier who is Chair of aquaculture programs at Memorial University, NL. 50 plus other Canadian sea farming companies including representatives from Grieg Seafood, Cermaq and others.
Chief Councillor Roxanne Robinson and Councillor Isaiah Robinson from Mowi indigenous partners Kitasoo Band Council also participated, to stress the importance of the aquaculture business within its territory.
The meeting follows the release of the State of Salmon Aquaculture Technologies, 2019, the report which looked at the feasibility of salmon aquaculture technology in British Columbia, Canada.
Real issues
Yesterday, SalmonBusiness reported that the industry faces some real issues – including a BC government and First Nations plan to phase out 17 salmon farms in a wild salmon corridor by 2023.
Furthermore, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard Bernadette Jordan said she is coming up with a plan to phase out open-net aquaculture in B.C by 2015.
“They are listening and have not planned phase-out to closed containment. Minister said she was asked to develop a plan by 2025 for alternate containment,” said Couturier to SalmonBusiness.
Responsible farming technologies
In a statement to SalmonBusiness, the BC Salmon Farmers Association said that meetings with the minister went well overall.
“We welcome this opportunity to frankly discuss salmon farming in B.C. with the new minister, and how we can continue to evolve and thrive into the future. We hope all parties walked away with more information and understanding.
“In our dialogue, we highlighted the innovation in responsible farming technologies and methods we have undertaken in recent years, as well as emerging technologies we are looking towards now. We talked about our collaboration with coastal First Nations. We discussed the importance of salmon farming in the province, as we help feed a hungry world by producing more than three-quarters of the salmon harvested off our west coast each year while supporting 7,000 B.C. families with good, year-round jobs,” it wrote.
