West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country MP John Weston, a member of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans, brought his colleagues to Powell River on Monday, Nov. 15 to meet local elected officials and to tour a freshwater fish farm.
"I've been harping and whining and exhorting my colleagues to come out here for the two years I've been on the committee," Weston said. "I'm very proud of my colleagues of all parties on this committee who are truly committed in their curiosity about fisheries, including a sustainable resource for our future generations."
One of the studies the committee has undertaken is aquaculture in the Pacific region, work it began at the beginning of the year. Weston said the committee is committed to listening to all views and are in the process of preparing a report with recommendations for the minister of fisheries and oceans.
The study is specifically about the potential impact of sea lice on wild salmon, said Joyce Murray, MP for Vancouver Quadra.
"I'm pleased that all of the MPs are able to come out here in person to hear from other witnesses and also to see operations, both on land, closed containment, and sea-based and lake-based, the aquaculture operation we saw today," added Murray.
There is a deep interest across the country in this investigation, Murray said, but especially in this province.
"British Columbians, First Nations and non-First Nations alike, hold wild salmon as being at the heart of our culture here on the coast," she said.
There is a high level of interest in making sure that wild salmon are protected, Murray said, "and that we identify the causes of the declines in wild salmon over the years, albeit we had a one-year bump up in sockeye salmon. The trends are all in the wrong direction and there's a multiple of impacts. This particular study is on one of those potential impacts."
New Westminister-Coquitlam and Port Moody MP Fin Donnelly has started a private member's bill to move to closed containment. He was new to the committee late last year, and at the time the committee was hearing a lot of controversy about the impacts of fish farms on wild salmon.
"I made a motion to bring in Alexandra Morton as well as Dr. Mark Sheppard to hear the perspectives as to what the controversy was all about," he said. "It grew from there."
The committee has heard from a range of interests on the subject, including fish farm operators, First Nations, environmental activists and academics.
Donnelly said his private member's bill focuses on the transition from open-net systems to closed containment.
"If that bill became law, there would be a five-year transition period," he said. "The bill speaks to closed containment. It does not speak to the type of technology. Whether it's ocean-based or a land system, that would be up to industry to determine."
