Just days after shíshálh First Nation announced the decommissioning of Grieg Seafood BC Ltd. fish farm facilities in Sunshine Coast waters following provincial legislation requiring First Nation approval, the Minister for Fisheries and Oceans was questioned about the federal government’s plan to transition open-net fish farms in B.C.
“This week, Washington state said ‘no’ to fish farms. Now, the B.C. shíshálh First Nation said ‘no’ to fish farms. But Liberals keep saying yes to rich CEOs,” Lisa Marie Barron, the NDP MP for Nanaimo-Ladysmith and member of the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans said at the House of Commons on Nov. 17. “When will the Liberals get fish farms out of the water, with a transition for workers?” Barron asked.
shíshálh Nation announced its decision to see the decommissioning of Grieg Seafood BC Ltd.’s finfish farm facilities within its territory in Sunshine Coast waters, in a Nov. 14 press release. That same day, the Seattle Times reported that Washington state’s Department of Natural Resources decided not to renew Cooke Aquaculture’s two remaining fish farming leases for net pens in Puget Sound, following inspections of that company’s facilities after a 2017 net-pen spill. Cooke is a New Brunswick-based company.
The Minister for Fisheries and Oceans Joyce Murray responded to Barron, “Protecting wild salmon and their habitat is my top priority,” adding that the transition is under way. “We have already removed fish farms from the Discovery Islands, there are others that Indigenous communities have asked to have moved and have been moved away.”
Murray said they will have a plan by June 2023 on how they will proceed.
A 'domino effect'
In 2018, the province of B.C. announced that provincial fish farm licences would require consent from First Nations in whose territory they are operating in order to be renewed. That came into effect this year.
shíshálh Nation is part of the First Nations Wild Salmon Alliance, which represents 102 First Nations opposed to open pen salmon farms in B.C.
“It's almost like we're seeing the domino effect and farms are being removed not just in Sechelt Inlet, but before that, First Nations in the Broughton Archipelago north of here… I think it is having a kind of ripple effect,” Stan Proboszcz, a senior scientist at Watershed Watch Salmon Society told Coast Reporter.
Alexandra Morton, an independent fish scientist who helped raise the alarm about sea lice at fish farms, said there is confusion about whether the salmon farms have an impact on wild salmon within DFO, where scientists disagree about where the piscine orthoreovirus (PRV) comes from. “First Nation leadership is left to make this decision themselves. And so they are reaching out directly to scientists and evaluating the situation themselves,” Morton said.
Morton says the salmon’s exposure to disease is greater in a concentrated area, such as the long narrow Sechelt Inlet. Though she could not comment on the status of local salmon on the Sunshine Coast, shíshálh Nation’s decision could benefit salmon beyond its territory.
“What we have now is a corridor from Puget Sound, past the mouth of the Fraser River through the Discovery Islands, half the Broughton Archipelago all along east Vancouver Island, with no salmon farms,” Morton said. “Unfortunately, there is still a string of them across Queen Charlotte Strait where all the fish have to go to get to sea off Port Hardy.
“The U.S. fish are still going through British Columbia and they're still being exposed to these farms. But at least there's a long stretch and it's growing with this decision by the shíshálh First Nation here. They really expanded this range,” she said.
What could removal mean for Sechelt Inlet?
The Nov. 14 press release from shíshálh Nation said Grieg intends to remove salmon from its Sunshine Coast facilities by the end of November and complete decommissioning is expected to be complete February 2023.
The release reiterated shíshálh Nation’s long-standing, “deep concerns about the impacts of finfish aquaculture on wild salmon. shíshálh has raised these concerns with Federal and Provincial governments for more than three decades. These concerns have only increased over the years as we have witnessed the substantial decline in the swiya salmon populations, which has had dramatic impacts on shíshálh way of life.”
When asked how soon the environment could change as a result, Proboszcz said, “The change will probably be over quite a long period of time,” particularly for the effects on the bottom of the ocean near a salmon farm. Any waste such as feces or chemicals will take time to be remediated naturally.
But once the fish are out of the water, he said an immediate change will be that “it's going to cease to be this amplifier of bacteria, parasites, and viruses. That's spectacular, because our wild salmon, they're at risk for many different threats, not just salmon farms.” There’s also climate change and warming waters.
The health of salmon is “intrinsically linked” to their surrounding environment as they release nutrients when they die after spawning, in turn benefitting the ecosystem, Morton adds.
What about this ‘transition’?
While the federal government is expected to announce a final decision on open-pen fish farms in B.C. in the spring of 2023, exactly what it entails is murky.
When asked about the phasing out of open-net pens in B.C. waters, BC Salmon Farmers Association’s interim executive director Ruth Salmon responded with an emailed statement, “Fisheries Minister Joyce Murray has clarified that the transition plan is not focused on one specific technology, but rather a range of options that aim to continue to reduce or eliminate risk to wild salmon.
“The evolution of our sector is not new to BC salmon farmers – we have been driving change for several decades,” said Salmon. “Our producing members will continue to engage with all levels of governments throughout this transition process to ensure future innovation in the sector meets the needs of the local communities where we farm.”
Proboszcz said the federal government seems to be “backsliding” and the language around the transition process has been changing. Licences for 79 open-net fin fish farms were renewed in June for two years as the federal government consults with First Nations, industry and other levels of government.
Morton said she thinks the language is being deliberately left vague. “The minister has to be very careful of what she says. She's going to a consultation, so in theory she needs to rely on that consultation and can't pre-suppose the outcome.”
“I think the [shíshálh] Nation's actions this week show how easy and fast salmon farms can be removed,” Proboszcz said. “So it is definitely possible. And we just hope that the minister recognizes this leadership from the shíshálh Nation and expedites her process.”
