Confusion over special licence and the 40,000 fish question

But it appears confusion surrounding DFO licensing policy may have hindered efforts to recapture the 40,000 Atlantics that escaped Marine Harvest's Port Elizabeth farm last month. Reports say thousands of the escaped fish schooled just outside the fish farm pens for hours on Oct. 21 but the fish had largely dispersed by the time Marine Harvest brought a seiner up from Campbell River the following afternoon. Marine Harvest said another seiner already on scene was not asked to attempt recapture because it was not approved on the company's ZZA license. Less than 1,200 of the escaped fish were recaptured.

Andrew Thomson, DFO's Pacific Region director of aquaculture management, says the ZZA licence was created to allow companies to begin recapture immediately, without the need to contact DFO for permission to fish.

"(For) example, if there was an escape in the middle of the night, it's very difficult of course, to get a hold of somebody from Fisheries and Oceans to allow for a recapture fishery to occur," he said. "They have this licence in hand and can action a fishery without that permission because we've already pre-authorized it."

Thomson said the ZZA licence allows for one pre-authorized seine boat to fish within one nautical mile of the escape site, within 24 hours of the escape. The seiner must have a live brailling ability - the capacity to separate and release any wild fish that may be caught, known as 'by-catch'.

But he said regulations around recapture efforts are more flexible than some people, or fish farm companies might understand.