Another moratorium for fish farming
Paul Rudan
February 9, 2010
Campbell River Mirror
The salmon farming industry appears to be governed by the the B.C. Supreme Court these days.
In late January, Justice Christopher Hinkson imposed another moratorium on the expansion of any existing salmon farms and ruled there will be no new applications for new sites – at least until the federal government assumes responsibility for the industry.
“It’s not the first time we’ve seen moratoriums,” said Clare Backman, the director of environmental relations for Marine Harvest Canada, which is based in Campbell River.
During the previous provincial reign by the NDP, a multi-year moratorium was imposed on salmon farm growth. That was lifted when the Liberals took over, but in February 2009, the B.C. Supreme Court ruled that marine finfish aquaculture is a fishery and a matter of federal jurisdiction.
The court directed the transfer of administration and regulatory control from the province to the federal government and recently extended the transfer deadline to Dec. 18, 2010.
The recent moratorium ruling is viewed as another victory for salmon farm opponents, led by long-time activist Alexandra Morton who spearheaded the court challenges.
“There is an enormous amount of work ahead to translate any of this into better survival of our wild salmon, but the courts seem consistently interested in bringing reason, the Constitution and the law to bear on the...fish farm industry,” she said in a news release.
The judgment is also a pointed reminder to Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) to get moving on the changeover. Last December, when DFO representatives visited the city to discuss the transfer in responsibility, they stated they would not impose any moratorium on salmon farming.
But that abruptly changed with last week’s court decision.
According to Backman, the decision is not expected to affect Marine Harvest’s operations or production this year. As well, he said the decision will not affect any of Marine Harvest’s 550 employees on the North Island.
“There are (industry) concerns regarding international investment, but that’s not the case for our company,” he said. “How does this affect us? Really, not at all. We will produce between 38,000 and 40,000 tonnes (of salmon) again this year. We have no new farms planned, but we are interested in developing new farms.”
Read the full story in The Campbell River Mirror
Posted February 11th, 2010
