Canada farm closures 'are hurting technology investment'
The decision by Canadian fisheries minister Bernadette Jordan to close 19 salmon farms in British Columbia has had “an immediate chilling effect on investments in technology and innovation” in the aquaculture industry, according to Tim Kennedy, chief executive of the Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance (CAIA).
Kennedy made the claim in an open letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in which he repeated a call for the Canadian premier to formally identify a federal department to champion the sector and develop a sustainable growth strategy for fish and shellfish farming. The CAIA has previously said that the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) headed by Jordan is “structurally and culturally unable” to champion fish farming development.
In his letter, Kennedy listed many innovations and advances in the sector, including stronger cages and nets, genetic selection for better salmon, vaccination of fish against many common diseases, stringent disease testing, environmental and seabed monitoring, automated feeding systems, novel feed ingredients and non-chemical de-lousing strategies.
Certainty for growth
He also highlighted the increasing use of land-based systems to grow larger smolts, and the trialling of marine-based semi-closed containment systems.
But he warned that continued investment in innovation by the sector could only take place if there is sound decision making and certainty for future growth of the industry.
“Minister Jordan’s recent decision to close salmon farms in the Discovery Islands (in BC) will reduce revenues in the Canadian aquaculture sector by more than 16%. This has had an immediate chilling effect on investments in technology and innovation,” said Kennedy.
Developed collaboratively
The decision to close the salmon farms in the Discovery Islands followed DFO consultation with First Nations in whose traditional territories the farms are sited. The Nations blame salmon farms for a decline in wild salmon populations, despite nine separate scientific studies that concluded the farms pose minimal risk to wild fish.
When the closure decision was announced in December, Jordan said: “The Government of Canada remains committed to sustainable, environmentally conscious aquaculture, but it must be developed collaboratively and include the voices of Indigenous peoples and all Canadians.”
Read Kennedy’s letter to Trudeau in full here.
