Outbreak Of Disease On Chilean Salmon Farms A Warning For B.C. Aquaculture Industry
VICTORIA— An outbreak of deadly salmon anemia on Chilean fish farms is further evidence of the need for British Columbia’s salmon farming industry to move to ocean-based closed containment say New Democrats.
Rob Fleming
“The environmental consequences of continuing open-net fish farming are too serious to be ignored,” said New Democrat environment critic Rob Fleming . “The industry needs to move to closed containment, both to protect our wild salmon stocks and to prevent the spread of parasites and disease in farmed salmon.”
Industry analysts say that with the production of farmed Chilean salmon falling by two-thirds, the price of B.C. farmed salmon has risen by up to 14 per cent. Fleming says the B.C. Liberal government should be partnering with the industry to create incentives for them to invest their increased profits in ocean-based closed-containment technology.
Lana PophamIn 2006 the bi-partisan Special Legislative Committee for Sustainable Aquaculture delivered more than 50 recommendations to the B.C. Liberal government, including a recommendation to move to ocean-based closed-containment salmon farming by 2011.The government has made almost no progress implementing any aspect of the report.
New Democrat agriculture critic Lana Popham says it is unfortunate that the B.C. Liberal government has failed to give the industry incentives to become more sustainable, noting that retooling the industry would create green jobs and more certainty for coastal communities that rely on aquaculture.
“It’s a shame that the B.C. Liberal government has failed to provide any vision for the future of this industry and failed to give incentives to companies to be world leaders in sustainability,” said Popham. “The long-term consequences of this failure to plan ahead will be lost jobs, lost opportunities and a damaged environment.”
Carole James and the New Democrats are advocating for positive environmental solutions, including a Green Fund which would see $150 million a year of carbon tax revenue directed towards climate change solutions and transit improvements in communities across the province.
