Question Period Note: Massive Mortality of Farmed Fish in Newfoundland and Labrador

• We take the health of our oceans seriously, which is why we are closely following the mortality of farmed salmon that occurred in Newfoundland and Labrador in late August. The cause of this incident was elevated water temperatures, which resulted in low oxygen levels, and the subsequent death of the salmon.
• Once my department became aware of the incident, we worked with provincial authorities and Environment and Climate Change Canada to determine and monitor potential environmental impacts.
• While there are no apparent impacts to water quality or wild fish and habitat, we continue to work with our partners to monitor for any longer term impacts. We will also work with our provincial partners to strengthen both the federal and provincial regulatory oversight mechanisms.

• On September 3, Northern Harvest Sea Farms Newfoundland reported to the Newfoundland and Labrador (NL) government that approximately two million fish died from a prolonged period of high water temperatures at six of its 13 stocked sea farm sites. The Department was made aware of the incident on September 4, and confirmed the cause of mortality with the Province and industry.
• The company hired contractors to clean up affected cages, which included collecting carcasses for on-land processing. Leftover slurry was discharged into marine waters at the respective sites.
• On October 11, the company informed the NL government it underestimated the deaths by 600,000 and that deaths occurred at ten sites, prompting the Province to suspend all licences at the affected sites until further notice.
• Departmental officials have surveyed the extent of the salmon slurry from the farms and have been consulting with provincial authorities and Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) on next steps. Observations from recent (late October 2019) DFO surveillance activities confirm that much of the material previously seen on beaches and in coves has dispersed.
• The company has agreed to perform monitoring activities to assess the extent of any harm, hiring “MAMKA,” an Indigenous marine stewardship organization. DFO and ECCC have provided advice to the company to inform its monitoring plan, which will include an underwater video showing the ocean bottom and the extent of any deposited material, along with recording and identification of marine species in the area.
• The NL government has also engaged the Marine Institute to review the incident. On October 23, the Premier of NL stated that the industry will need to demonstrate its “sustainability” before the licences that were suspended on October 11 are reinstated.
• The Aquaculture Activities Regulations (AAR) serves to exempt aquaculturists, under certain conditions, from the prohibition of harm to the environment (s. 35 of the Fisheries Act) and from the prohibition to deposit deleterious substances in waters frequented by fish (s. 36(3) of the Act). While the AAR do have notification provisions after a mortality event outside the aquaculture facility, it is only triggered if there was a recent pesticide or drug treatment, not when there is an event such as an increase of water temperatures.
• Typically, provinces manage the day-to-day operations of fish farming, which would include mass mortality events.
• Going forward, in addition to strengthening the management of pesticides and drugs used at farm sites under the AAR, DFO will take the opportunity to clarify that such events will not be considered a normal part of operations (an underlying criterion for authorization under the AAR).

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