Question Period Note: B.C. Net-Pen Mandate Commitment

• This government takes the interactions between farmed salmon and wild salmon seriously, which is why my mandate letter directs me to work with the Province of British Columbia and Indigenous communities to create a responsible plan to transition open net-pen farming in coastal B.C.
• Partnering with First Nations and the Province of British Columbia will be essential to the development and success of the plan, as we expect all parties will want to see a plan that is workable, economically feasible and takes into account social considerations.
• My department will take the time needed to engage meaningfully and to do the needed research to develop a comprehensive and realistic plan.
• As announced on November 12, Parliamentary Secretary Beech will be engaging with First Nations in B.C., the aquaculture industry, and environmental stakeholders on this important initiative.

• The Department continues to support technologies that raise the bar on environmental performance.
• The Department’s position has been to be technologically neutral regarding how the aquaculture industry meets Canada’s legislative and regulatory standards that are in place to ensure that aquaculture is sustainable and conducted in a manner that minimizes environmental impacts.
• Commercial-scale alternative production technologies, including offshore and closed containment systems (land and marine-based), remain at the R&D stage and carry high capital costs and significant financial risks.
• While land-based closed containment is the most technologically developed among alternative technologies, annual production of market-sized salmon in these systems is estimated to be less than 3,000 tonnes (or ~0.1% of global production).
• On June 4, 2019, the former Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard announced the creation of an Indigenous and multi-stakeholder advisory body (IMAB) and three technical working groups to develop recommendations related to aquaculture management, including alternative production technologies.
• The salmonid alternative production technologies technical working group (SAPT TWG) was created to investigate and support the development and adoption of technologies that enhance the sustainability of aquaculture to support the protection and conservation of wild fish in the Pacific Region.
• The SAPT TWG provided its recommendations to the Department this summer.
• Your mandate letter, released December 13, 2019, includes a commitment to work with the Province of British Columbia and Indigenous communities, to create a responsible plan to transition open net-pen farming in coastal British Columbia.
• Close collaboration with Indigenous partners and the Province of British Columbia will be key to the successful development and implementation of the plan. Departmental officials will also build upon the analysis and recommendations of the Indigenous and multi-stakeholder advisory body’s three technical working groups to inform the plan.
• In the summer of 2020, Departmental officials began the creation of a federal/provincial/Indigenous governance body to oversee and lead the development of plan. The governance body began meeting virtually in the fall of 2020. However, due to the provincial election in B.C., meetings have been held without participation from provincial officials, thus slowing progress. Is it anticipated that the Province will begin participating in the governance committee once their new cabinet is in place.
• Moreover, there was a delay in the initial creation of the steering committee due to COVID-19 as well as several changes in leadership at the provincial level.
• The first task of the governance committee will be to create a planning and engagement strategy with engagement and consultations beginning in 2021.

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