Question Period Note: Aquaculture 2022 Licence Renewals

Aquaculture 2022 Licence Renewals

Sustainable and responsible management of our aquatic ecosystems, informed by sound science, is a priority for our Department.

In June 2022, licences issued under the Pacific Aquaculture Regulations to produce marine finfish in British Columbia (BC) will expire.

The Department has begun the process to engage the Province of BC, First Nations, industry, and environmental groups to inform updates to the conditions of licence and licence reissuance.

We will continue to work with provincial, territorial and Indigenous partners on several initiatives to advance the sustainable management of aquaculture in Canada.

• In 2015, the Government introduced multi-year licensing for BC aquaculture, and the majority of marine finfish (MFF) licences and associated conditions of licence were issued in 2016 for six-year terms, with expiry dates of June 30, 2022.
• The exceptions were 19 farms located in the Discovery Islands, which have been issued annual licences since 2010, during the time research was conducted on the risk of pathogen transfer from farms to migrating Fraser River sockeye. This research demonstrated no more than minimal risk to wild stocks.
• On December 17, 2020, those Discovery Island licences were renewed to align with the other licence expiries in BC. Following consultations with First Nations, the Minister indicated her intention not to renew those (in the Discovery Islands) after the June 2022 date.
• In 2018 the BC Government, First Nations in the Broughton Archipelago, and the aquaculture industry concluded a Letter of Understanding which will see the decommissioning of up to 17 sites by 2023.
• In 2019, the Province committed to a policy requiring that by June 30, 2022, for the purpose of future tenure renewals and new tenure approvals, MFF aquaculture applicants must have approval from the First Nation(s) in whose territory the proposed tenure is located (“approval” has yet to be defined), and that the applicant must satisfy Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) that operations will not adversely impact wild salmon stocks (satisfied by having a valid DFO licence).
• DFO was not involved in the Broughton process, nor the BC provincial policy for future tenure renewals.
• The combination of decommissioning sites in the Broughton Archipelago and the Discovery Islands could result in a near 50 per cent reduction in salmon production in BC.
• Staff have begun engagement on the reissuance of conditions of licence for MFF licences and it is expected that there will be interest in this, particularly those conditions related to sea lice management.
• Departmental staff have also begun engagement on MFF licence reissuance. Officials are targeting completion of these consultations by March 2022. Decisions on the reissuance of MFF licences, with updated conditions of licence, will be required ahead of the June 30, 2022, expiry date.
• Of the 112 tenures currently leased for MFF aquaculture in BC, approximately 30 per cent have or will expire before June 30, 2022, with the remainder expiring afterwards.

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