Question Period Note: Net-Pen Aquaculture Transition in British Columbia

Net-Pen Aquaculture Transition in British Columbia

I am committed to transitioning away from net-pen salmon farming in British Columbia by 2025.

Budget 2021 provided support to expand engagement with the Province of British Columbia, Indigenous communities, industry, scientists, and other stakeholders on this important initiative.

Parliamentary Secretary Beech held preliminary engagements with First Nations in British Columbia, the aquaculture industry, and environmental stakeholders. His report, published in July 2021, will inform further efforts on the development of a responsible transition plan.

• The Department continues to support technologies that raise the standards 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 per cent of global production).
• On June 4, 2019, the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard announced the creation of an Indigenous and multi-stakeholder advisory body and three technical working groups to develop recommendations related to aquaculture management, including alternative production technologies.
• The salmonid alternative production technologies technical working group 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 working group provided its recommendations to the Department in the summer of 2020.
• Close collaboration with Indigenous partners and the Province of British Columbia (BC) will be key to the successful development and implementation of a responsible plan to transition net-pen salmon farming in coastal BC.
• In the summer of 2020, Departmental officials created a federal/provincial/Indigenous governance body to oversee and lead the development of the plan. The governance body began meeting virtually in the fall of 2020; however, provincial representatives continue to participate as observers only.
• On December 14, 2020, Parliamentary Secretary Beech commenced a series of engagements on the transition of net-pen aquaculture in BC. This engagement is now complete and the as-was-heard report was published in July 2021.
• Departmental officials will build upon the Parliamentary Secretary’s report and the analysis and recommendations of the Indigenous and multi-stakeholder advisory body’s three technical working groups to inform development of the plan. Budget 2021 provided support to the Department to expand engagement with the Province of BC, Indigenous communities, industry, scientists and other stakeholders.
• Phase 1 of engagement with Indigenous groups and stakeholders will begin in the fall of 2021 and will focus on information sharing and creating awareness of the proposed engagement activities for the transition planning process.

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