Question Period Note: Aquaculture Science

• Fisheries and Oceans Canada conducts research and provides science advice to support the sustainable management of aquaculture.
• My Department relies on internal science, science collaborations with partners, external peer-reviewed research findings, and a robust peer-review process to provide science advice on interactions and potential impacts from aquaculture on wild species and ecosystems.
• Experts for peer-review meetings can include Departmental scientists, academics, scientists from other government departments or other countries, and local and Indigenous knowledge holders.

BACKGROUND

• Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s (DFO) Aquaculture Science Program generates research findings, provides science advice, and conducts environmental monitoring to support DFO’s regulatory, policy and management decisions.
• Aquaculture research is conducted to inform decisions related to aquaculture-ecosystem interactions and impacts such as effects of pests and pathogens and potential fish health treatment and management; interactions between farmed and wild fish; release of organic matter and drugs from farms; and potential habitat impacts.
• New scientific findings are generated through research projects that departmental scientists undertake through internally funded projects and through collaborations with external organizations and academics.
• Science advice is delivered through DFO’s Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat (CSAS). This comprehensive review process includes the peer review of aquaculture research by experts. The science advice is generated by consensus, and the resulting research syntheses and advice are published on the CSAS website.
• Earlier this year, DFO scientists published “A Review of Factors Potentially Contributing to the Long-Term Decline of Atlantic Salmon in the Conne River, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada”. According to this report, on the south coast of Newfoundland, abundance of Atlantic salmon at Conne River fell by 92 per cent over a period of almost four decades in contrast with most other populations in the region suggesting local factors may be contributing to the decline, and salmon aquaculture was identified as a possible driver for the decline. Additional factors include the influence of both climate change and predation in freshwater and marine habitats.

If pressed - Current sea lice science advisory work
• To advance our understanding of sea lice interactions between farmed and wild salmon in British Columbia, my department is collaborating with the Canadian Centre for Evidence-Based Conservation at Carleton University on the state of knowledge of sea lice from net pen salmon farms on wild Pacific salmon in British Columbia.
• The systematic review will be delivered through a series of Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat meetings that will involve external experts.

If pressed - Inclusion of external experts in aquaculture science advisory processes
• To identify additional external experts able to contribute to peer review processes, Fisheries and Oceans Canada established a Registry of External Science Experts to create a pathway for DFO to broaden its expert base.
• In addition to the Registry, in specific cases, the department will draw from a pool of external experts identified by an External Experts Identification Committee.
• This Committee is made up of Canadian and international external experts who have been selected by DFO in collaboration with its Departmental Science Advisor and the Chief Science Advisor of Canada.

If pressed - Current science advisory work on aquaculture impacts
• My Department is currently undertaking a review and update of its 2009 science advice on the effects of aquaculture on the ecosystem.
• This work will update the state of knowledge and is also expected to highlight potential future research directions that will help inform our aquaculture science program priorities going forward.
• This work has started and will be completed in 2025.

If pressed - Impacts of escapees on wild Atlantic salmon on east coast of Canada
• My Department undertook a risk assessment to better understand the interactions between farmed and wild fish on the east coast, specifically the risks posed to wild Atlantic Salmon population abundance and genetic character in Atlantic Canada. The science advisory report was published in March 2024.
• The report found that, based on a suite of different escape rate scenarios, there are varying risk levels associated with interbreeding for wild Atlantic salmon across the populations examined. The risk increases for populations closer to aquaculture operations and for small and/or declining wild populations.
• Fisheries and Oceans Canada works closely with Atlantic provincial authorities, who are the lead regulators, to ensure salmon aquaculture activities are managed sustainably.