Contentious B.C. fish farm report due Wednesday

A legislative committee, divided on the issue of fish farming along the B.C. coast and split along political lines, will deliver a long-awaited report on aquaculture on Wednesday in Victoria.

The majority of members appointed by Premier Gordon Campbell to the sustainable aquaculture committee are New Democrats. They've been leaning toward closed containment as the future for fish farming, as opposed to the current practice of open-net fish farming.

However, the Liberals on the committee have dismissed that technology as notsuitablefor large-scale production.

After 18 months of reading scientific reports and holding hearings up and down the coast, the committee held its final meeting Monday in Victoria. But as it ended, the committee still appeared as divided as many of the communities visited by the MLAs.

"I think that there is consensus on some matters, but obviously there isn't complete unanimity on something as contentious as this," said committee chair Robin Austin of the NDP.

It's no coincidence that the Liberal government appointed a majority of NDP members to this committee. In the last election, the New Democrats called for a moratorium on fish farm licences, and won most of the coastal ridings thathost fish farms.

Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Pat Bell said the New Democrats were given this assignment to demonstrate whether they're ready to govern.

"And if they come out with a report that is over the top and irresponsible in terms of the approachthat they want to take, then clearly I think that sends a message to the public that they have politicized it —which is something that they have frequently done in the past — and they're not looking at reasonable approaches."

The minister has said repeatedly he won't be bound by the recommendations ofthe committee.