Salmon farms impacting wildlife: conservation group report

Conservation group Watershed Watch Salmon Society (WWSS) says a new report, compiling numbers of wildlife — from whales to herring — that have been killed by open net-pen salmon farms in British Columbia over the years, points to longstanding problems within an industry it believes should be shut down.

But the B.C. Salmon Farmers Association disagrees, saying WWSS is dredging up old information that doesn't fairly characterize how the sector has changed.

The WWSS report describes how salmon farms on B.C.'s coast have impacted whales, orcas, seals, sea lions, birds, herring, sharks and wild salmon going back as far as the 1990s.

Stan Proboszcz, WWSS senior scientist, said the stories and data are being publicized now to highlight how the federal government has been "languishing" on a promise to transition away from open net salmon farming by 2025.

"Late last year we investigated herring kills at salmon farms and that spurred us to take a long view, retrospective look on salmon farms and all the species that have been interacting with [salmon farms] over the years," said Proboszcz.

"There still are problems with wild fish kills and we're also seeing continued interaction with large mammals, such as seals and sea lions," he said. 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's 2021 mandate letter to then-minister of fisheries Joyce Murray instructed her to "continue to work with the province of British Columbia and Indigenous communities on a responsible plan to transition from open net-pen salmon farming in coastal British Columbia waters by 2025 ..."

With all 85 provincial aquaculture licences set to expire on June 30, the WWSS report states: "There is a prime opportunity in the months ahead for federal fisheries officials to take a positive step toward keeping the prime minister's promise by choosing not to renew those licences."

2025 transition?

But the B.C. Salmon Farmers Association says there is misunderstanding around what was meant by the word "transition."

"That transition has been erroneously described as transitioning out of the ocean, away from open net-pens," said executive director Brian Kingzett.

"The transition is to find ways to reduce our interactions with wild salmon and further decrease any risk that we may have with the environment. And that is ... a challenge we are completely up for," he said. 

CBC reached out to Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) for an interview but no one was available.

Adding to the confusion of what a 2025 transition might look like is that licence renewal talks are currently underway with 66 aquaculture licensees.

"The consultation is specifically entertaining licences of a duration of between two and six years ... so we feel that there's a bit of a rift there in terms of what the minister promised and what the department is consulting on," said Proboszcz.

"It doesn't make a lot of sense to give these salmon farms a six-year license when we're still consulting on the transition."

Kingzett said when it comes to improvements, new net innovations and electric fences are helping to "exclude" animals like seals and sea lions from salmon net-pens.

"Over the last 20 years, salmon farming companies in British Columbia have been making significant progress in minimizing incidental catch and wildlife interactions and engaging with First Nations and regulators on that," he said.

The B.C. Salmon Farmers Association "represents over 60 businesses and organizations throughout the value chain of finfish aquaculture in B.C.," according to its website. 

Watershed Watch Salmon Society describes itself as a "science-based charity working to defend and rebuild B.C.'s wild salmon."