FOPO Committee Report

Aquaculture already accounts for 25% of the value of Canada’s production of seafood. If the sector continues to grow as envisaged by the federal and provincial governments and by the industry itself, this will mean profound changes for the seafood industry, for other users of marine and freshwater aquatic resources, and for Canadians’ attitudes to their oceans and lakes. One of these changes may be viewed as a “fencing in” of what has been until now a public resource.

Fisheries were the primary reason for the settlement of many of Canada’s coastal regions, and fisheries have remained the economic basis of many communities. Canadians have a historic and an emotional bond to traditional fisheries in Canada’s coastal regions, where fishing not only provides a living but is also an integral part of the cultural identity.  Many communities have suffered from declines in fish stocks and have been struggling to survive. Aquaculture offers hope of economic renewal, employment and even some measure of prosperity for coastal communities. For these reasons, the Committee supports responsible development of aquaculture provided that the industry is managed sustainably, provided that wild fish and their habitat are protected, and provided that the precautionary principle is genuinely applied.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada, in its 2002 Aquaculture Policy Framework, has set out the federal government’s vision for the development of sustainable aquaculture in Canada. The Policy Framework is the latest in a series of initiatives affirming the federal government’s commitment to the development of aquaculture — a commitment that began in 1984, when the Prime Minister first named Fisheries and Oceans Canada as the lead federal agency responsible for aquaculture.

That commitment was reaffirmed in 1995 with the Federal Aquaculture Development Strategy, and again in 1998 with the creation of the position of the federal Commissioner for Aquaculture Development. The Aquaculture Policy Framework now states that, in recognition of the significant societal benefits associated with aquaculture, the Government of Canada has identified sustainable aquaculture development as a key federal priority. With the lifting of the moratorium on the expansion of salmon farming in British Columbia, the industry appears poised to expand on the West Coast. Other provincial governments appear to be no less committed.

In the Policy Framework, DFO has emphasized its commitment to policy conditions that increase the aquaculture industry’s competitiveness in global markets and that increase public confidence that aquaculture is being developed in a sustainable matter. Achieving both goals simultaneously will be no easy task. Many of the witnesses who appeared before the Committee doubt DFO’s commitment to the protection of wild fish stocks and their habitat, and believe that the Department’s priorities increasingly lie with the development of aquaculture. The appointment of the federal Commissioner to spearhead the cause of aquaculture development within the Department reinforced those doubts. They will be further exacerbated by continued growth of the industry in the absence of truly effective regulation and enforcement. The Auditor General of Canada, too, has voiced his concerns about DFO’s ability to fully meet its regulatory responsibilities to enforce the Fisheries Act with respect to salmon farming operations on Canada’s West Coast.

In its Policy Framework, DFO has laid out a set of nine policy principles intended to guide its efforts, through legislation, regulations, policies and programs, to support industry competitiveness in global markets and increase public confidence in the sustainability of aquaculture. We support the Department’s initiatives to make the industry more competitive, provided it does this by creating a more appropriate regulatory environment, by eliminating duplication and by providing efficient services to the industry, and not by cutting corners. However, if the Department is to achieve its goal of increasing public confidence in the sustainability of aquaculture, it will have to act as more than an apologist for the industry. It will have to demonstrate that it has put in place the tools to ensure that the industry is truly sustainable, and that “sustainable aquaculture” is more than just a buzz phrase.

DFO has stated that, in its role as both an enabler and a regulator of aquaculture development, it will, among other things, ensure that federal laws and regulations relating to aquaculture are clear, efficient, effective, consistently applied and relevant to the sector. We have recommended in this report, as a means to this end, the creation of a federal Aquaculture Act that would provide the statutory authority to develop a regulatory environment appropriate to the aquaculture industry. Such an idea is not new. The Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans made a similar recommendation in its 1988 report, Aquaculture in Canada.

Legislation and regulations are by themselves insufficient. DFO must commit the necessary resources to monitor the industry and ensure industry compliance, and it must do so in a way that is transparent and accountable. DFO must also commit resources to fill in the gaps that exist in the knowledge base on the effects of fish farming on wild fish stock and their habitat, on the environment, and on human health. Where that knowledge is weak or lacking, the Department must apply the precautionary approach to which Canada is committed through the Oceans Act and its international obligations such as the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization.

If Fisheries and Oceans Canada is to be both the enabler and regulator of the aquaculture industry, it will have to show that it is prepared to act not just in the business interests of that industry, but in the best interests of all Canadians and their marine heritage.