Presentation: State-of-Knowledge Initiative for the Special Committee on Sustainable Aquaculture of the British Columbia Legislature

Delivered November, 2006.

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Aquaculture Management

[A full pdf copy for printing may be downloaded from the WAVES database.]

In Canada, aquaculture is a relatively new industry that has expanded rapidly over the last two decades. It is one of the fastest growing food production activities in the world. The Government of Canada recognizes the significant benefits to society associated with aquaculture and has made aquaculture development a key priority.

DFO is the lead federal department for the sustainable management of fisheries and aquaculture. Responsibility for aquaculture management and development (governance) is shared between the federal, provincial and territorial governments. We work together, with many other partners, to ensure that the legislative and regulatory framework for aquaculture is responsive to the public’s and industry’s needs.

A key feature of DFO’s regulatory responsibilities is an adaptive management system. It allows the department to change and evolve its regulatory system as new scientific information and new technologies become available.

How science informs DFO’s management of aquaculture

Science underpins the management decisions that DFO uses to regulate the aquaculture industry.
There are three primary regulatory authorities that DFO uses in reviewing and permitting aquaculture facilities: Habitat reviews under section 35 of the Fisheries Act, Canadian Environmental Assessment Act screenings where triggered by  Sec 35 (2) authorizations, and FGR Sec. 56 fish transfer licensing.

In each of these actions the Department relies on the expert advice of its scientists and their review of the current state of knowledge.

Examples of this process include:

• DEPOMOD models predict the area of deposition to allow better siting of farms and serve as predicators of areas for authorization.
• Fish Health Management Plans for each site were reviewed by DFO science staff to ensure proper fish husbandry and thereby reduce the risk of disease transfer to wild stocks.
  Advice on siting guidelines for SARA listed species such as abalone that are incorporated into the review process.
• For new situations request for science advice be made by habitat practitioner through Science Aquaculture Referral working Group which will assign the question to the appropriate department scientist for a response.
• In situations where the knowledge is incomplete or lacking a more precautionary level of advice is normally given to the habitat practitioners. Through experimentation that knowledge may get refined as the knowledge increases.

Closed containment

DFO encourages the research of innovative technologies that could assist the salmon farming industry.

Critics of ocean salmon farming insist that land-based closed containment systems represent an environmentally sustainable way to farm salmon. They believe land-based closed containment would eliminate escapes, potential transfer of disease and lice between farmed and wild fish and benthic impacts to the sea bed under the farms.

DFO has carried out its own studies with closed containment systems, as has the B.C. government and industry. These trials have indicated that closed containment, with current technology,  is not a practical alternative to the existing ocean farm design for salmon. 

Concerns include:

• Affordability of commercial closed systems
• Farming salmon on land, requires that large amounts of sea water be pumped into the pens. Lack of hydroelectric power in remote locations, suggests this would require the use of diesel-electric generators, using large amounts of fossil fuel and generating green house gas emissions.
• Questions remain about how to deal with the waste resulting from a closed system in a remote location.
   

Given the disparity of views, it is apparent that additional research would be beneficial. DFO is taking a leadership role in this regard and is proposing a process to conduct a study of closed containment salmon farming.

The results of the study will inform future research and discussion on closed containment salmon aquaculture.

Adaptive management approach

DFO has chosen an adaptive management approach because it allows the department to make significant changes to our review processes to improve and standardize our decision making, based on the best available science advice. This management approach incorporates explicit risk management principles which have contributed B.C.’s standing as among the best regulated and most environmentally aware aquaculture jurisdictions in the world.

DFO upholds its responsibilities to protect wild salmon and B.C.’s great ocean resources through the regulatory reviews it undertakes prior to the installation of an aquaculture site. The department’s regulatory actions are about ensuring that the farm site installation is in the best possible site from an ecosystem-wide evaluation and thereby reduce the impact on the environment and afford the greatest protection for wild stocks.

As the committee heard on during testimony on June 1, 2006, DFO’s regulatory regime has greatly evolved since the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act was promulgated in 1997, before which time there was no comprehensive environmental assessment required for siting of aquaculture sites.

Today, standards are different. Due to advances in our scientific knowledge and understanding of ecosystems interactions, DFO applies considerable safeguards to assess and monitor potential impacts well before projects are approved for any marine environment. All marine habitat is important and must be protected.
In summary, the federal government plays a complex and robust regulatory role in managing aquaculture in the province of British Columbia.