Liberal MP Wayne Long denounces salmon farm decision

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OTTAWA – Liberal MP Wayne Long denounced his own government’s decision to close down B.C. salmon farms calling it “shameful,” adding his voice to industry and First Nation’s voices speaking out against the announcement.

“As a party of science it’s difficult to understand how we haven’t followed our own scientists’ recommendations,” Long said in a statement. “As a party of Reconciliation we are imposing an impossible timeline on coastal First Nations communities who choose to have salmon aquaculture to determine a realistic and responsible path for their economic futures.”

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On Wednesday, Fisheries Minister Diane Lebouthillier announced farms operating today in B.C. rivers and waterways would have five years to either shut down their operations or move them on land or in closed containment systems.

“It is important that aquaculture production continues to grow in a sustainable manner,” she said.

Long, who was first elected in 2015 from Saint John, N.B., has spoken out against his own Liberal government before: he was at odds with leadership in his support for the Energy East Pipeline and against proposed tax changes for private corporations in 2017.

He said on this issue the government was making the wrong choice by shutting down an entire industry rather than working with it to improve.

“We have allowed other industries time to show they can innovate, but apparently not this one. This industry was not given that fair chance,” Long said. “There are 1000s of jobs at risk directly and through suppliers, and billions of dollars of investment that could be lost as a result of this decision.”

Scientists at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) have advised the minister that pathogen transmission from Atlantic salmon posed “minimal risk” to the Fraser River sockeye population.

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But during the 2019 election, the Liberals made closing the farms a campaign commitment. Despite the DFO’s findings, environmental groups and some First Nations claim that open-pen farms harm wild salmon by introducing disease and sea lice.

Vancouver Liberal MP Taleeb Noormohamed, who also spoke at the announcement, said the government is committed to working with the industry transition in a way that keeps it economically viable.

“​​It’s a commitment that our government made to get this done in a meaningful, responsible way and that’s what you’re seeing today,” he said.

“The work that is now going to be done is critical in ensuring that we recognize that protecting wild salmon is not just about protecting wild salmon. It’s protecting entire ecosystems.“

First Nations who have launched their own salmon farms or partnered with companies spoke out against the decision.

Chief Terry Walkus of the Gwa’sala-‘Nakwaxda’xw Nations, said this was a violation of the Liberals’ commitment to reconciliation

“Reconciliation has been a cornerstone of this government, they have failed our nation in this respect,” he said at a Vancouver press conference. “The destruction of our communities by these politicians needs to stop, people’s lives and families are on the line.”

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Walkus said the government was ignoring First Nations to cater to environmentalists.

“There’s profound sadness and disappointment was the decision to prioritize the whims of so called environmentalists over the rights of the Gwa’sala-‘Nakwaxda’xw Nations.”

Deputy Chief Isaiah Robinson, with the Kitasoo Xai’xais Nation, said salmon farming has turned around the economy of his community, bringing near full employment and ending a epidemic of suicides.

“Since aquaculture, salmon aquaculture was introduced 40 years ago, our employment rate has climbed to nearly 99 per cent with a majority tied to agriculture,” he said. “It has been over 18 years since our communities has has experienced a suicide.”

Robinson said they would push back against this decision.

“We won’t be told what to do in our territories, by the government, by activists, by people who do not live in these territories and have no claim on our waters.”

Kilian Stehfest, with the David Suzuki Foundation, said today was a long-awaited decision that they were happy to see, even if it is coming later than expected.

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“Today we can celebrate the decades of tireless work by Indigenous leaders, scientists, environmental NGOs, elected officials and activists to end the dangers of open-net pen aquaculture to wild salmon,” he said. “It’s great to see the federal government commit to concrete deadlines, even though they do not meet the government’s original commitment to transition from open-net pens by 2025 or the urgency of the moment given the dire state of many wild salmon runs.”

Brian Kingzett, the executive director of the B.C. Salmon Farmers’ Association, said the industry is deeply disappointed with the decision.

“What was promised to us multiple times is that we would have a responsible, realist, realistic and achievable transition plan,” he said. “This announcement today that we will be given five years to either move fully to land or to full closed containment is going to be very difficult.”

He said there is established science that climate change and habitat loss are primarily driving the reduction in salmon numbers seen in British Columbia, not open-net fish farming. He said this was a political decision, not a science-driven one.

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“We’ve got ministers here in the Pacific region, urban ministers and MPs here who are completely willing to throw this sector away.”

Kingzett said moving onto land or creating closed containment pens will be enormously expensive, potentially costing more than $2 billion.

“All the things that the federal government is suggesting all require extremely large amounts of power, and just even the permitting of these sites could take more than five years, so it’s hard for us not to think that we are being set up to fail.”

He said many of the sites on Vancouver Island, where farms are today, can’t be moved inland because there is either not enough space or inadequate electricity. He said many of these operations will simply move to other countries.

“My association is responsible for over 5,000 jobs. Those are high-paying jobs that allow people to buy homes. We’re producing $1.2 billion of economic activity in British Columbia, and we’re producing a large amount of food for an affordable price for North America.”

National Post
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