Dan Miller calls for “no surrender” on the topic of fish farming!

The Former Premier and MLA for the North Coast has spoken out once again in favor of the fish farm option for the coastal waters of the province.

Dan Miller who was a former city councilor, MLA and eventual Premier of the province has penned a special column for the Victoria Times Colonist in which he urges the province to “keep its options open” when it comes to the aqua culture industry.

Miller points out that the aqua culture industry has provided for employment in traditionally high unemployment areas of the province, areas which now are in danger of losing those jobs due to a moratorium on development and the continuing debate over its future.

His thoughts will cause a few ripples in the labour community locally, especially from the union sector which supported his successive terms in office. Some of whom now find their positions seemingly at the other end of the spectrum when it comes to where the farms and industry relate to jobs and impact on the fishing industry along the north coast.

We provide the full column below:

The coastal economy: Let's keep options open
Fish farms provide an antidote to economic devastation in resource towns
Dan Miller
Special to Times Colonist
Monday, May 14, 2007

I have lived and worked on the coast of British Columbia for most of my 62 years.
I've been a deckhand on tugboats, set chokers on a logging site, worked as a millwright in the Prince Rupert pulp mill, served as the North Coast MLA for 15 years and was privileged to hold a variety of cabinet positions including minister of forests, energy, mines and petroleum resources and premier.

Despite the demographic trends that see a continual shift of population from rural to urban, B.C.'s economy still depends on the harvesting and processing of natural resources. The people in rural communities have made a significant contribution to the economic well-being of all British Columbians.

It was with dismay that I read that the Englewood processing plant in Port McNeill was closing due to lack of new production of farmed salmon. This plant, which opened in 1997, provided 120 year-round jobs and injected more than $ 4.5 million into the local economy.

This happened in an area that has been devastated by the serious decline in the coastal forest industry. I've toured the plant and was struck by the fact that most of the workers were women. These family-supporting jobs were incredibly important in helping to maintain a healthy community and healthy families.

It's a basic truism that needs repeating. Healthy families need a steady source of income. Chronic widespread unemployment leads to a serious deterioration in families and their communities.

This closure did not have to happen. The Englewood plant was built on the expectation that new salmon farm licences would provide a growing volume of fish.

This has not happened and the result is that jobs will now be consolidated into the Port Hardy plant.

There are other examples.

The Kitasoo people of Klemtu, under the masterful leadership of Percy Starr, have been a model of entrepreneurship. They built their own small fish- and shellfish-processing plant. They built their own ferry terminal to accommodate the mid-coast ferry bringing tourists and supplies. And they've been into salmon farming, finally forming a partnership with a large aquaculture company.

But the operation needs more net-pen sites. Unfortunately, there is a moratorium in place while an all-party MLA committee studies the future of salmon farming.

We hear too often of the high unemployment rates in aboriginal communities and the consequent social problems. In Klemtu, employment is up, people have a sense of purpose and observers say that the community has a good feel to it.

Similarly, the Gitxaala people of Kitkatla, which has an unemployment rate of 85 per cent over the winter, have partnered with Pan Fish to develop a salmon aquaculture business in their traditional territory. They have trained 20 workers through the North Island College as salmon farm technicians.

Their attempts to improve conditions in their small, isolated community have been stymied by the moratorium.

It is difficult to develop an economic base, particularly for small, isolated communities on our coast. And in the face of serious declines in the forestry and traditional commercial fishery, it is doubly hard.

A study sponsored by World Wildlife, The Great Salmon Run, concluded that there is little evidence that salmon farming has had significant direct effects on North American wild salmon resources. The wild fishery only supplies 15 per cent of world demand for fish products and that is declining as demand grows.

The British Columbia farmed salmon industry generated more than $450 million in revenue in 2005 and employed about 4,000 people.

As a result of the salmon aquaculture review undertaken by a New Democratic Party government, B.C. has perhaps the world's best standards and regulations governing the operations of salmon farms.

I hope the MLA committee does not surrender to the anti-fish-farm hype that has dominated public discourse, that it quickly recommends that we get on with building a valuable export industry and that the government get on with issuing new licences.

Surely, if MLAs on the committee put themselves in the position of a laid-off worker from the Englewood plant, or the young aboriginal person in Klemtu or Kitkatla who is looking forward to meaningful employment and building pride in his or her community, then the decisions they make should be clear and straightforward.

Dan Miller is former premier of B.C.