As a report gathers dust, the Opposition calls for action on aquaculture

Governments of all stripes are famous for commissioning studies, reports and royal commissions and then promptly forgetting all about them. Usually this happens when the report that is issued after all that hard work, tends to not reflect the thoughts of the government of the day on the project under consideration.

Six months ago, the Special Committee on Sustainable Aquaculture released a final report into the thorny issues facing the aquaculture industry, providing some 55 recommendations, the most contentious of which called for a ban on salmon farms on the North Coast.

Since that final draft was handed off, there’s been little in the way of action or acknowledgment that any of the recommendations will be acted upon by the government of the day.

The NDP, tired of what they call the Liberal’s stalling on the issue have issued a call for the government to get moving on the file.

They no doubt would like the Liberals to take the report off that dusty shelf somewhere in the backrooms of the Legislature and introduce some of the key measures of which they have long been advocating for.

The NDP’s concerns over the lack of movement on this file were presented in Thursday’s Daily News, as the front page story of the day.

NDP DEMANDS AQUACULTURE ACTION, QUESTION LONG DELAY
By Kris Schumacher
The Daily News
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Pages one and three

Six months after the Special Committee on Sustainable Aquaculture released its final report, the New Democrats say they are still waiting for the Government of British Columbia to act on its recommendations.

On Monday, Skeena MLA and NDP Fisheries Critic Robin Austin stated that the B.C. Liberals have stalled long enough on addressing the committee's 55 recommendations, the most pressing of which called for a ban on salmon farming on the North Coast.

"Coastal communities and First Nations have made it clear to the Legislative Committee that change was needed to build a more sustainable and innovative aquaculture industry in B.C.," said Austin.

"Agriculture Minister Pat Bell has had the report long enough. It's time to see some action."

In addition to recommending an end to fish farms in the North, two other key steps outlined in the report were an aggressive and achievable transition to ocean-based closed-containment systems to protect wild stocks, and an expanded shellfish aquaculture sector to help First Nations and coastal communities drive new economic development.

“We have waited long enough to move forward protecting our wild stocks, we need a ban on fish farms on the North Coast immediately,” said North Coast MLA Gary Coons yesterday.

“This government and the federal government must put resources into our wild salmon industry to protect it, not allow the destruction of migratory routes, spawning grounds and vital watersheds.:

The latest NDP criticism coincided with a week of demonstrations by the Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform, which continued to protest the retail industry’s support of open net-cage salmon farming.

On Tuesday morning at 10 a. m., CAAR deployed a giant floating banner in San Francisco Bay that claimed stores were “Selling Extinction.”

Shauna MacKinnon of the Living Oceans Society, a CAAR member group, said stores “cling to the profits from a very marginal portion of overall sales rather than using buying power to pressure farmed salmon suppliers to clean up their industry.”

CAAR has been campaigning to have grocery chains change their purchasing policies. Living Oceans Society representative Catherine Stewart has been talking with store officials on the issue.

“During the spring out migration we took (store officials) to a fish farm, they went to a research station and saw the work being done on seal lice infesting juvenile salmon, and met with First Nations,” said Stewart.

“So they are fully briefed on what the issues and concerns are, at this point they are just unwilling to change their purchasing policy until the entire retail sector changes theirs. They’re not willing to go out and be a leader unfortunately.”

Stewart said Living Oceans Society is also waiting for government to respond to the Special Committee on Sustainable Aquaculture report.

After receiving the committee report in May, the government said the response could be expected in roughly two months, but nearly six have now elapsed with no response.

Austin and Coons both believe if key recommendations put forward in the report are followed, they would place British Columbia at the forefront of environmental protection and industry innovation, and give the province a chance to become a global leader in the developing a more sustainable product.

“Minister Bell and B. C. Liberals need to get on board,” said Austin.

“It’s time to act in the interests of wild salmon and make the industry more sustainable. Anything less will be a let down for B. C.’s coastal communities and environment.