BC Canada Fish Farms going away

[desodave]

Let me start by saying that I support the closing of the farms - I believe that they are both destructive of the local environment and a danger to wild salmon migrations. However, this is atypical gov't decision where there appears to be little regard for the workers involved in them or dependent on them. Ban the farms - I have no sympathy for the huge companies involved - but how about some additional support measures for the people displaced. Most coastal communities have limited employment opportunities and the pandemic has already seriously hit tourism based businesses. The more these communities suffer, the less services there will be for boaters - even if there are a couple more anchorages available.

[mark0978]

One of the biggest problems with fish farming is that the cost of destruction of the commons is not baked into the cost of growing the fish. They use common water and commons land which they then make almost uninhabitable.

There are many catfish farms in the US that are on land that must be cared for if you hope to have a profitable season in the future because the land under the pond is owned by the farmer. The same can't be said for Bay/River based Aquaculture.

[Cadence]

Aquiculture is not a cheap investment. Beats the hell out of Asian importation, which is taking the market from fisherman anyway, with no regulation. I'd bet there will always be a market for fresh caught which has become also very expensive and dangerous compared to an aerated pond.

[nofacey]

All logging is bad
All fish farms are bad

I trust everyone that’s posted so far realizes those are the two major employers on the north coast of Vancouver Island, and when you chase them out of existence, you guys in the urban deserts will have to carry us (as I’m sure you also support universal income & health care).

[Pelagic]

I think this is a great move as we need to focus on promoting a healthier wild salmon stock.

I just hope the Government increases the number and release output from salmon hatcheries dramatically, so that the fisheries can allocate larger quotas, support more local fishermen and we all know that the salmon sold in BC is wild

[jackdale]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

I think this is a great move as we need to focus on promoting a healthier wild salmon stock.

I just hope the Government increases the number and release output from salmon hatcheries dramatically, so that the fisheries can allocate larger quotas, support more local fishermen and we all know that the salmon sold in BC is wild

It seems that fish hatcheries may be part of the problem. That surprised me.

A new report is out on the health of B.C.’s southern Chinook salmon population, and findings are grim.

The report says four populations are moving towards extinction and three are being threatened with extinction. One of the threats to the wild Chinook population is large-scale fish hatcheries.

https://vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca/l...inds-1.5228522

[Buzzman]

The problem for fish farming, as for forestry, is that it is an 'extractive' industry. Essentially, foresters 'mine' the forests, and fish farmers 'mine' the waterways, dumping their waste or 'overburden' back into the environment.

However, while I agree that the current 'model' of fish farming is problematic, we humans have figured out ways to get around these issues in the past and this should perhaps be seen as an 'opportunity', not as a disaster.

The opportunity is to come up with a cost-effective way to move the farms on shore, and/or to provide adequate filtering of the waste water.

Now, it may be that this can stil be done 'on water' - I'm no expert - but at present the waste from the caged fish drops to the bottom directly beneath the pen and spreads out from there, basically swamping and killing all life nearby, leaving a desert behind. So if some way could be found to capture the detritus, suck it up through a filter, and pump it back into the pen (rather than into the sea) by maybe having the lower half of the pens as a bag rather than a net..??

Then perhaps someone needs to model the actual cost of building pens on shore, especially as they could be bulldozed out of non-arable land, have plastic liners installed and so on, which is what happens in Oz for trout hatcheries and crayfish hatcheries.

if you think about the cost of the water taxis to haul staff about, the cost of the pens needing constant upgrading, the shipping of the food (by boat) to the pens, having the pens on land makes this a whole lot easier and potentially cheaper.

Sure, the land has a cost attached, so maybe it will only be do-able where there is large areas of former industrial land that is no virtually worthless.... Look around. see any such land nearby..??

Also, the 'waste' is basically fish poop. Remember when chicken poop used to be bulldozed into landfill? Until some entrepreneurial guy came up with a plan to collect it, dry it and pelletise it so we now have 'Dynamic Lifter' sold as fertiliser all over the world.

One man's waste is another man's opportunity...or however it goes...

[Uricanejack]

Originally Posted by nofacey

All logging is bad
All fish farms are bad

I trust everyone that’s posted so far realizes those are the two major employers on the north coast of Vancouver Island, and when you chase them out of existence, you guys in the urban deserts will have to carry us (as I’m sure you also support universal income & health care).

Unfortunately it’s kind of obvious.
Still the numbers employed by fish farming is small compared to the number who were directly or indirectly employed by fishing.

Are fish farms the reason fish stocks and fishing have collapsed? No just
One of many reasons.

I have had this conversation many times, friends and relatives have or had good jobs working for Marine Harvest.
Not here in BC. In Scotland.

I used to sport fish for Sea Trout. Quite similar Atlantic fish to steel head.
They disappeared with a few years after the introduction of fish farm pens.
We would occasionally catch small lice covered trout which were kind of halfway between a brown trout and a sea trout.
For years never saw a sea trout.

I had a lot of interesting discussions. My friends and relatives who depended on fish farming for their livelihood.
There point why would I be so keen to catch endangered fish.

My point the fish were endangered by fish farms.

Despite the obvious, the fish farm lobby still contends it’s a coincidence the sea trout disappeared at the same time as fish farming development.
All the usual reason overfishing habitat destruction ect.

Eventually many of the farms in which some of them worked had to close down, when the water close to the farms became so polluted it started killing the fish in the farms.

Next coincidence.
After 20 years, I went back back to Scotland on vacation and caught a sea trout. It was the first one my brother had seen in close to 20 years.

This is according to fish farming just a coincidence.

Along with the coincidence the rivers on the East coast of Scotland still had sea trout.
There are almost no fish farms on the east coast.

If fish farming goes away. Many of my friends will loose good jobs.
I will be able to catch a few fish.

It’s taken 3 decades for Ottawa to start to listen. To what’s happened else where.
3 decades ago I knew lots of commercial fishermen.

Now I know lots of ex commercial fishermen.

Sorry I’m. Supposed to call the fishers now.

Can closed pens be built.
I’m sure they can,
Whether or not it will be economical viable. who knows.

[gulfislandfred]

The specific locations of fish farms to be taken out are in the way of very much endangered Fraser River, and other wild salmon migration routes. It's pretty well established that the farmed fish spread disease and sea lice to the newly hatched wild salmon as they come out of the streams to the salt water.



There are jobs in the fishing industry for wild salmon, too. Wild salmon are important for the whole ecosystem of the rivers and streams.



The Norwegians have already killed their wild salmon runs. Their river systems are a nightmare.



It will be a good start, if the talk turns to action.

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by jackdale

It seems that fish hatcheries may be part of the problem. That surprised me.



https://vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca/l...inds-1.5228522

Thanks for that Jackdale ..
.... Reading the article it appears that it is large scale Commercial Fish Hatcheries not from wild stock that are threatening the wild stocks.

The type I am familiar with are hatcheries at the main spawning rivers of wild stock, that pull the eggs and fertilize with same stock to increase the fertility and survival rate.

Then released at river to go to sea.
No engineering or modification for commercial reasons.

Of course we need to do the same with their natural food source and release lots of young hearing etc.etc

It is a slow gradual process of rebuilding wild stocks

[Uricanejack]

I recent years.
I have seen a lot more herring spawn
Particularly in the south.
Maybe things are improving.
Unfortunately a large slide has severely affect the Fraser.

[gulfislandfred]

It isn't one or the other: Fish farms or hatcheries. As the article says, it's both fish farms and hatcheries, and other stressors. Logging silts up the stream beds, and ruins the places where the fish lay their eggs. Development, oil spills, pollution from cattle farming.

There are streams being cleaned up. Logging is not allowed so close to streams (sort of, but it's getting better). The big slide affecting the Fraser is being taken seriously. A new channel is being dug out as we speak.
We can do a lot to bring back the salmon. It just takes time and money. And one oil spill, or pipeline rupture, or tailings pond dam break, or a natural slide, can set back years of effort.

[bgallinger]

This action by the Liberal gov't. in Canada is about placating the Aboriginals. Nothing more and nothing less.

[Scorpius]

Originally Posted by bgallinger

This action by the Liberal gov't. in Canada is about placating the Aboriginals. Nothing more and nothing less.

What about the tremendous damage to the wild fishery? I sympathize for the lost jobs - but what about the THOUSANDS of unemployed commercial fishermen and the damage to (and loss of) the economies of DOZENS of coastal communities?

It would be nice if the government would provide some programs to help out those losing their jobs - but unfortunately we live on the west coast, not the east.

[Macblaze]

Originally Posted by bgallinger

This action by the Liberal gov't. in Canada is about placating the Aboriginals. Nothing more and nothing less.

Tell you what, spend a season cruising the west coast and talking to fisherman, conservationists and fellow cruisers (you can completely ignore the 'Aboriginals') and see if you still think the same thing.

Admittedly I care more about the orca than the salmon, but it's one big chain and an easy one to understand. In the end, I don't give a cr@p which group brought the most pressure for change, it needed to be done before we wiped out the (delicious) native stocks just so people can have anemic Atlantic salmon for dinner whenever it tickled their fancy.