The provincial government does not have the authority to regulate fish farms, a B.C. Supreme Court judge ruled this afternoon.
Justice Christopher Hinkson ruled that the federal government has jurisdiction over oceans and should therefore be responsible for regulating fish farms. He also ruled that fish farms on provincial land (also called land-based or closed containment fish farms) should not be regulated by the province.
Hinkson suspended his decision for one year to give Ottawa a chance to bring in new legislation and shift licensing to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
One of the petitioners, biologist Alexandra Morton, has criticized provincial policies around open-net fish farming -- especially in the Broughton Archipelago, where high concentrations of salmon farms have been linked to sea lice infections in wild stocks.
Last week, the provincially-appointed Pacific Salmon Forum recommended a limit on salmon farm production in the Broughton Archipelago of 18,500 tonnes per year for at least the next five years.
Morton, who could not be reached for comment, told the Canadian Press that the ruling would give wild salmon a chance to thrive instead of going extinct.
Catherine Stewart, salmon farming campaign manager for the Living Oceans Society, was cautiously hopeful.
"It will be interesting to see the DFO held accountable for both the performance of the aquaculture industry and the protection of wild fish," she said. "At a policy level, both [federal and provincial] governments have been active proponents and supporters of open-net fish farming. We can hope this might make a difference...it's hard to say how this will all unfold with potential appeals."
give me a break
This lady (Morten) is constantly taking any oportunity to attack fish farmers. This court case is only another opportunity to shout out misleading information in an attmpt to scare the public away from farmed salmon.
Oh geez, look who was right beside her in the court room - commercial fisherman who want to ruin salmon farming so they can get 30 bucks a pound for there salmon. No wonder they weren't on the court house steps cheering - it would be way to obvious what there up to.
Salmon farming might not be perfect, but what is. I'm sure there are FAR worst things happening in the ocean.
First we need to stop commercial (and sport?) fishing to save salmon. Thats the first thing we need to do.
OK, I'm done. Now, being as this website has some crazies on it - in the name of democracy - bring on the angry post!!!!
farmed and wild salmon can co-exhist, study says
One more thing, saw this last week. A 4 year scientific study by the Pacific Salmon Forum (which includes Alexander Morten's research) that concludes that farmed and wild salmon can co-exhist.
It cites other risks to wild salmon like urban sprawl, tourism, mining, forestry, climate change, culverts, road building, over-fishing (duh!) and hatcheries (yeah, hatcheries...who knew?).
I would tend to beleive this rather than a publicity seeking court case.
http://www.pacificsalmonforum.ca/
Fish Farming Modern Boondoggle
We all know we live in a crazy time, where things are upside down and downside up. A time where BC and Federal neoconservative parties (supposedly in favour of free enterprise and against "betting on winners and losers" ) have massively funded a non-Canadian fish farm monopoly through direct, state intervention.
An industry that is based on feeding captive Atlantic salmon 2 pounds of protein to get one pound of salmon. An industry that costs ten times as much as letting wild salmon multiply like they have for thousands of years, feeding million of people.
We live in a time where "war is peace" and "peace is war". Black is white. White is black. It really doesn't get more irrational than this.
Kudos to Alex Morton and the Supreme Court for taking a stand and getting us going in the right direction.
Jeffrey J is a lawyer
EDITED FOR UNPROVABLE ACCUSATIONS -- TYEE MODERATOR
Hey Jeffrey, it doesn't take "2 pounds of protein to get one pound of salmon". That's old news, but I guess if you repeat it enough people will start to believe it. It's now closer to a 1 to 1 ratio. Salmon now convert protein to meat more efficiently than any other meat we eat. If you have to resort to lies to prove a point then you should pack it in.
You say, "costs ten times as much as letting wild salmon multiply". Give me a break, wher'd you get that from? Let me guess; in an unrefutable, independant, peer reviewed, leading science journal?
EDITED
Crazies
Definition : An anonymous commentor who doesn't like other people posting anonymously.
Foreign species farming
Since salmon farmers think they have a god-given right to use a public resource as their own personal money tree I think I will set up a tire recycling plant in Stanley Park, sure its not perfect, but what is?
Its simple, if salmon farmers don't want to be viewed as people making money from a public resource and externalizing their costs into the ocean then set up their farms on their own land and don't discharge anything into the ocean.
And sell the final product as is, without colouring.
So who does one sue now?
So who should be sued, the feds or the province, when it comes to the impacts of fish farms to date?
Hey cake, if fish farming is
Hey cake, if fish farming is so great, how come the aqua-agri-culture industry go one step further and promote fish ranching? Hey it's a win-win for everybody; sea-lice populations would go down to reasonable levels, no more dead zones under and around fish farm sites, no more hormones and anti-biotics in the fish food which affects other species (like shell fish)in an umpteen mile radius around fish farms. Think of the win situation for the industry; no more fish farm stuctures to look after, no more pesky escapes, no more damage to pens by storms or sea lions/seals, no more moving pens/structures from one location to another, keep your overhead down by doing away with all that stuff plus you won't have to hire on all those workers.
...
"OK, I'm done. Now, being as this website has some crazies on it - in the name of democracy - bring on the angry post!!!!"
Funny, you're the one who comes off as being angry.
"Just to be clear, Jeffrey J is from Port McNeill and is a lawyer whos paid to make the comments above."
And how much are you being paid?
"OK, I'm done." LOL. IF ONLY!
verso
And how much are you being paid?
Right. And who is paying him?
From a consumer standpoint
From a consumer standpoint farmed salmon is a far inferior product. I refuse to eat it based on the fact that additives are put into the fish feed in order to achieve the pinkish hue or wild salmon. It also tastes pretty bland.
What about salmon ranching?
Van Isle;
Good question - why don't fish farmers just salmon ranch? I have looked into this.
Well, the simpel answer is two fold;
#1 - its not a good business model. 95% of the fish die before harvest. Also harvesting happens over a short period of time therfor your fish hit the market in a surge (and frozen) so you get less for your fish. But, fisherman love it becuase it provides lots of fish.
#2 - salmon ranching is like farming, only after raising them in hatcheries you let cultured samon go. (Hey, don't we calls those escaped farmed salmon here?). So those 'pesky escapes' you refer to would actually multiply by a few thousand percent. Ranched salmon can (and do)interbreed with wild salmon and eat their food. So, biologicly, maybe its more risky than salmon farming?
Fish farming evolved from salmon ranching - farmers just figured out how to close the lifecycle. But, it does remove those pens! Well, for most of the year anyways.
I found this website that explains the pros and cons of salmon ranching.
http://alaskasalmonranching.wordpress.com/what-is-salmon-ranching/
By the way verso, you wnated to know who's paying me? I'm a fish guide and not working right now. So, why am I intersted in the subject? Because I have many friends that farm and I have been to the farms myself and learned a lot.
I thinik we're watching an exercise in 'spin'
Let me provide some evidence of exactly the same kind of thing, in the same industry, which illustrates why some people are still eating farmed salmon which is, with little doubt, a danger to their health:
http://www.spinwatch.org.uk/-articles-by-category-mainmenu-8/45-food-industry/4925-spinning-farmed-salmon-part-1-of-3
I'll provide one short 'money' quote though - for those who don't take the necessary time to read the whole thing...
Don't eat the stuff - best way to help put the fish farms out of business.
Pinkish Hue?
Dear kl;
Wild and farmed salmon get there color the same way - it's in their feed. Wild salmon get it by eating krill and farmed salmon get it in there feed.
Who the heck uses the word 'hue' anyways?
Hue
Who uses the word hue? Uh, me. It's in the dictionary. You might want to look it up.
Is that the best response you have to the fact farmed fish are coloured? That the choice of words I've used is not to your liking? Weak.
Good Point kl
Good point kl;
I guess I should have been more specific being as all posters on the Tyee are PHd graduates. Being as you used the dictionary for the word hue, I'll throw one at ya as well.
"Beta-carotene"
Beta-carotenes (called astaxanthin and canthaxanthin) are in wild salmon feed (krill) and also in salmon feed. They are contain a pigment that colors every salmon (farmed or wild) pink or red. All salmon are grey before they eat feed.
That's not an argument for/against, it simply states fact.
Hello Cake, in reply to your
Hello Cake, in reply to your comments; Normally in the wild, there is about a 1% return of fish back to the rivers and streams. If the fish are transported from the fish hatchery to the mouth of their home river there is a return of 2% to 3%. What I object to is that the fish farm species is Atlantic salmon; completly foreign to this part of the world. Why does the industry, in which you speak in favour of, insist on using Atlantic salmon? Why can't they use a salmon species that is native to this part of the world like coho. In having fish in huge numbers in pens there is a huge population in sea lice, which is common in the wild, but those same lice latch on to wild stocks as they pass by the farms in their natural migratory routes, as in the Broughton area which is a natural funnel. In your opposition to fish ranching, why use Atlantic salmon instead of natural home species? You said that fish ranching would only have a 5% return; hell, that's 4% better than nature does! Now if we had proper fish ranching we could use weirs instead of fish boats at the mouth of the rivers to catch them thar fish. With the weir they can space the stakes so the smaller fish can get through and catch the big ones.
Cake
Cake, canthaxanthin and astaxanthin are indeed naturally occurring and are what color wild salmon's flesh. However, farmed salmon get it synthetically as an additive. And the Salmofan, much like paint chips, can be used to attain the right pinkish hue.