Our Science Advisor, Inka Milewski, wrote the following letter in response to statements made by Gail Shea, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, in defense of proposed new regulations for the aquaculture industry which would ultimately harm wild fish and the marine environment. The letter appeared on March 2 in the Opinion section of the New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal.
Aquaculture laws poorly enforced
In the federal minister’s defense of proposed new rules for aquaculture, she states that “for the first time ever the federal government will regulate not only the farm operations itself but also the effects it has on the ocean floor” (Telegraph Journal , Feb. 24, 2015).
What is most remarkable and unsettling about this statement is that the minister is admitting that her department has failed to protect ocean habitat from the effect of aquaculture for more than three decades. What other fisheries and habitat management legislation has the federal government ignored?
Given that the federal government for the entire period of aquaculture’ s development and expansion in Canada has failed to uphold the habitat protection provisions of the Fisheries Act, the minister’s claim that Canada has “one of the most rigorous aquaculture regulatory systems in the world” rings hollow.
Also ringing hollow is her claim that 14,000 Canadians are employed in aquaculture. The figure of 14,000 has appeared in several places on DFO’s websites but, according to DFO’s own statistics (www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca») , this number is an exaggeration and simply wrong.
According to the most recent DFO statistics, 3,235 people were identified as working in aquaculture in all of Canada in 2012.
The federal government has consistently demonstrated a blind-spot for the overwhelming scientific evidence that open net pen fish farms can have a wide range of negative environmental impacts.
As the 120 signatories to a letter to the prime minister stated, the proposed regulatory changes trumpeted by the minister will give the aquaculture industry special treatment under the Fisheries Act by exempting them from existing pollution laws.
Canadians can be forgiven for being cynical about the ability of the federal government to enforce new aquaculture regulations when they have done such a dismal job of enforcing existing legislation.
Inka Milewski
Science Advisor
Conservation Council of New Brunswick