History of Salmon Farming in B.C.

Salmon farming in British Columbia began in the 1970s with small, locally-owned operations mostly on the Sunshine Coast (an area on the mainland north of Vancouver). Many of the farms were located in inlets and bays where the tide could not flush the waste and excess feed away from the sites, causing algae blooms and other damage to the marine environment.

Disease outbreaks and challenging market conditions put many of the early farms out of business. Others were forced to sell out to larger companies. Today, ninety percent of B.C.'s salmon farms are owned by three Norwegian-based multinational corporations.

In the mid 1980s the industry grew significantly. There are now 125 salmon farm licenses on the coast and the provincial government is keen to increase the number of farms and expand the industry further north.

Since the rapid rise in the number of fish farms, First Nations, coastal communities, fishermen and environmentalists have been very concerned about their negative effects on the ocean and local communities. The recommendations of numerous environmental assessments have gone unheeded and escaped farmed salmon as well as the spread of diseases and parasites are harming wild salmon stocks.

The report Fishy Business: The Economics of Salmon Farming In B.C. notes that in the late 1980s, Norwegian companies were faced with strict environmental regulations and size restrictions in their own country so they decided to expand in countries where regulations were less strict (i.e. Canada and Chile). Atlantic salmon were the farmed fish of choice in Norway, Atlantic salmon grew faster and survived intensive conditions better than Pacific salmon so the Norwegian fish farm companies brought their practices to the Pacific coast.

From 1986 to 2001, the production of farmed salmon increased from 400 to 68,000 tonnes—despite the moratorium that prevented expansion of the industry from 1995 to 2002.

Timeline

1985-90
B.C.’s salmon farming industry expands from 10 to over 180 sites;

1991
First report of Atlantic salmon attempting to spawn in a Pacific stream;

1995
Provincial government moratorium prevents new fish farms, and caps the number of tenures at 121. However the size of farms is allowed to increase. Fish production increases during the moratorium;

1995-97
Environmental review of the fish farming industry (the Salmon Aquaculture Review—SAR) is initiated by the provincial government to address public concerns;

1997
SAR’s 49 recommendations are made public. The provincial government and the B.C. Salmon Farmers Association support the findings and announce plans to implement them (but never do);

2000
Federal Auditor General’s audit identifies a conflict of interest between the Department of Fisheries and Oceans’ (DFO) promotion of salmon farming and its mandate to protect wild fish and wild fish habitat;

Living Oceans Society and other concerned groups form the Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform (CAAR) to oppose unsustainable fish farm practices.

2001
Standing Senate Committee on Fisheries’ report reveals that DFO disregards its mandate to protect wild fish stocks;

David Suzuki Foundation-funded critique of the aquaculture industry (Leggatt Inquiry) is conducted;

2002
Government of B.C. lifts its 1995 moratorium on new tenures;

Broughton Archipelago pink salmon stocks crash. Fewer than five percent of the expected run returns. Both DFO and the Pacific Fisheries Resource Conservation Council (PFRCC) agree that the low numbers are exceptional. [9] Academic and independent scientists, First Nations, environmental groups, and local communities suspect sea lice infestations are responsible;

The PFRCC releases an advisory to federal and provincial fisheries ministers urging the immediate removal of Broughton Archipelago salmon farms in order to protect ocean bound juvenile pink salmon in 2003;

2003
Broughton Archipelago salmon farms remain open despite widespread media coverage on the issue and increasing public opposition to salmon aquaculture;

2007
The B.C. Government’s Special Committee on Sustainable Aquaculture (SCSA) delivers a report with 57 recommendations, including “a rapid, phased transition to ocean-based closed containment” within five years.

Further SCSA recommendations include:
  • No new finfish sites approved north of Cape Caution
  • The establishment of a “watchman” program contracting First Nations to monitor environmental performance of farms in their territory 
  • Freeze on production levels for active tenures with finfish species other than Atlantic and Chinook salmon (e.g. sablefish)
  • No additional open net-cage finfish aquaculture tenures approvals
  • An end to self reporting - the industry can no longer police itself
  • Development of effective fallowing regimes, similar to the 2003 Broughton Archipelago Action Plan, to protect juvenile salmon during migration