Flatlined aquaculture production and a small fragment of west coast potential

 May 20, 2025

To: Federal and Provincial Ministers of Agriculture and Fisheries

Dear Ministers:

On behalf of Canada’s seafood farming community, we thank you for your work and your commitment to your provinces and to Canada. As leaders in the aquaculture sector, we commit ourselves to working with you to create lasting value and flourishing communities through our sector across Canada.

The future of seafood development in Canada and across the world is dependent on human ingenuity to find new ways to responsibly create value from our oceans, to innovate to produce more, secure and affordable seafood to support Canadians and the world.

We have a special responsibility in Canada with some of the greatest biophysical capacity on the planet. With highly skilled people, and many coastal communities waiting for new opportunities and renewal, precision farming of our waters is a unique blessing for Canada.

It is time to move beyond Canada’s mediocre performance. For over twenty years Canada has Flatlined in aquaculture production growth while using only a small fragment of our potential. We need a new vision and government leadership to support us to the next level of production and excellence in aquaculture production. You are the leaders that can and must be bold to achieve this.

We ask you to undertake a pathway that allows for a new approach to aquaculture development in Canada. We propose the following areas of action to you as the foundations for a new springtime in seafood development and coastal community revitalization.

1) Science Must Be the Foundation

Science must be re-established as foundational for aquaculture development. A re-commitment to objective scientific advice as the foundation for policy decisions is necessary. All human activity has some degree of environmental risk, and there is no such thing as zero risk. Putting off economic development risks the health of people, families and communities. Governments must be clear on acceptable levels of environmental risk to make predictable and reasonable decisions for project development.

2) The BC “Open Net Pen” Ban Must Be Removed

The 2024 federal decision to ban salmon farming net pens by 2029 is scientifically, economically and technologically irresponsible. It has cast an investment chill on all of Canada and we are seeing its negative influence around the world. As salmon farming investment decisions in BC for 2029 are approaching quickly, the ban must be removed urgently in favour of a clear performance-based pathway that establishes stabilization, future growth and attracts investment in innovation and new technologies.

3) Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) Must be the Federal Aquaculture Champion

DFO is a regulator and habitat protector. It is not equipped to support a modern, growth-oriented farming sector. It is time for a change. AAFC must be named the lead federal department for sector development, while DFO and CFIA continue to be regulators of the sector. Aquaculture must finally be included in federal legislation as a farming activity consistent with international definitions.

4) Modernize Shellfish Sector Management and Risk Supports

The shellfish aquaculture sector holds significant economic, environmental, and food security potential across Canada. However, its growth is constrained by outdated federal oversight, particularly under the Canadian Shellfish Sanitation Program (CSSP), and by the sector’s exclusion from essential risk management tools available to other forms of food production. A modernized approach is needed — one that ensures effective, coordinated delivery of public health protections while also enabling access to government-industry programs that provide stability and resilience for producers.

To move this forward, we request federal support for a pilot crop insurance program for shellfish aquaculture in Prince Edward Island, with the goal of informing a national approach to business risk management program access for shellfish farmers in all producing provinces.

We ask you: provide a positive signal that aquaculture is an important part of Canada’s future and together begin building a united vision for this future. 

For our part, we will increase our efforts to build public trust and constantly improve our practices. We can together build a sector that leads the world with job creation, skilled workers, Indigenous economic and reconciliation opportunities, low-carbon, healthy and affordable home-grown protein production, and renewed coastal communities

This is an exciting time and challenge. The time is now for positive and lasting change to benefit your provinces and all of Canada.

Sincerely,

BC Salmon Farmers Concerned About Fiscal Update:

Reckless Policy Decisions Compound an Expected Dire Fiscal Forecast 

Liǧʷiłdaxʷ TERRITORY/CAMPBELL RIVER, BC -- December 16, 2004 -- The BC Salmon Farmers Association (BCSFA), representing thousands of workers across British Columbia, is deeply concerned about the grim picture painted by the resignation of Deputy Prime Minister Freeland from the Trudeau government today. 

The government's reckless actions exacerbate our ballooning debt and stagnant economy as Canadians face rising living costs, higher food prices, and a weakening Canadian dollar. The estimated $9 billion taxpayer-funded cost of phasing out the BC salmon farming sector is another example of costly political gimmicks over sound economic policy. 

Despite clear scientific evidence, the decision to ban current marine net-pen salmon farming in British Columbia by 2029 is driven by political motivations rather than long-term, responsible planning. This policy ignores the real-world consequences for thousands of workers, First Nation communities, and the broader economy.  

Mowachaht/Muchalaht Title Declared to B.C. Court

 Notice of Claim

"The. . . First Nation has Aboriginal title to its lands and that B.C.'s Forest Act and Land Act will no longer apply to Mowachaht/Muchalaht lands once title is declared." Vancouver Island First Nation whose ancestors met explorer Capt. Cook in 1776, only to see the disappearance of land, resources, and sovereignty, sues province of British Columbia

       Citizen X 

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/vancouver-island-first-nation-whose-ex-chief-met-capt-cook-files-claim-against-b-c/ar-AA1vLaGz?ocid=socialshare

Theatre One Presents: Maker of Monsters

I attended the Theatre One presentation of Maker of Monsters: The Extraordinary Life of Beau Dick, a film screening at the Avalon Cinema in North Nanaimo, Jul 9, 2018.

I was fortunate to befriend Beau Dick and it was a long-standing friendship. I had several periods of exposure to Beau and his methods of working in culture, the maintenance of Indigenous national power was coming from the very core of his being, it seemed to me.

He talked about the Homatsa society from time to time. It was a recurring topic of discussion and he was adamant about the importance Homatsa warriors had in the Potlatch culture of governance. Homatsa warriors were high on the totem pole in terms of contribution to international relations. It always seemed to me Beau was a liberal minded free trader, which, I think, is something he believed about Potlatch.

I enjoyed the movie at the Avalon Theatre in Nanaimo. I felt at home with the man on the screen while he was alive, I loved Beau like a brother. I felt as if I received one last chance to spend an evening in his illustrious company. I think the movie did him justice.

Beau met with Royals of the British Monarchy, Prime Ministers, world leaders, and hosted the most eclectic gathering in Alert Bay you could ever imagine. One period of winter back in 2009 he invited me to stay in his home, and again in 2011. I learned then Beau Dick loved to watch movies. I'm glad to see he is recalled so vividly in film.

Making a career out of growing fish on Canada's Pacific Coast

Lauren Edgar, 23, from Klemtu, B.C., is making a career out of fish farming. "I've been working for Marine Harvest Canada for two years full-time and a period of time before that as a part-time employee. I am making career of it." Lauren did a course at Vancouver Island University on shellfish farming last year at VIU. It was a nine-week course, "some in Prince Rupert, some in Nanaimo."
     

She enjoyed the course and school and continues to advance those aspirations by looking at further education opportunities including VIU and on-the-job training. Lauren works out of Klemtu, B.C., on Swindle Island in the central coast. It's the southern end of Tsimshian Nation where she lives and was born and raised. "I work on site in an eight-day shift and we live in a float-house," explained Lauren, "I like it. It's very nice and sometimes it gets interesting during the winter." Winter storms make the water choppy..
     

Lauren feeds MHC Atlantic salmon that are grown by Kitasoo Seafoods Ltd and processed in a facility in Klemtu, "Right now that's my main job, to feed the fish." It's an amazing event each day, whereupon, "The fish really get going, it's all on camera." Daily operations are under the watch of MHC personnel like Lauren,. "We are connected to head office by phone and internet." In her job, "We do one feeding session once-a-day at the present size of the fish in my pens," whereas, "When they're smolts they get more feedings per day." 
      

The work in fish farming is exciting, "It's fun to watch the fish grow and interesting to see how big they get." Lauren describes the routine, "At harvest time," which for the site she works on will be relatively soon; meantime, "Various facets need to be done on site by employees, for example, we do mort-cleaning on 14 pens and go to each pen every second day for inspections with part of the operation automated and part done with a dip-net." Dying fish are rare in the net-pens and they find one or two per pen out of literally thousands of fish, but she is educated about and fully apprised of the potential for disaster on a farm site. "A plankton bloom could really kill a lot of the fish in the pen. A harvest takes about two years to produce. 
    

"We get moved from site to site occasionally depending on the personnel situation, or you might stay there on the same site for many months working eight days in and six days out." 
     

She loves the company, "Marine Harvest Canada is a really good company," and she is knowledgeable about fish farming, "Before Marine Harvest Canada came to Klemtu my dad ran a fish farm that was owned by Kitasoo for four years. He managed the site." Her dad has since moved from Klemtu.
     

She remains a central coast person , "I liked it growing up here and I love living here today," but when she gets a break she travels from the remote area to Campbell River or the Lower Mainland.