Salmon farming opponents and advocates unsure if feds will follow through on West Coast ban

While the federal government has ordered the removal of open-net salmon farms from the B.C. coast, the debate between the industry and opponents rages on.

All open-net pen salmon farms are supposed to be out of B.C. waters by 2029 – but industry opponents and advocates say they don’t know if the federal government will follow through on the ban.

Those who support the industry are pointing to a new peer-reviewed study that examines 20 years of scientific publications into the impacts of fish farms on wild salmon populations as evidence the government should reconsider its directive.

“Shutting down salmon farms will have no detectable effect on wild salmon populations,” said Gary Marty, a University of California-Davis research associate, who authored the review and has consulted for B.C. aquaculture firms.

“We’re not the decision makers but certainly my recommendation would be to revisit this.”

For years, advocates and opponents of fish farms have presented wildly different interpretations of similar science and studies.

With a new prime minister in office since the ban was announced, salmon farmers hope the feds will take another look at the decision.

“We’re hoping to get our message to (Prime Minister Mark) Carney that there is a significant opportunity here to expand salmon farming and have it be a very sustainable food-producing sector that boosts the economy in Canada,” said B.C. Salmon Farmers Association spokesperson Michelle Franze.

The First Nations Wild Salmon Alliance, made up of more than 120 different B.C. First Nations, has been leading the call to phase out open-net pen salmon farms.

“I think they’re in a desperate state right now with the ban already being announced for 2029,” said FNWSA spokesperson Bob Chamberlin. “We can expect these opinion pieces to come out. And as I understand it, this is not new science.”

Neither industry groups nor opponents of salmon farms have had a chance to meet with new Fisheries and Oceans Minister Joanne Thompson, and neither side has any idea whether she plans to revisit the decision to ban open-net pen salmon farms.

Both groups are also still awaiting details about a planned transition to closed-containment aquaculture facilities.

“We’re all on the edge of our seat waiting to find out what’s going to happen,” said Chamberlin. “Everybody’s got their ears to the ground and listening for whispers around the campfire.”

Until the ban takes effect, B.C. remains a west coast outlier, as all U.S. states from Alaska to California have already phased out open-net pen fish farms.