Canada’s new Fisheries Minister saddled with a mandate of contradictions
Bernadette Jordan, the new Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, deserves a mandate that compliments Canada’s vision to lead the Global Blue Economy, not contradict it
Analysis
By Fabian Dawson
SeaWestNews
Justin Trudeau’s mandate letter to his new
Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, Bernadette Jordan, is a document of
contradictions.
Littered with lofty ideals, the mandate
says one thing but directs to the opposite.
One of the key elements in the document is
the instruction to Jordan to “work with the province of British Columbia and
Indigenous communities to create a responsible plan to transition from open
net-pen salmon farming in coastal British Columbia waters by 2025.”
This about-face mid-campaign pledge, pushed
by the anti-salmon farming lobby, got the Liberals to cave in on their vows and
sacrifice over 7,000 sustainable livelihoods, in exchange for urban votes.
The wording of this mandate at best is
hazy. You can’t be sure if they want a transition plan by 2025, or have all
ocean-based pens shut down by then.
Whatever the case may be, the Liberals
continue to ignore warnings that their pledge to move all ocean-based farms, likely
to land based systems, will have significant adverse environmental impacts and
devastate rural coastal communities.
Experts and scientists have characterised
the pledge as “nonsense”, “reckless”, “destructive” and “careless”.
The government’s own report — State of
Aquaculture Technologies — looked at different production systems with the
potential to deliver market-sized salmon and concluded in a draft “the new
technologies discussed in this report, as well as conventional net pen systems,
will all play a role in contributing to global production of salmon products.”
But the Liberals prefer the science-deficit
apocalyptic hyperbole of a few urban professional activists, by pledging to phase
out open-net salmon farms.
Which brings us to the part of the mandate
document that states – “We are committed to evidence-based decision-making that
takes into consideration the impacts of policies on all Canadians and fully
defends the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.”
Everyone from the Cohen Commission, which listed
more than 20 activities affecting Pacific salmon, to the regional, national and
global scientists working to improve the population of wild stocks, have stated
unequivocally that there is no credible scientific evidence to link declines in
Pacific salmon stocks at a population level to salmon farming on B.C.’s coasts.
The scientific consensus tells us that done
responsibly, salmon farming does not have a negative impact on wild salmon
populations.
Ignoring the overwhelming scientific data, the anti-ocean farming campaigns have oversimplified complex aquaculture issues leaving British Columbians in a fog of competing politicised agendas and misinformation.
The net effect has been to create and
perpetuate a climate of public skepticism and opposition that has spilled over
into the political realm said a study by researchers from the University of
Victoria and the University of New Brunswick.
Unable to challenge the clarity of science,
all initiatives and pronouncements to remove ocean-pen aquaculture operations
to land-based farms are being underlined with the cloudy “precautionary
principle”, which uses hypothetical theories, built to suit a bias agenda.
The accusations against fish farmers in B.C. are always aired by activist-friendly media, never with any suggestion of a reasonable solution.
This simply shows the anti-fish farming
lobby’s agenda is not to “fix” or improve any perceived deficiency, but to end
practices altogether for ulterior motives.
The Liberals, with their pre-election
pledge have refused to see this.
Trudeau in the mandate letter also tells
Jordan; “There remains no more important relationship to me and to Canada than
the one with Indigenous Peoples.”
He goes on to urge her to use traditional
Indigenous knowledge when making decisions affecting fish stocks and ecosystem
management.
This is political doublespeak at its
finest.
Twenty BC First Nations now have
partnership agreements for farming salmon in their territory and 78% of all
salmon farmed in the province is under a beneficial partnership with a First
Nation.
In addition to that, 20% of salmon farming
jobs are held by people of First Nations’ heritage.
The Kitasoo/Xai’xais First Nation and Mowi
Canada West recently celebrated the 20-year anniversary of their partnership to
farm salmon and process farmed fish at the plant in Klemtu.
None of the First Nations involved in
salmon farming in B.C. were consulted about the pledge.
And when it comes to the use of traditional
Indigenous knowledge, oral history, like that of the Qwe’Qwa’Sot’Em people of
the Broughton Archipelago, is ignored, because it does not fit the anti-fish
farm narrative.
Over the ages, when the salmon don’t
return, the Qwe’Qwa’Sot’Em, have always had a name for it, referring to this
cyclical natural phenomenon as Wayum’gallis or ‘the salmon not returning’.
And this was happening long before any fish
farms started operating in B.C., according to Harold Sewid, Qwe’Qwa’Sot’Em Clan
Chief.
Perhaps the most glaring contradiction in
the mandate letter is Canada’s commitment to be a world leader in the Blue Economy
and its commitment to the U.N. Blueprint for Healthy Oceans, Seas and Resilient
Coastal Communities.
One of the pillars of these commitments is
the sustainable harvesting of the oceans to replenish overfished wild stocks.
The High Level Panel for a Sustainable
Oceans Economy, to which Trudeau is a signatory, has said “the largest
potential carbon reduction gains for food production lie in the sustainable
expansion of marine aquaculture.”
Just last month, The Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations (FAO) said developing industries like
aquaculture is a win-win for a planet in need.
“With the world’s population to rise to
nearly 10 billion by 2050, land alone will not feed us – we also need aquatic
food production,” The agency’s Director General, Qu Dongyu said.
He called for increased investment and
political will for sustainable ocean growth with the development of
aquaculture.
In Canada, The Agri-food Report from the
Government’s Economic Strategy Tables highlights aquaculture as one of the four
priorities requiring immediate action citing the potential for the sector to
nearly double production, from 200,565 tonnes in 2016, to 381,900 tonnes in
2028 to meet rising demand.
It pushes for a Federal Aquaculture Act (an
idea which originated with B.C.’s salmon farmers) while calling for increased
funding for fish farming initiatives.
Despite all this, Jordan, the new Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, is now saddled with a short-sighted pledge to kill a successful, responsible ocean-farming industry and replace it with alternatives that does not exist, have failed, or at the best being developed.
If Trudeau and his new team really want to
make Canada a leader in the Global Blue Economy, they should drop this reckless
and unachievable pledge.
They should go back to the drawing board and
consult with the people who actually work in B.C.’s salmon farming industry, and
not only the people who don’t want B.C.’s salmon farms to work.
This will give Jordan, a mandate that
compliments Canada’s vision to be a world leader for healthier oceans, not
contradict it.
(Facebook image
of Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, Bernadette Jordan)