Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans   Comité permanent des pêches et des océans

HOUSE OF COMMONS CHAMBRE DES COMMUNES OTTAWA, CANADA

 

Monday, May 17, 2004

The Honourable Geoff Regan, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Fisheries and Oceans
200 Kent Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6

Dear Minister Regan:

I am writing on behalf of the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans to ask you to ensure that a comprehensive environmental impact analysis of sablefish aquaculture in British Columbia be completed under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, the Fisheries Act, or the Navigable Water Protection Act before any commercial sablefish farming operation is authorized to proceed.

On May 11, the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans heard concerns from the Canadian Sablefish Association about sablefish fish farming in British Columbia and its potential impact on their industry, the international sablefish market, and the sablefish stock.  In the view of the Committee, if nothing is done to provide assurances that there are neither biological nor economic risks, we may witness the destruction of yet another successful fishery. 

The federal government appears to support the development of sablefish farming in British Columbia, which, according to the former Commissioner for Aquaculture Development, Mr. Yves Bastien, holds the same potential as that of Atlantic cod in Newfoundland and Labrador.  The government of British Columbia has already issued several site licenses for sablefish fish farming even though, according to the Canadian Sablefish Association, the technology is not yet commercially viable, a market has not been identified, no environmental or economic studies have been done, and all past attempts to farm sablefish have failed. 

It is the Committee’s understanding that your Department has statutory obligations under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act as well as the Fisheries Act and the Navigable Water Protection Act to ensure the proper assessments are conducted before the approval of any commercial sablefish farming operations.

Sablefish is one of the most valuable species on Canada’s west coast.  Caution is warranted for at least three reasons.  First, the sablefish fishery is not only practised in British Columbia, but also in the states of Washington and Alaska.  The stock, presently in relatively good shape, is highly migratory, and therefore farming in British Columbia could affect not only the Canadian sablefish fishery but also those of our U.S. neighbours.  This could easily become another irritant in Canada-U.S. relations, not to say that it could contravene the spirit of UNCLOS and UNFA, which implies an obligation on states not to harm the fisheries of their neighbours.  Second, although sablefish is a deepwater species, juveniles are known to spend their first two to five years in inlets and coastal waters.  The presence of sablefish fish farms in these waters and the potential transmission of diseases or parasites from net pens to the juvenile population could damage the health of the wild stock.  Third, sablefish is exported mostly to markets in Japan.  However, this lucrative market is believed to be near saturation, therefore any significant increase in production risks a collapse of the market price. 

The Canadian Sablefish Association and the Department have historically worked very well together.  A collaborative agreement between the two bodies provides for joint research, stock assessment, management, and enforcement activities.  The stock assessment and related biological studies as well as management and enforcement activities are funded entirely by the sablefish fishery. A joint department and industry body coordinates research.  Indeed, you yourself recently, before the Senate Committee on Fisheries and Oceans, described the sablefish fishery as an example to follow in terms of collaboration between your Department and the industry.

It would appear, however, that the spirit of collaboration is not consistent throughout your Department.  The representative from the Canadian Sablefish Association indicated that the Association has been unable to communicate with officials responsible for the aquaculture file at DFO, Pacific Region. 

The Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans therefore supports the Canadian Sablefish Association’s request that a comprehensive environmental assessment be performed before any commercial farming of sablefish is permitted.  Given the past contribution of the Association to stock assessment and related biological studies, and therefore the body of expertise it could contribute, and the fact that the Association is a principal stakeholder, we also support their involvement in performing these assessments. 

Moreover, we would recommend that, in parallel to an environmental assessment, the Department consider two related options: 1) controls on the exportation of the Canadian-developed expertise and technology pertaining to sablefish aquaculture; and 2) a moratorium on the exportation of live sablefish adults or brood stock.  These measures are, in our view, essential to preserve the vitality or the very viability of the sablefish fishery in Canada as well as in the U.S.