In anticipation of the upcoming Canadian Council of Fisheries and Aquaculture Ministers (CCFAM) meeting in Ottawa in late June, CAIA has submitted the following letter to Council members on behalf of Canada’s seafood farmers seeking support for several key issues.
Click here for a PDF version: Letter to CCFAM Ministers for June 2023 Meeting
Dear Ministers,
We understand that the next meeting of the Canadian Council of Fisheries and Aquaculture Ministers (CCFAM) is expected to take place at the end of June in Ottawa.
The Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance, on behalf of its producer, supplier and association members across Canada, would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your work to support and champion sustainable aquaculture development across Canada.
We all recognize the incredible potential this country has to farm seafood. While there are bright spots of development and support, unfortunately overall the country’s production and employment in our sector is falling. This is due to the unprecedented situation with the BC salmon farming sector. This is happening while other nations move ahead with expanding their aquaculture production with bold goals for growth.
We want to be able to invest and continually innovate to improve our product, strengthen the communities in which we work and continue to grow the trust of Canadians. Already several of our salmon farming companies are recognized as global leaders in sustainable food production (cf. Coller-FAIRR Index for animal proteins, with positions #1 and #2 being held by companies in Canada).
But we need the strong and clear support of governments who recognize that aquaculture is the future of reliable, secure, sustainable and affordable supply of seafood and job creation in rural, coastal and Indigenous communities across Canada. And we need a strong and reliable regulatory framework for investment that provides clear goals and stability so that companies can trust that their long-term investments will be respected.
For your June CCFAM meeting, we would ask you to consider action and agreement on several key items:
STABILITY AND CERTAINTY FOR SALMON FARMING SECTOR IN BC: A successful transition in BC requires a clear regulatory framework that will attract investment for innovation and provides the flexibility that allows First Nations to determine how they want to proceed within their territory, and licence holders to work with those Nations to determine which technology or approach best aligns with the Nation’s vision and unique marine conditions. The current approach of shutting farms against the wishes of BC’s rightsholder Nations and against departmental science advice deeply undermines investor confidence in Canada’s aquaculture sector and has implications for investment in all resource-related business sectors.
We ask that CCFAM Ministers support the call for a whole-of-government approach to develop a BC transition plan that attracts investment and advances the development of new tools and technology, allowing Canada to become a global leader in innovative aquaculture. Where scientific evidence, properly evaluated through government science processes, indicates a need for practice changes (for example for enhanced environmental performance), we ask that governments move in a clear and intentional way to set new and reasonable performance targets based on this science advice. Companies should then be given the opportunity to innovate and change practices in a reasonable period of time to achieve these goals.
CSSP: That the Canadian Shellfish Sanitation Program (CSSP), that has not received any new funding or programmatic review and improvement for over 20 years, be a priority for program improvement and funding so that shellfish farmers can open new sites, expand production and grow successfully.
BRM FOR SHELLFISH: The experience of Hurricane Fiona is yet another example of the need for a BRM program for shellfish in particular but for all Small Medium Enterprise (SME) aquaculture producers in general. Companies facing increasing risks from extreme weather or other factors deeply undermine the potential for long-term growth and development of the sector. The United States Department of Agriculture recently extended its business risk programs for all aquaculture producers, putting our Canadian producers at a competitive disadvantage.
AGRICULTURE AND AGRI-FOOD CANADA AS FEDERAL DEVELOPMENT BODY: We would ask CCFAM to make a recommendation that while DFO retain federal regulatory and science oversight over the aquaculture sector, that AAFC be given the explicit role of being the federal economic development body for aquaculture, similar to the division between AAFC and CFIA, or NRCAN and the NEB. DFO’s proper, legal role is conservation of wild fish, and it cannot properly deliver support for the economic development of the seafood farming sector. Canada’s flatline in production for twenty years and now production decline of the sector points clearly to this need. Ongoing criticism of DFO’s perceived dual role by critics is undermining overall trust in DFO. This must change.
Aquaculture is the future of sustainable, reliable and secure supply of seafood for Canada. With the right signals and framework, the sector can and will flourish in Canada.
Thank you for your consideration of these issues, and we would be very happy to discuss these or other issues in more detail at your convenience.
Sincerely,
Timothy Kennedy
President & CEO