Federal NDP critic defends open-net salmon farming announcement

Yesterday the federal government announced its transition plan for open net salmon. Salmon farming and the majority of First Nations in BC would like to see an end to the practice, but industry is pushing back. They are citing what they say is improved technology. Well, the announcement is an attempt to appease both groups. And by 2029, fish need to be out of the water and into tanks on land in the industry, needs to be land based altogether. Well, for her thoughts, we have reached Lisa Marie Baron, the NDP critic for Fisheries and Oceans. Good morning to you. Good morning, Steven, Thank you for being with us. We appreciate it. Your initial thoughts, First off, following the Department of Fisheries and Oceans announcement yesterday, what did you think when you heard it? Yeah, I have a, a lot of mixed feelings on it, Steven. I mean, first and foremost, it is a positive step in the right direction to know that a, a ban will be coming up in 2029. It's, it's been a bit of a frustrating journey to to get to where we are today. But we know we need to be taking seriously the impacts of including fish farms on the surrounding marine ecosystems, on wild Pacific salmon and, and making sure that the the science behind this, that the concerns of British Columbians and First Nations are being taken seriously to get these farms out of the water. Now, Justin Trudeau's mandate letter to the ministry back in 2019 called for this transition out of water to occur by 2025, by next year. While the federal government is now painting this as look, we're going ahead taking action. Critics, of course, are saying that that action is is late. This was supposed to happen five years earlier than the federal government is now saying. What's your take on that? Yeah. You know, we have seen endlessly the delay tactics by the Liberals to move forward on this decision. And if I could be frank, this has been ongoing for consecutive Conservative and Liberal governments. We've seen the Conservatives as well, campaign on getting fish farms out of the open net, fish farms out of the water. And since then, they have been telling British Columbians one thing. And then of course, those who have a profits at stake, the the CE OS of these firms are a whole entirely different thing. I'm happy to see that they are discussing the ban, but it is time to see a real plan being put into place. You know, Steven, one thing that was just baffling to me was the fact that when this was announced, we didn't hear a clear plan that has actual funds attached for the First Nations and the coast communities that will be impacted by this transition. It is vital that the federal government put a plan into place that coastal communities are not wearing the brunt of their inaction for many years. And this decision moving forward the, the there, there isn't consensus on this though. I mean, this, this decision has not been met with unanimous approval among the First Nations and certainly not among, you know, all coastal residents, many of whom rely on those fish farms for their, for their livelihoods. What would you say to those people? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I, I have been and my NDP colleagues have been pushing for the Liberal government to come forward with a a clear plan for the First Nations that are impacted. It is definitely, it needs to be a priority. You know, Steven, when I speak to over 101st Nations chiefs representatives across the the province about why they want to see fish farms getting out of the water, they talk to me about how important wild Pacific salmon is to their culture, their traditions, their language, their livelihoods, the food security for not just patients, but people up and down the island. And you know, one thing of interest was many of the the chiefs talking to me about the fact that these wild salmon when they are travelling through their migratory routes, through the fish farms and they are of course, then getting in contact with diseases with sea lice that attach the Chernal salmon that impact their ability to continue on in this migratory route. That the sea lice and the diseases do not remain just in this particular area. They continue on all the way up British Columbia through the migratory routes and impact all for species. And so this is an issue of food security that we need to be taken seriously. We have sound science that says that this is one of the issues impacting wild Pacific salmon. But, but can you pin all of the woes of wild salmon on, on fish farms on the coast? Absolutely not. And, and, and of course we can't. We know that we're in a climate crisis. We know that wild Pacific salmon are are impacted by warming waters. We know that there's overfishing. We know that there's human caused issues that are also impacting wild Pacific salmon. We need to be looking at all those issues. And wild Pacific salmon need protection more now than ever. And we can't have fish farms further challenging this keystone species at the time when they need our protection. There are, as we mentioned, still First Nations that work in the salmon farming industry. 12 nations are currently working in the industry on the on the BC coast. You said you're looking for a plan from the federal government that would cover the transition. What do you think ought to happen? Yeah. So, you know, talking to nations, it's clear that we need to see a plan that's not just superficial a a real plan where the government is speaking nation to nation with all nations that are impacted to see, you know, not just as attached, but also, Steven, we know that many of the skills that are developed through this on fish farms are also interchangeable into other areas such as plant based aquaculture. Seaweed is another example. And you know, if that's not an option, we need to see the funds attached so that First Nations impact. First Nations are not wearing the brunt of of the enaction of consecutive liberal and conservative governments. For many years, there has been a lot of competing research coming from both sides in this. What does that say to you about how the DFO came to its conclusions? Do you think this process has been fair? You know, we can look back at the history of the liberals and conservatives and how they have been using science. We can look at Doctor Miller Saunders, for example, who came forward with science around diseases impacted wild salmon, the the PVR, no PRV, excuse me disease and the ways of which that impacted salmon that was stifled for for 10 years. Now we have just recently the integrity Commissioner launching an investigation into more science being muzzled by DFO of scientists. Now it is really important that we look at the bigger picture here of how science is considered and how that science is brought for two ministers for making these decisions. And, you know, I really do believe that if science was fully brought to light by all those who have been bringing forward really traumatic, really challenging information, but, you know, really information that would have been really vital for us to know ahead of time that we would have seen decisions made differently. But it is a step in the right direction to know that this ban is happening. And, and my hope is that we will see the follow required to not have coastal communities and impact First Nations left behind. Now, Steven, my, my one concern is that by pushing this down the road five years, we don't know what's going to happen. And quite frankly, if we see a Conservative government come in, I have even less optimism that we will see these polluting farms getting out of the water. Miss Barron, thank you so much. We appreciate the time this morning. Thank you so much. Take care. That's Lisa Marie Barron, member of Parliament for Nanaimo Ladysmith. She's the NDP critic for fisheries, oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard.