Salmon can kicked down the road
B.C.’s NDP government isn’t listening to First Nations that depend on fish farming for jobs and revenue
If you think B.C. First Nations are opposed to salmon farming, just have a chat with Chief John Smith of the Tlowitsis First Nation and you’ll see the reality is more complicated than opponents of the industry claim.
The Tlowitsis band has a business partnership with Grieg Seafood to operate a fish farm in their traditional territory on northern Vancouver Island. Now profits from the fish farm are helping the band build a new housing development for Tlowitsis elders and families.
“A lot of our people moved away to cities like Campbell River, where they really struggled,” Smith told me Wednesday. “We want them to return to the land where our people lived since time immemorial.”
That’s why the band decided to name the housing development “Nenagwas” in the Tlowitsis language, he said.
“It means ‘The Place To Come Home To,’ ” he said. “Aquaculture has been a big help in achieving that.”
But other nearby First Nations are opposed to the industry and want it shut down. That’s why the government’s new rule requiring fish farms to receive “consent” from First Nations to operate in their traditional territories will be a challenging one to interpret and enforce.
For example: What happens if multiple First Nations claiming title to the same territory — a situation common around the province — disagree on whether salmon farms should be allowed to operate there?
“I’m not going to speak on behalf of First Nations,” Agriculture Minister Lana Popham said in announcing the new licensing requirements for the industry.
But, at the same time she said fish farms must secure “agreement” from First Nations to operate, she denied that gives First Nations the power to shut farms down if no agreement is reached. “There is no veto,” she said. All this is confusing to the industry, which was not consulted about any of the changes, which won’t come into effect until 2022.
The four-year lead time ensures any unpleasant decision to close fish farms and throw hundreds of people out of work won’t happen until after the next election in 2021.
In politics, it’s called kicking the can down the road. And it’s not surprising to see the governing NDP play this game after talking so tough against the controversial industry during last year’s election campaign.
Back then, the NDP said they would keep farms out of wild-salmon migration routes in response to complaints that the farms spread disease and parasites to wild fish.
Those sorts of threats helped the NDP get environmental votes, and later secure support from the Green party to form a minority government.
But the government is well aware of the economic importance of the industry to regions hit hard by slowdowns in other resources.
The jobs offer good pay and benefits, and have been a lifeline to communities that suffered after downturns in forestry and fishing.
That includes First Nations that want and support the industry, but whose voices seem lost in the debate.