In British Columbia
Growing public interest in where food comes from
BRITISH Columbia salmon farmers are expanding their programme of public farm tours this summer in response to demand. Organised by the BC Salmon Farmers Association (BCSFA), this year’s tours will include dates in June, July and August.
Tour participants will have the opportunity to visit a farm and learn more about how the industry works, ‘while enjoying a boat ride across the Johnstone Strait – taking in the beautiful scenery and the chance to see marine wildlife’, said the BCSFA.
‘We’re excited to open up our expanded tour programme to local and international participants during the next few months,’ said Jeremy Dunn, executive director of the BC Salmon Farmers’ Association.
‘Not only will participants get a valuable inside look into sustainable salmon farming operations in BC, but they will also have the opportunity to connect with farmers who take pride in growing the world’s best fish, and they will learn first-hand how our farmers are helping to meet the growing demand for healthy food.’
The BCSFA has been offering public tours for about six years, said Dunn, and each summer they take out a few hundred people of all age ranges, from 10 upwards. For the last couple of years they have partnered with the Vancouver Island Visitors Bureau.
All scheduled tours, limited to 21 people per tour, depart from Campbell River at 8:30am and last about six hours. They cost CAD $60 and include lunch served on the farm.
‘Our members view it as a very important aspect of community relations,’ Dunn told Fish Farmer, adding that there was a growing ‘agri-tourism’ sector in Canada.
‘There are many people who are very interested in where their food is coming from; people are touring not only salmon farms but they are interested in touring shellfish farms and cattle farms and barley farms.
‘You go to restaurants here today and you find they are sharing the region and location of the farm, people are interested. Fewer and fewer of us have a direct connection with agriculture or aquaculture and I think these tours are an important part of the education.
‘Our industry is advancing so quickly that we really want people to have the opportunity to see those advancements, and gain a perspective that hopefully they will share with their friends and neighbours.’
Dunn said he has never taken anyone on a farm tour who hasn’t left with a higher opinion of the industry.
‘That doesn’t mean that taking someone on a farm tour creates a supporter and a lifelong believer in aquaculture. Many people come on tours and still leave and think that they aren’t supportive of the industry but they do leave with a greater understanding.
‘My impression of those interactions is that people leave with a more positive attitude than when they came on to the farm. Openness, transparency and sharing our operations is what our members are all about.’
Dunn said all members of the BCSFA are involved in the tours, though some farms get toured more than others simply because of their proximity to more populated areas.
‘All of our farmers are very open with their farms and are very eager to have people who are interested interact.’
He said it’s hard for him to judge whether such a promotion would work in other countries’ aquaculture sectors, and that farm tours are just one piece of the public engagement platform that they have in BC.
‘I sit around the table with the International Salmon Farmers’ Association and we share our experiences and would encourage others to find ways to engage with the public.
‘I do know that around the world our colleagues in salmon aquaculture are doing just that, they are finding ways that sit with their cultures and societies that engage people – that might be a farm tour or that might be engaging in a different way.’
Last year, BC salmon farmers encountered unwelcome publicity when anti-fish farming activists enlisted the support of the Baywatch actress Pamela Anderson. They took a boat along the west coast in a campaign that claimed to be investigating disease on farms but ending up harassing farm workers.
Dunn expressed fears at the time over the biosecurity of members’ farms, but he is sanguine about such stunts, which he said BC farmers had dealt with ‘for years’.
‘Our members are farming at the highest level globally and have the third party certifications to be able to back that up, so we believe the concerns that have been raised over many years have been and are being met.
‘We’d certainly prefer a different engagement than what we’ve seen sometimes and, typically with our critics, we do have a much different and certainly less public engagement.’
The industry is buoyant and sales have never been an issue, he said, with just under 80,000 tonnes raised last year. Global sales reached a record CAD $745 million with exports to 12 markets valued at more than $544 million.
‘The demand for the product has never been higher, both domestically and internationally, and the customers both from the business perspective and the consumer perspective really can’t seem to get enough salmon, whether it’s wild or farm raised. So we’re looking to try to find ways to raise more fish to be able to feed hungry people,’ said Dunn.
Through production efficiencies and some new sites, the industry expects to see production rise ‘in a very modest way’ in the next couple of years.
ur members are working with irst ations trying to find sites that would be suitable for farming. We know there’s an opportunity to sell fish, and finding the right way to grow, that meets the demands of the communities and regulators, is an important task.’
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