Canadian suppliers join fight to save fish farms

SUPPLIERS to the fish farming sector in Canada have formed a new campaigning organisation to lobby against government plans to shut the industry down along part of the Pacific coast.

The Canadian Aquaculture Suppliers Association has been formed to promote the small and medium enterprises that stock and equip Canada’s aquaculture sector.

A federally registered non-profit organisation, the association will encourage the growth of Canada’s aquacultural sector, advance the role suppliers play in the industry and be an advocate to protect the thousands of jobs aquaculture suppliers provide to Canadian families.

The association is asking the federal government to support confidence-building measures, such as meaningful and timely salmon farming licence renewals, which will promote job creation and investments in British Columbia and Atlantic Canada.

Moreover, it said, the government should reassess its decision not to renew salmon farm licences in the Discovery Islands on the west coast.This decision threatens Canadian food security, local jobs and businesses, the association argued. Joyce Murray, who was appointed as Fisheries Minister after her predecessor, Bernadette Jordan, failed to win re-election, has said she stands by the Discovery Islands decision.

In British Columbia, 20% of all jobs in salmon farming are held by Indigenous peoples and 80% of current production is under agreement with First Nations communities. It is estimated that the federal government’s decision to halt the renewal of the Discovery Islands permits has resulted in some CAN $1.4bn (£820m) in planned national investment being frozen.

“Those who supply our nation’s aquaculture sector directly employ thousands of Canadians, including in communities where jobs are scarce and economic opportunity is limited,” said Ben James, the Canadian Aquaculture Suppliers Association’s President. “Aquaculture represents a great opportunity for Canada on both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and for businesses that wish to become part of this sustainable growth industry.”

More than 20,000 Canadians are employed in aquaculture throughout Canada, including in some 250 Indigenous communities, and approximately CAN $5.2bn (£3bn) in annual economic activity is attributed to the industry. Above: Orbit 3600 HD digital camera from ScaleAQ, one of the suppliers Left: Joyce Murray