OTTAWA--"David Anderson's new Aquaculture Commissioner is a threat to the survival of West Coast salmon stocks", said John Cummins, M.P. (Delta-South Richmond), Vice Chair of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans.

In his appearance before the Commons Fisheries Committee, the Aquaculture czar claimed that wild fish threaten farmed salmon with disease. He discounted the transmission of diseases from farmed salmon to wild stocks: "You know very well if [disease is] present on a farm because they are monitored but the wild salmon are not monitored and there is very commonly transmission of disease from the wild salmon to the farm."

He testified that although fish farms were not benign they deserved support as they are likely to cause less damage to wild fish and their habitat than destructive forest practices: "I could prove to you and demonstrate on paper that forestry has created much more damage to the salmon rivers on the East Coast than aquaculture will ever do. So, what's the issue here? We know we have some impact".

Bastien further argued that areas of the ocean ought to be set aside for aquaculture and treated in much the same as a farmer's field or an area for timber clear cutting and that there ought to be an acceptance of habitat degradation and pollution: "There is an acceptance that an agriculture field is a quite polluted area and in the forestry sector, there are sectors where it's heavily exploited." According to Bastien aquaculture has a vital role in rebuilding stocks: "[Rebuilding] an area is helped a lot by aquaculture practices because very often the only way to put back stock in a river is through aquaculture practice."

Anderson's appointee, Yves Bastien, mistakenly informed the Committee that outbreaks of disease amongst farmed fish are solely the responsibility of Health Canada rather than the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

"The testimony of the new Aquaculture Commissioner does not build confidence in David Anderson's commitment to his constitutional obligation to protect fish and fish habitat. In Committee, I voted to rescind the appointment of Yves Bastien, as Aquaculture Commissioner, an appointment supported by the Liberal, N.D.P. and P.C. members of the Committee."