John Cummins, M.P. Delta-South Richmond www.johncummins.ca

News Release

April 2, 2004

Minister's Actions A Further Threat to Wild Fish Stocks

OTTAWA- "The Liberal government's decision to have aquaculture drive the agenda of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans will further endanger wild salmon and shellfish stocks and further erode public confidence in the Department," said John Cummins, M.P. (Delta-South Richmond).

On March 30, 2004 the Fisheries Minister announced a new aquaculture policy:

• The Department will "ensure aquaculture is more of a priority."

• The Department will create an "enabling" regulatory environment that "safeguards the environment and wild fish stocks in a manner that supports the aquaculture industry's performance and competitiveness."

• The objective is to "ensure the aquaculture industry is ...economically viable."

Internal departmental documents received under the Access to Information Act puts the Minister's aquaculture announcement in context:

• "Concerns regarding ... significant pressure being placed on DFO by BC and industry to expedite the [Canadian Environmental Assessment Act] process."

• "DFO Pacific initiated an Aquaculture Action Plan [that] regularizes benthic assessments, fish health issues for wild fish and siting criteria to streamline reviews and enable harmonization with the provincial regime."

• DFO Pacific Region Sustainable Aquaculture Division has undergone significant changes in the last month with the re-assignment of 14 additional staff, including BC Ministry of Agriculture, Fish and Food and industry funded biologists to focus efforts on conducting the CEAA reviews in a timely manner."

• "Site renewal applications have not progressed recently, due to the lack of environmental information provided by proponents upon which to base an assessment. DFO requests for additional information on these sites have largely been ignored by proponents."

• "No, a comprehensive environmental impact analysis has not been done."

• "No, comprehensive economic studies are no longer routinely done in DFO."

• "No CEAA assessments have yet been completed for either halibut or sablefish netpen aquaculture operations in British Columbia."

• "No studies or research specifically focused on diseases and parasites associated with Pacific halibut or sablefish aquaculture."

"Abandoning wild fish and their habitat in order to ensure the economic viability of aquaculture is now official government policy," concluded Cummins.

Contact: John Cummins, M.P.
(604) 940-8040,
(cell) (604) 970-0937
or (613) 992-2957

Related Documents: DFO Admits No Environmental Studies have Been Undertaken "No, comprehensive economic studies are no longer routinely done in DFO." "No CEAA assessments have yet been completed for either halibut or sablefish netpen aquaculture operations in British Columbia." No studies or research specifically focused on diseases and parasites associated with Pacific halibut or sablefish aquaculture." Minister's Visit to BC, December 22, 2003 - Memorandum On Federal-Provincial Aquaculture ISSUES Advises Minister that DFO (i) is under "significant pressure" from BC and industry to complete CEAA screenings and as a result (ii) has made significant changes to departmental staff who undertake the CEAA screenings including bringing in people from the BC government together with "industry funded biologists." Notes for Minister's Meeting with Fish Farm Industry ...in response to your request under the Access to Information Act for "Copy of all documents prepared for or received by the Minister in December 2003 regarding the status of environmental assessments and approvals of fish farm sites or any approvals required by or associated with the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, the Fisheries Act, and the Navigable Waters Protection Act". After our original release package was forwarded to you, additional records were found by program staff. Attached please find that supplementary information with respect to the request... (more) Farms Refuse to Provide Answers for CEAA Assessment Backlog: Over 100 site applications. Farms Refusing to Provide CEAA Data: Backlog is caused in part because the farms are refusing to provide information requested by CEAA environmental assessment unit. "There have been numerous delays associated with the CEAA process due to complex environmental concerns and the difficulty in collecting the information required to complete the assessments. "Site renewal applications have not progressed recently, due to the lack of environmental information provided by proponents upon which to base an assessment. DFO requests for additional information on these sites have largely been ignored by proponents. Instead of standing fast when farms refused to provide information required to complete environmental assessments DFO stopped asking the tough questions, Moved out people who had been doing the environmental assessments and Brought in people from BC aquaculture department and from the companies to undertake the environmental assessments. "As part of the Aquaculture action Plan, DFO Pacific Region Sustainable Aquaculture Division has undergone significant changes in the last month, with the reassignment of 14 additional staff, including BC MAFF and industry funded biologists, to focus efforts on conducting the CEAA reviews in a timely manner." [from note for new Minister's trip to BC on December 22, 2003] (more)