New fish farm approved for Broughton By Teresa Bird
Gazette staff
Apr 13 2006
BROUGHTON ARCHIPELAGO – Despite adamant opposition from environmental groups, the provincial government has approved a new fish farm at Bennett Point.
The approval went to Greig Seafood, who has operated eight sites on the West Coast of Vancouver Island since 2000. This will be Greig’s first farm in the Broughton Archipelago.
“Greig is looking to diversify its operational sites geographically, to mitigate natural impacts on our fish, and we are very pleased to receive regulatory approval for this new farm,” says Tim Davies, senior regulatory affairs manager. Davies says the anchoring system is being set up now and the farm will probably be fully operational by the end of the month.
The farm is only the second one approved since a moratorium was lifted in 2002.
While Greig is not part of a recent agreement between Marine Harvest and the Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform (CAAR), the company is voluntarily acknowledging the agreement by matching the stocking year class of fish at the new farm with that of Marine Harvest in order to provide a migration corridor for wild salmon smolts in even years.
Despite that effort, CAAR is “dismayed” at the government’s decision to approve the farm.
“That the B.C. government would choose to approve a new fish farm in the Broughton at a time when so much effort, research and funding is being invested in solving the problems created by existing open net-cage fish farms is truly disheartening,” says Catherine Stewart of Living Oceans Society.
The provincial government says Greig Seafoods had to meet 15 different criteria, including consultation with the Tlowitsis First Nation, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the Regional District of Mount Waddington and Living Oceans Society. Open houses were held in Port McNeill and Sayward last July.
Although approval has been given, Greig must operate under the condition that they must immediately remove, at their expense, all fish from the farm if the Provincial Fish Health Veterinarian deems the presence of sea lice in the farm is a significant health risk to wild stocks.
Greig does not plan to expand further into the Broughton Archipelago.
“There are very few sites where the industry can apply anymore,” says Tim Davies, regulatory affairs manager for Greig Seafoods. “That’s really the last location up in the North Island Coastal Land Use plan.”
Greig has applied for six sites in Nootka Sound, three of which have been approved. The company has pledged to operate only four of the six at a time.
In the past Greig Seafood has contributed close to $1 million towards research of on-land rearing salmon. That research indicates a cost increase of more than 40 percent compared to current fish farming practices, says Davies. The company will take part in field trials from a sea louse vaccine next year.
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