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[troutbreath]

We contribute the most to the province as sport fishers yet still have little to no say. What gives. Vote the bums out.



 Friday » May 18 » 2007
 
It's up to the government to show leadership on future of fish farming
 
Vancouver Sun


Friday, May 18, 2007


 
CREDIT: Ian Lindsay, Vancouver Sun, files
Atlantic salmon feed at a fish farm.
 
We don't know whether the Liberal government's decision to give New Democrats control over a special committee on aquaculture was a genuine attempt to seek consensus through a less partisan approach to a thorny issue or a plot to palm off a hot potato.

Either way, it turned out to be an interesting but failed experiment that has now put responsibility for the future of fish farming firmly back in the hands of the government, where it belongs.

Not all of the work done by the committee was worthless. The economic analysis and evidence it collected can still be used by the government in formulating policy. But the central recommendation -- that open-net fish farming be phased out in five years -- will carry no weight with the government since it was not supported by any of the four Liberal members of the legislature on the committee.

As government, however, it is not enough for the Liberals to tell us what they are against, they must now tell us what they are for.

Having heard all the witnesses, the written submissions and the research commissioned by the committee, what do the Liberal members, who rejected the NDP approach, believe should be done?

The Liberal members fairly object that the insistence of the New Democrats on closed-pen farming is in reality a demand that the industry be shut down, since to date no one has shown that it can be done economically.

The New Democrats concede that there is no certainty over the science of whether fish farming is a significant risk to wild stocks. In the face of that uncertainty, they argue the precautionary principle should apply -- essentially, when in doubt, do nothing.

For people only concerned with wildlife, that may be enough. But the Liberals also need to apply a precautionary principle to protecting the benefits of fish farming, the year-round jobs and economic spin-offs.

That principle should be not to do anything that will destroy an industry that brings coastal communities the equivalent of 1,500 full-time jobs and millions of dollars without firm evidence that you are creating an equivalent benefit somewhere else.

Clearly, fish farming cannot be allowed to destroy existing values, whether economic or environmental.

Both the wild commercial fishery and the sport fishery depend on healthy salmon runs. From a purely economic point of view, the sports fishery is the most important consideration, since it employs more people and it adds twice as much to the provincial economic output as does the commercial fishery.
The question still is whether fish farming can be conducted in a way that does not threaten wild stocks. The committee report leaves that crucial question unanswered.

Decisions will have be made in the face of uncertainty, both in terms of the science and public opinion in both native and non-native communities along the coast.

Absent consensus, the government has to take the leadership role it was elected to play.

© The Vancouver Sun 2007

[Fish Assassin]

And replace them with who ? NDP ? Weren't they the one who allowed them in the first place ?

[troutbreath]

And replace them with who ? NDP ? Weren't they the one who allowed them in the first place ?

With most organizations whether they be political parties or employment the s**t rises to the top We all are at the abuse of these so called leaders who push everybody out of the way to get to the top. Been like that since caveman times which shows how little we have changed. People should encourage others who they feel would better look after the publics interest into political office. It's not the party that's wrong just the people running it and the toady's who go along with the crap.

What I found interesting about the editorial and something that I have known for years is that sportfishing  puts more money into the economy than fish farms and commercial fishing, so it should be a priority.

[Fish Assassin]

What I found interesting about the editorial and something that I have known for years is that sportfishing  puts more money into the economy than fish farms and commercial fishing, so it should be a priority.

I agree. The problem is that the sportfishing fraternity is disjointed. If they had the financial resources to make political donations, the government will be listening more to what they have to say.

[Geff_t]

And replace them with who ? NDP ? Weren't they the one who allowed them in the first place ?

Actually the liberals lifted the moratorium on fish farming just like they are trying to lift the moratorium on oil drilling in the straight. If you think fish farming is bad what until they start drilling for oil and there is a spill.