October 7, 2019 — AquaBounty is planning to preemptively label its genetically modified salmon in the United States in 2020, a company spokesperson told SeafoodSource soon after Canadian seafood industry executives and NGOs spoke out against the fish.
At the Canadian Seafood Show in Montreal, Quebec, in September, a panel of seafood industry executives and environmental groups said that they do not plan to sell or support AquaBounty’s AquAdvantage salmon in Canada.
October 3, 2019 — Justin Trudeau calls for shift from open net-pen farming to land-based systems in British Columbia
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party has released its full party platform, which calls for a “transition [in British Columbia] from open net pen salmon farming in coastal waters to closed containment systems by 2025.”
October 3, 2019 — American fishermen are expected to get a little more fishing quota under terms of an agreement with Canada.
The countries are home to fisheries for economically important species that cross international boundaries, such as cod and haddock. They reach agreement every year about how to divide catch on eastern Georges Bank, a critical fishing area off New England and Canada.
The New England Fishery Management Council says the U.S is scheduled to get 29% of the 1.4 million pound total allowable catch of cod on eastern Georges Bank in 2020. It’s also slated for 54% of the 66 million pound total allowable catch of haddock in the area.
October 2, 2019 — A promise from Canada’s Liberal Party that if they’re elected they’ll introduce legislation to move net-pen salmon farming in the province of British Columbia to closed-containment systems by 2025 caught many in the salmon farming sector by surprise.
Timothy Kennedy, president and CEO of the Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance (CAIA), said that’s because industry representatives had long been engaged with the government and other stakeholders to discuss technological improvements to salmon farming that would have satisfied many concerns.
That process determined that “hybrid” technologies to grow larger smolts on land and reduce the time farmed salmon spend in the ocean as the medium and near-term solutions that were the most feasible, he said.
“There’s a lot of opportunity and a lot of investment going into that,” he said. “This sort of commitment within an artificial time frame is really challenging and very undermining of the process and the intent of those who were involved in the process.”
October 1, 2019 — Representatives of Canada’s salmon farming industry are hitting back hard at plans unveiled in the recently released Liberal party platform headed by incumbent Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to transition salmon farming in British Columbia from ocean netpen farms to land-based operations.
The Liberal platform has potentially serious and far-reaching negative consequences for Canadian jobs and the environment, said the Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance (CAIA), which represents the interests of Canada’s aquaculture producers.
“This is a reckless policy, not grounded in science, and it will threaten good middle-class jobs across Canada,” says Timothy Kennedy, CAIA president and CEO.
If implemented, Kennedy added, farmed salmon production would simply be driven to other countries, undercutting efforts the industry has made to improve sustainability.
September 30, 2019 — The following was released by the Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance:
The Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance, together with its regional counterparts, BC Salmon Farmers Association, Ontario Aquaculture Association, Atlantic Canada Fish Farmers Association, Aquaculture Association of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland Aquaculture Industry Association, today issued the following joint statement:
The Liberal platform commitment to moving all salmon production in British Columbia to “closed containment by 2025” is highly irresponsible with potentially serious and far-reaching negative consequences for Canadian jobs and the environment.
“This is a reckless policy, not grounded in science, and it will threaten good middle-class jobs across Canada,” says Timothy Kennedy, President & CEO of the Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance.
Salmon farming is the most environmentally sustainable large-scale farmed animal production in the world. It’s a solution to climate change. British Columbia farm-raised salmon production has been recognized as being a global top sustainable performer: the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s “Seafood Watch” recognized the provincial production as “a good alternative” last year, the only region so recognized in the world, and the FAIRR Global Index lists BC salmon producers as the top sustainable global producers of animal protein. It is a critical solution to the world’s growing demand for low impact, low-carbon emissions, high-protein food supply while alleviating pressure on threatened wild fish stocks.
Seafood farming provides 26,000 full-time jobs across Canada. It generates $5.4 Billion in economic activity in Canada. Salmon farming makes up close to 90% of this economic value. This is a young, highly innovative sector that is providing full-time jobs across Canada where these jobs are needed most: in indigenous, remote, and coastal communities.
The Liberal party has consistently said it will base decisions on science. There is no evidence that B.C. salmon farms are harming wild salmon populations. While pilot projects to grow salmon to full size in closed containment are happening around the world, this work needs to continue in partnership and without any artificial mandates and timelines.
No other nation has proposed this requirement of their salmon production. If implemented, this requirement will only move local, top-quality production to other countries that may not have the high environmental standards Canada already employs.
“While we are already a top global performer, our sector is committed to constant improvement. Our farmers need support and confidence to continue to invest in Canada. This irresponsible policy platform seriously undermines this confidence,” Kennedy concluded.
September 13, 2019 — Legislation to provide $5 million in annual federal funding for reducing North Atlantic right whale deaths from ship strikes and fishing gear entanglement was introduced in the U.S. Senate Tuesday.
Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) and Tom Carper (D-Del.) co-sponsor S-2453, dubbed the “Scientific Assistance for Very Endangered (SAVE) Right Whales Act.” The measure would authorize $5 million in annual grant funding over the next 10 years for cooperative projects between state governments, nongovernmental organizations and the shipping and commercial fishing industries.
With a surviving population of around 400 animals, the North Atlantic right whale is one of the world’s most endangered species. Ship strikes and fishing gear entanglement are major causes of mortality. Canada’s Gulf of St. Lawrence has been particularly deadly in recent summers and Canadian authorities have enforced vessel speed restrictions in an effort to reduce the risk, which has led to 28 deaths in the last two years, according to NOAA.
September 12, 2019 — Canadian and U.S. environmental groups are urging the aquaculture and seafood industry to boycott AquaBounty’s Atlantic salmon eggs to eliminate the risk of any accidental mix-ups.
Friend of the Earth U.S., Friends of the Earth Canada, the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network (CBAN), the Council of Canadians – PEI Chapter, Earth Action PEI, Ecology Action Centre (Nova Scotia), The MacKillop Centre for Social Justice (PEI), and Vigilance OGM all expressed concern that “human error could lead to the inadvertent production of GM (genetically modified) salmon in open net-pens and the resultant environmental risk,” they said in a CBAN press release.
September 11, 2019 — Climate change has made record-breaking heatwaves all the more likely, both on land and beneath the ocean’s surface. As the world’s ocean sucks up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere—as well as most of the additional heat being trapped by global warming—it is undergoing some significant changes.
Marine heatwaves—prolonged periods of unusually warm ocean temperatures—are one of those changes. These extreme temperatures are increasing in frequency around the globe and wreaking havoc on marine ecosystems.
As an oceanographer, I study the many ways oceans change—from week-to-week, year-to-year and, of course, over decades and centuries—to better understand the changes that are underway and the far-reaching impacts they may have on marine ecosystems and the communities that rely on them.
September 9, 2019 — The crew of U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Mellon, including two Canadian fishery officers, returned to Seattle on Sunday after an 80-day patrol detecting and deterring illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing activity in the Pacific Ocean. The patrol was performed under the auspices of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission and the North Pacific Fisheries Commission.
Economists estimate that IUU fishing costs the international economy billions of dollars per year. By diminishing stocks, it undermines the livelihoods of legitimate fishermen around the world, with negative effects on food security in developing nations. According to the U.S. Coast Guard, combatting global IUU fishing through international partnerships is a priority for Canada and the United States.
“IUU fishing is one of the greatest threats to the ocean’s fish stocks,” said Capt. Jonathan Musman, Mellon’s commanding officer. “It was an honor to be on the front lines of enforcement efforts of the distant waters fishing fleets.”