Washington bans net farms woot!

[boxhitch]

Latest: Washington state bans salmon farms


An escape of non-native salmon prompted the state to shut down aquaculture.

Washington has now banned the practice altogether, ending three decades of Atlantic salmon farming in the state’s waters. Inslee signed the bill in mid-March, saying "these (net-pens) present a risk to our wild salmon runs that we cannot tolerate.” He also vetoed a provision allowing lawmakers to reconsider the ban if new research becomes available. The leases of the remaining fish farms, which are all owned by Cooke, expire in 2022.

[Jack Russell]

Happy Days! Lets hope its contagious.

[Ride Red]

Hopefully BC follows suite.

[Big Lew]

Although I'm happy that someone has stepped forward and banned net farming, it is an
important food industry, so hopefully the industry can find ways to land farm that's not
cost prohibitive.

[Brez]

Yes, B.C. is the only place on the west coast that allows it now.

[Surrey Boy]

2022 is a long time away.

[boxhitch]

But letting leases play out is a whole lot cheaper than buying them out.

so hopefully the industry can find ways to land farm that's not
cost prohibitive.

they can, but not likely in Canada unless it gets deemed traditional then will get federal support

[Pemby_mess]

Although I'm happy that someone has stepped forward and banned net farming, it is an
important food industry, so hopefully the industry can find ways to land farm that's not
cost prohibitive.

"more expensive" is not necessarily "cost prohibitive". When we talk about fish farming economics, very seldom is anybody doing any subtraction. I'd say the wild salmon are a fairly important food fishery as well.

[Beachcomber]

A complicated issue jurisdictionally given the federal government regulates the industry while the provincial government is responsible for issuing tenures to the farms. I doubt the industry can be eradicated at the stroke of a pen as it was in Washington without provincial/federal cooperation. Something like 20 licences are up for renewal in June. Given FN opposition and increasing environmental pressure it will be interesting to see how this unfolds.

At some point the net pen industry may find itself a pariah in the eyes of consumers. It’s products may come to be viewed in the same light as clothing manufacturered by children in sweat shops. Meanwhile land based pens are increasingly popular elsewhere; these producers would be only too happy to highlight the environmental concerns raised by ocean based farms. Unless B.C. and Ottawa become more proactive/forward thinking on this score we could end up losing both our wild salmon AND market share to terrestrial farm operators elsewhere.

[Pemby_mess]

A complicated issue jurisdictionally given the federal government regulates the industry while the provincial government is responsible for issuing tenures to the farms. I doubt the industry can be eradicated at the stroke of a pen as it was in Washington without provincial/federal cooperation. Something like 20 licences are up for renewal in June. Given FN opposition and increasing environmental pressure it will be interesting to see how this unfolds.

At some point the net pen industry may find itself a pariah in the eyes of consumers. It’s products may come to be viewed in the same light as clothing manufacturered by children in sweat shops. Meanwhile land based pens are increasingly popular elsewhere; these producers would be only too happy to highlight the environmental concerns raised by ocean based farms. Unless B.C. and Ottawa become more proactive/forward thinking on this score we could end up losing both our wild salmon AND market share to terrestrial farm operators elsewhere.

Thats a very intelligent way to look at it; and applicable to many of our other industries.

I've heard rumours that the federal government holds a 10% stake in biotech royalties that they struck out for their contribution to the R&d responsible for the genetically engineered stock. If true, it goes a long way in explaining why our regulators are so accomodating toward these floating bio-hazards.