Canada’s efforts to phase out open salmon farms have hit a blockade after a federal judge said farmers were blinded by a government closure order.
Federal Court Judge Elizabeth Hennegan ruled earlier this month that former Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan did not give farm operators the right to procedural justice when announcing plans to phase out farms, and criticized the minister’s lack of clarity about the controversy. a decision the companies said would cost them millions in losses.
In December 2020, Jordan announced that 19 salmon farms in the Discovery Islands, a region off the coast of British Columbia, would be closed by 2022. She also said no fish transfers would be allowed between hatcheries and open farms in 18 – the monthly period of gradual suspension.
In response, the salmon farmers began to suspend their activities in the Discovery Islands, but also fought against the orders in court.
Ordering the closure of farms, Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party acted on the advice of a government commission to reduce wild salmon. The Cohen Commission found in 2012 that the Discovery Islands acted as a barrier to salmon migration routes – and that closing farms would reduce the risk of wild salmon. However, nine government reports found that farms posed a minimal risk to wild salmon.
“[Farmers] they claim that they have not been informed of the scope of the decision, nor that the transfer licenses will be banned, “Hennegan wrote in his decision, calling the minister’s response” inadequate “.
The judge said that for a decision that would cost companies millions in losses, the Minister of Fisheries owed the companies a detailed explanation of his decision. “The news release does not provide any reasons. The news release is a means for a person … to express a point of view. The consequences of the decision in this case are significant and the Minister is obliged to motivate. “
Fish farming has become a hotbed between environmental activists, first nation leaders and farmers, but the recent decision is a blow to Trudeau’s promise to end the industry in the region by 2025.
In March, the First Nations Wild Salmon Alliance called on the government to continue working to close farms, blaming “fragmented management decisions at both the federal and provincial levels” for “the precarious state of extinction of wild salmon.”
Last month, the Prime Minister of British Columbia warned the Prime Minister that closing without a clear transition plan would “undermine the economies of dozens of communities” in the region.
With the closure of farms, Canada would be one of the first countries in the world to move from open farming to closed water systems. In the United States, both Alaska and Washington have sought to reign on fish farms amid growing fears that farmed salmon may pose a risk to diseased wild salmon.
Last month, a recent Canadian government report showed that for nearly a decade, its own scientists have been concerned that farmed Atlantic salmon is a vector for the spread of the highly contagious Piscine orthoreovirus.
Heneghan’s decision also imposed a previous ban that allowed fish farms to replenish their salmon stocks until the farms were closed.
The Association of Salmon Producers in British Columbia said it was “encouraged” by the court ruling.
A spokesman for Fisheries Minister Joyce Murray said she was aware of the court’s decision and would decide on the next steps soon.
“[Minister Murray] remains committed to the transition from open salmon farming in the coastal waters of British Columbia, ”said spokeswoman Claire Teichmann.
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