Compiled by RIAS and commissioned by the BC Salmon Farmers Association (BCSFA), the economic impact report found that the ban, which was announced in June, and the current proposed draft transition plan will result in at least $9 billion in unnecessary costs to Canadian taxpayers to compensate for the sector’s closure, and to subsidise unproven closed containment technology companies.
The report has calculated annual losses of:
- $1.17 billion in economic activity
- $435 million in GDP
- $133.6 million per year to First Nations
- 4,560 well-paid full-time jobs across Canada
- Elimination of a further 50,000 tonnes of farm-raised Canadian salmon
*Growth scenarios are based on company projections of potential recovery of production under the responsible transition plan
“The proposed ban is a reckless decision by the Trudeau government that ignores both science and economic reality,” said Brian Kingzett, executive director of the BC Salmon Farmers Association, in a press release.
“BC salmon farming companies, suppliers and First Nations within whose territories we operate have communicated to the federal government that transition cannot be a ban on marine net-pen salmon farms in less than five years and maintain a viable farmed salmon sector,” he added.
"Suicides, overdoses, poverty, and the loss of our rights"
The report was announced at a press conference in Ottawa this morning by the Coalition of First Nations for Finfish Stewardship (the Coalition) alongside David Kiemele, managing director of Cermaq Canada, representing the salmon farming sector in BC.
“What wasn’t included in the $9 billion bill to Canadian taxpayers announced today is the social cost to First Nations if Ottawa continues to ignore the rights, title, and self-determination of coastal Nations hosting salmon farming in their traditional territories,” said Dallas Smith, spokesperson for the Coalition.
“You cannot cut a cheque for the damage that will occur to impacted Indigenous communities if our salmon farming partners are forced to leave BC. This includes increased suicides, overdoses, poverty, and the loss of our rights. Canada can avoid these unnecessary social and economic costs if they let Rightsholder First Nations lead the transition of salmon farming in their territories.”
BC salmon farmers argue that mandating the sector to transition to unproven technologies in a short time frame ignores their willingness to administer alternative innovations that can achieve the same outcome. They add that innovative solutions need to be tailored to unique coastal characteristics and aligned with the goals of the rightsholder First Nations who host salmon farms in their territories.
“Unfortunately, these decisions made by the Trudeau government seem to have been co-opted by well-funded, anti-salmon farming activists, who have spent years pushing the false narrative that salmon farms significantly threaten wild Pacific salmon when peer-reviewed science says it does not,” said Kingzett.
The salmon farmers add that federal and independent scientists have repeatedly concluded that salmon farms pose no more than "minimal risk” and long-term data continues to indicate that salmon farms are not a driver of sea lice levels on wild Pacific salmon.
The BCSFA and Coalition urge Prime Minister Trudeau to consider a more realistic, no-cost-to-taxpayers alternative to transition that would achieve the same outcome as a ban without imposing devasting impacts on the sector, on First Nations’ rights, and on coastal communities in BC.
“Given the trade and economic crisis that this country continues to face, there’s an opportunity for the government to pivot to a positive direction on the future of salmon farming in BC,” said Smith. “We are part of the solution.”
