Canadian aquaculture operators seek improved biosecurity infrastructure

As they say in the fishing business, at time you take a long walk on a short wharf. Here is a story from Canada’s maritime provinces about aquaculture operators on the south coast who are seeking provincial help to build infrastructure to help prevent the spread of disease in farmed fish. This is important, because as fish stocks in the oceans are steadily being depleted and those which are being depleted are exposed the ever-growing levels of pollution, there is a growing interest in fish farms. Now, fishermen in Canada’s eastern provinces want the government to address immediate biosecurity concerns even before there is a national aquaculture policy framework in place. Correspondence obtained by Transcontinental Media under provincial freedom of information laws reveals there is concern among aquaculture operators on the province’s south coast about finding appropriate funding programs to improve biosecurity infrastructure, such as wharves, for farmed fish. Currently, dead fish, dirty nets, and other refuse comes ashore in the same area where clean nets go out. One aquaculture operation uses the same wharf as the local walk-on coastal passenger ferry service. The Western Star’s Rob Antle writes that the St. Alban’s, Newfoundland, Canada-based Coast of Bays Corp. wrote provincial Fisheries Minister Tom Rideout on 10 April 2007, outlining the concerns. “The whole point of requesting a specific, dedicated funding program for bio-security infrastructure is that existing programs do not meet industry/environment needs,” the letter states, insisting that it would take four to six years to construct a wharf under existing guidelines. The letter suggests it would take more than twenty years to carry out necessary infrastructure upgrades. If we are to avoid the ISA (infectious salmon anaemia) and provide a bio-secure environment, we simply do not have that kind of time. From a rural development point of view, infrastructure to establish a strong industrial base and ensure environmental stewardship must take precedence above all else.”

On 13 April 2007 Rideout responded, suggesting the key to improving the situation was the establishment of an as-yet-unrealized aquaculture framework agreement with the federal government. He warned them not to hold their breath. “Such an agreement will not be in place in the very near future and we should make all efforts to utilize existing programming wherever it is available,” Rideout said, adding that the industry also would have to play a role. “Further, as in other sectors, one would expect the participation of the aquaculture sector in the construction and maintenance of such facilities. There must be a concerted effort between all users of existing wharves to implement bio-security protocols to mitigate health concerns. This effort must continue in the absence of new infrastructure.”

A spokeswoman with the provincial Fisheries Department said that “we have processes in place to maximize bio-security and they are adequate form the perspective of aquaculture veterinarians.” The spokesperson said the province is working on improvements. The executive director of the Coast of Bays Corp. at the time the letter was written was Tracey Perry — the recently elected Tory MHA for Fortune Bay-Cape La Hune. She agrees bio-security is key for aquaculture industry in her area, which could face potential devastation in the event of a disease outbreak. “Infrastructure is a critical component of our overall development as we grow the industry. It was important then, it’s important today,” Perry told Transcontinental Media. We want to be proactive and make sure we have infrastructure in place to mitigate any possibility of environmental (problems) like what happened in New Brunswick a few years ago. We want to ensure we have a state of the art industry with state-of-the-art infrastructure - I feel like we are making great progress.”

In late August, Rideout announced the province would provide $1.2 million towards a $4.3 million aquatic veterinary diagnostic facility at St. Alban’s, and $1.9 million for wastewater treatment equipment at plants in Harbour Breton, Gaultois and Hermitage. Those investments, Rideout insisted at the time, would give the province “the opportunity to position itself among aquaculture producing regions that have the highest level of bio-security, fish health monitoring and surveillance.” Rideout was also among the contingent of aquaculture ministers that met federal fisheries in late November to discuss a potential national aquaculture agreement. The aquaculture framework idea has been kicking around since 2005 and Perry is among those hoping for a substantial move on that front in 2008. “We’re working closely and cooperatively with our counterparts in other Atlantic provinces as well as the federal government, to put that framework in place,” she said. “We’re going to see strong recognition I think, federally and provincially, that the investments required are very much justified.”