Feds' draft transition plan for B.C. salmon farms finally arrives, 7 weeks late

When the federal government announced all open net fish farms on the British Columbia coast need to be out of the water by 2029, it also promised to produce a draft transition plan by the end of July.

It missed that target by seven weeks, but late Friday afternoon CTV News obtained a copy of the draft report.

It outlines how the government plans to move forward with support for First Nations, communities and workers that rely on the industry, and describes aspirational plans to make B.C. a world leader in innovative and clean aquaculture technology.

It says the government will work with First Nations to identify and develop new economic opportunities that align with each community’s particular needs and values.

According to the draft plan, the government will also provide training and reskilling opportunities for workers.

While existing open net pen farms must phase out in the next five years, the draft plan acknowledges the transition to other forms of aquaculture will likely take longer than that.

According to industry proponents, most of the remote communities that currently host open net pen salmon farms do not have the infrastructure to support new, land-based facilities.

“To be able to bring in a lot of these technologies, we simply don’t have the electric power to do that,” said Dallas Smith with the Coalition of First Nations for Finfish Stewardship.

“And so we’re engaged in discussions with BC Hydro to look at ways we can close the gap.”

The path forward could include floating or land-based closed containment facilities – which have limited or no contact with the natural marine environment – but construction and technology costs could be prohibitive.

"The land-based side has considerably more capital costs involved than the net pens. So that's the downside of that,” said Gary Robinson, a consultant in the salmon aquaculture industry.

“You're trading off better survival and higher productivity for higher capital costs."

An economic analysis produced for the provincial government by Counterpoint Consulting estimates the cost of replacing B.C.’s open net pen Atlantic salmon harvest with recirculating aquaculture systems could be as high as $1.8 billion.

As the federal government continues to refine the details of what the transition could and should like, B.C. risks falling behind.

"Washington, Oregon and California are all vying to attract investments into their jurisdictions to service the U.S. market and they're becoming more and more competitive as B.C. becomes less competitive,” Robinson said.