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COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • MAY 2018 Report recommends FN approval on tenures


by TOM WALKER VICTORIA – A long-awaited


report from the BC Minister of Agriculture’s advisory council on finfish aquaculture recommends making First Nations' agreement a condition of Crown tenure approval and renewal. Rocky Boschman,


managing director of Grieg Seafoods BC and director of the BC Salmon Farmers Association, says the report includes some “recommended actions that we agree with in principle, but will be unworkable in practice without further clarification.” What concerns industry most is the recommendation to “acknowledge and incorporate First Nations’ rights, title and stewardship responsibilities in all aspects of fish farm governance, including tenuring, licensing, management and monitoring in a manner consistent with the United Nations Declaration of Rights of


Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).” That’s untenable, the association says. “The association cannot


support that recommendation as written, but would welcome the opportunity to work with other stakeholders and government to clarify it,” a news release states. The salmon farm tenure


process in BC currently requires First Nations’ consultation. Most existing farms are covered under the 20 agreements companies have voluntarily signed with the First Nations in whose territories they operate. The province grants the actual tenure licence, however. Marine Harvest public affairs director Ian Roberts describes the situation as “a quagmire.” “As it’s written, it just seems


very unclear and unworkable because you are investing millions of dollars into an area that could have started with


support and, before the tenure renewal, a change of leadership would change their direction,” he says. “If the government chooses to proceed with some recommendations specific to First Nations or others, they must provide clarity to BC business about the process involved.” Twenty BC salmon farm


tenures are up for renewal next month. Eleven of those are held by Marine Harvest. Other key


recommendations in the report include: • Strengthening regulations governing salmon farming in BC, including an area-based management approach that could include relocating existing farms;


• Increasing community, stakeholder and local government engagement to improve public trust in aquaculture siting and operations;


• Establishing a science council to direct more


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research to understand the risk salmon farming poses to wild salmon from the transfer of pathogens, and


• Providing incentives for the continued research,


TRACEBACK


and rendering plants. These three parts to traceability – identification, premises, movements – allow the tracing of an animal through the supply chain. If the system works well, the impact of an event on the livestock industry can be minimized and market access can be maintained. BSE cost livestock


producers across Canada upwards of $6 billion in 2003. Current estimates peg the cost of a cross-species outbreak of a disease like Foot and Mouth at up to $45 billion.


The new regulations will


address gaps in the current livestock identification and


development and adoption of salmon farming technologies that reduce the risk to wild salmon, including land-based closed containment.


nfrom page 11


traceability system. Proposed regulatory amendments include identification requirements for goats, farmed deer and farmed elk, which increases the number of animals subject to traceability requirements. Regulations are already in place for identification of bison, cattle, sheep and pigs. The pork industry in BC and the rest of Canada is ahead of the pack with Pig Trace, a mandatory traceability system in place since 2014. The rest of the livestock industry currently has a broken system, however. Sheep producers, for


example, purchase approved RFID tags and the tag information is stored in the CLTS. Although producers are required to keep records of movements, they aren’t required to report to CLTS. Moreover, livestock species


that share diseases are not currently all subject to traceability requirements; the time to report an event is too long to support an effective response; information about the precise location of livestock is limited; and information on domestic animal movements is lacking. The new regulations also


promise to reduce the maximum time to report a tag replacement, movement or animal death to the responsible administrator from 30 days to seven. In Canada, premises ID falls


to the provinces. BC has made it voluntary but producers will need to register their farms and provide a premises ID number if they want to move livestock to other locations. Registration of the premises can be done by mail or online. Premises ID proved its


worth during last year’s natural disasters. According to the BC Cattlemen’s Association, the Cariboo wildfires resulted in almost full registration of its members within days last summer. To report animal


movements or purchases of new animals, producers and livestock facilities will need to report to CLTS online or by telephone. The Canada Agricultural Partnership is expected to have cost-share funding available to assist individuals and organizations purchase equipment and management software to help make the reporting process as easy and accurate as possible.


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