Subscribe & stay up-to-date with ASF
ST. JOHN’S – Tonight in St. John’s, representatives from Mowi will hold a public information session about the company’s proposed expansion in south Newfoundland. The meeting is part of an ongoing environmental assessment of the project that began 2018 and has been the subject of litigation.
As an organization dedicated to the conservation of wild Atlantic salmon and their environment, ASF is opposed to Mowi’s expansion. We conclude that it is unjustified, unnecessary, and too risky.
Unjustified
Granting companies increased access to public resources, like the ocean, should be conditional upon safe and successful operations. In Newfoundland and Labrador, salmon farming has been and continues to be a troubled industry, afflicted by disease, escapes, and mass mortality events. The result is an industry in decline.
In 2016, when the Newfoundland and Labrador government released The Way Forward economic development plan, it set a target of 50,000 tons of annual farmed Atlantic salmon production.
However, since then, production has been declining. According to data published by Statistics Canada, 25,400 tons salmon and trout were harvested from fish farms in 2016, compared to 8,200 tons in 2022, the last year for which Statistics Canada data is available. ASF concludes that this decline is evidence of an inability to raise healthy fish and keep them alive.
Dumping of plastics, netting, and other aquaculture waste is another reason why expansion is unjustified. ASF staff recently made two visits to areas in Hermitage Bay and observed an entire cove, known as The Locker, that has been turned into a marine dump by aquaculture companies. We have heard reports of other sites like this.
The blatant dumping of plastic waste by the industry is likely against the law. It is also a violation of the social contract between corporations and citizens.
Unnecessary
Despite efforts to reform aquaculture licensing, salmon farming companies in Newfoundland and Labrador are using only a fraction of the leases they hold. According to data from the provincial government, there are 115-active fish farming licenses in the province. Between May 2023 and August 2024, only 19 of them were stocked with fish – 15 with salmon and four with trout.
Even assuming that an equal number of sites are being fallowed, awaiting restocking, companies are only using a third of the active licenses they hold.
It is therefore nonsensical to expand into new areas, further from established logistics hubs, where wild salmon and other fish species are not already exposed to disease, parasites, and genetic risks from the industry.
Too risky
Current laws and regulations are not sufficient to prevent serious animal disease outbreaks, or fish farm escapes.
Research from Newfoundland and Labrador shows that farmed salmon escape frequently, and spawn with wild salmon in rivers along parts of the south coast. Wild Atlantic salmon from small or depressed populations, like those in some parts of the south coast, are particularly vulnerable to negative effects from interbreeding.
Although adult Atlantic salmon returns to North America are on a 30-year increasing trend, populations in proximity to salmon farms have collapsed.
A 2024 study from Fisheries and Oceans Canada scientists focused on wild salmon collapse in the Conne River which empties into Bay d’Espoir. The authors looked at all possible causes of decline and determined salmon farms were a significant contributing factor.
Conclusion
Given the industry’s problems and its harmful effects on the environment, ASF is urging Mowi and other companies to reconsider expansion plans and focus on improving existing operations. We are also asking federal and provincial leaders to conduct a clear-eyed assessment of the risks and benefits of industrial fish farming in coastal waters.
As places like British Columbia move away from the industry entirely, it is unreasonable to permit expansion in Atlantic Canada, at least until companies can demonstrate safe and successful operations, and governments can meet commitments to protect wild fish and the environment from serious harm.
For more information, contact Neville Crabbe
(506) 467-6804