Establishing a Salmon Aquaculture Forum in BC

Vancouver, December 16, 2003 - Salmon aquaculture has been one of the most controversial and divisive topics of discussion and public debate in British Columbia. Opposing opinions on the effects and future development of salmon aquaculture have been highly polarized and emotional. Today, the Pacific Fisheries Resource Conservation Council (PFRCC), provided advice to the provincial and federal governments on the establishment of a Salmon Aquaculture Forum advice that represents an historic effort in British Columbia to fundamentally improve the dialogue and seek constructive solutions to controversies associated with salmon aquaculture.

"There has been no successful venue for salmon aquaculture issues to be discussed in productive ways, and few procedures put in place to deal constructively with the real or perceived problems, opportunities and risks", said the Honourable John A. Fraser, Chair of the PFRCC.

"The public debate has taken place primarily through the news media, radio talk shows and public relations campaigns. The result has been the build-up of unresolved controversies, causing many British Columbians to become concerned and apprehensive about salmon aquaculture, its products and practices".

"We need to get past this and move on", Mr. Fraser added. "The simple truth is that salmon aquaculture will neither simply go away nor expand unchecked. It is expected to continue to be a significant industry in British Columbia. At the same time, its practices must satisfy public expectations, and the industry must earn public understanding and acceptance".

In April 2003, the governments of Canada and British Columbia accepted the PFRCC's January 2003 recommendation to establish the Salmon Aquaculture Forum. They subsequently asked the PFRCC to engage First Nations and stakeholders to help define the organizational architecture, participation and procedures of the Forum.

During the past summer, the PFRCC carried out an extensive round of meetings, bilateral discussions, informal roundtables and interviews across the coastal areas of the province. This also involved research on the practices of advisory and consensus-building organizations in aquaculture and other resource sectors.

The PFRCC advice is contained in two documents: The Salmon Aquaculture Forum: Briefing Note to Ministers and The Salmon Aquaculture Forum: Discussion Paper on Practices and Findings . Both of these documents can be found at the PFRCC's website: www.fish.bc.ca. The January 2003 PFRCC advisory entitled Wild Salmon and Aquaculture , which recommended the creation of the Salmon Aquaculture Forum, can also be found at the website.

For the Salmon Aquaculture Forum to be successful, the PFRCC advises both federal and provincial ministers that the Forum embrace three essential obligations:
1. It provide a transparent on-going mechanism to advise governments and inform the public on what is required to achieve an environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable salmon aquaculture industry in British Columbia;
2. It provide the ways for First Nations, stakeholders, governments and the public to build consensus and contribute to finding solutions to the controversial issues; and,
3. It be given a mandate to focus its attention and resources on: enabling respectful dialogue; sharing and examining information; building agreement on situations, conditions, information needs and trends; and, providing advice to governments.

"The Forum's functions should be to inform, initiate, convene, study, report, investigate and persuade", added Mr. Fraser. "It should enable public input and encourage constructive dialogue. It needs a capability to act, encourage joint fact-finding, and work towards establishing practical criteria to assess risks and benefits related to salmon aquaculture".

In composing the Forum, the PFRCC advises that:

The Forum adopt a commission organizational model, with a total of six or seven individuals each representing perspectives and backgrounds, but not serving as delegates or representatives of stakeholder or First Nations organizations.

The unique status of First Nations be acknowledged in the Forum through various means, including their involvement as members.

The chair of the Forum be an individual who is well informed about fisheries and resource issues and has the respect of all parties for demonstrated fairness, judgment, trustworthiness, and ability to build consensus.

The members of the Forum be impartial, respected for their judgment and constructive attitudes, and able to demonstrate that they are fair, reasonable, collectively representative, and creative in seeking solutions.

The backgrounds of the members include environmental, aboriginal, industry, communities, fisheries and public sector perspectives.

The federal and provincial governments appoint informal or ex-officio members to the Forum, to provide liaison with their governments in addition to their technical input and information sharing.

The Forum members involve stakeholders primarily by inviting and considering their views and ideas through submissions and presentations on issues and, at times, enabling dialogue to take place among them in moderated discussions.

The public and stakeholders be given full access to the proceedings of the Forum and have opportunities to present their perspectives.

The federal and provincial governments equally fund the Forum and provide the primary resources for its work, while enabling the Forum to operate independently.

In its briefing note to ministers, the PFRCC proposes three alternative organizational models to the commission model listed above, these are to permit a range of options.

In terms of reporting, the PFRCC recommends that the Forum report to the new Pacific Council of Fisheries Ministers responsible for aquaculture. In addition, the selection of Forum members, as well as the other fundamental decisions about the nature and mandate of the new organization, should initially be left to the discretion of the federal and provincial ministers.

"With this advice, the onus is now on governments, industry, environmental groups and others to get on with the job and make it work", Mr. Fraser added. "This council, and the public as well, will be watching closely to make sure that real efforts are made by all sides to improve the discussion and dialogue. If that can be done, then we'll all be more confident that wild salmon can be better protected".

For more information, contact:

John Paul Fraser
Media Liaison Pacific Fisheries Resource Conservation Council
604-775-5789
fraser@fish.bc.ca

Gordon Ennis
Managing Director Pacific Fisheries Resource Conservation Council
604-775-6070
ennis@fish.bc.ca

Backgrounder: Establishing a Salmon Aquaculture Forum in BC

Related Reports:

Salmon Aquaculture Forum: Discussion Paper on Practices & Findings (The)

Salmon Aquaculture Forum: Briefing Note to Ministers (The)