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Salmon Aquaculture: Lessons from New Brunswick

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All the fish farms in south west New Brunswick together create the equivalent waste from 89,611 people. ... Impacts of Salmon Farms Ecologically Sustainable? – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Salmon Aquaculture: Lessons from New Brunswick


1
Salmon Aquaculture Lessons from New Brunswick
  • Inka Milewski, Science Advisor
  • Conservation Council of New Brunswick
  • Port Mouton, Nova Scotia
  • November 15, 2006

2
Salmon Aquaculture Lessons from New Brunswick
  • Economically sustainable?
  • Ecologically sustainable?
  • Well-regulated?

3
Economically Sustainable? mom and pop to
Multinational
1986 1996 2006
Number of Farm Sites 28 74 98
Production 727 mt 16,300 mt 35,000 mt
Number of fish per farm 7,000 70,000 300,000 400,000
Price per pound (wholesale) 12.82 CND 7.55 CND 2.50 CND
Value of salmon sales 9.2 million 122.5 million 200 million
Number of Companies 28 (1 corporations control 1 farm) 45 (3 corporations control 53 farms) 12 (1 corporation controls and/or contracts from all farms)
4
2006 Salmon Farm Sites
5
Economically Sustainable? Government Driven and
subsidized
  • From 1985 to 1996, ACOA pumped over 34 million
    into NBs salmon aquaculture 60 was direct
    contributions and grants
  • In 1987, NB Salmon Growers Association formed
    the Association received 4.3 million from
    government for their work between 87-96
  • Beginning in 1996, outbreaks of ISA resulted in
    the slaughter of millions of fish in 1997- 98
    federal government paid out 32.5 million and the
    province 8 million in compensation
  • In 2000 DFO launched Program for Sustainable
    Aquaculture and dedicated 75-million over five
    years with 15-million per year thereafter
  • In 2004, DFO Minister, Gerald Regan, creates
    Aquaculture Management Directorate within DFO to
    ensure aquaculture is more of a priority

6
Ecologically Sustainable? Impacts of Salmon
Farms
  • Environmental impacts are associated with net
    pens, fish feed and use of chemicals and drugs
  • Many effects still not studied
  • impacts of net pens structures on the behaviour
    of migratory species
  • loss of foraging, spawning and/or nursery habitat
    for wild species as a result of waste
    accumulation
  • sub-lethal effects of pesticides on non-target
    species

7
Ecologically Sustainable? Waste Impacts of Farms
  • By volume, largest component of waste discharges
    from finfish aquaculture operations are fecal
    wastes
  • 95-98 of wastes deposited on the bottom are
    re-suspended in days and transported elsewhere

8
How much Fecal waste is released from salmon
farms?
Equivalent to fecal wastes from 2667 people1
1 salmon farm1 200,000 fish 1000 mt
182 mt of fecal waste/year1
93 salmon farms in S.W.N.B. 33,600 mt in 20012
Equivalent to fecal wastes from 89,611 people
6115 mt of fecal waste/year
1Source Hardy 2001 2NB. Department of
Agriculture, Fisheries and Aquaculture
9
Changes in Benthic Diversity with Increased
Organic Loading
10
More sulphur compounds like H2S are produced
More nitrogen compounds like ammonia (NH4 ) are
produced
More methane compounds (CH4 ) are produced
Animals and bacteria in sediments produce H2O
and C02
O2 levels drop, C02 levels increase, Redox values
drop
Ammonia and sulphide levels increase
Microbial community changes to bacteria tolerant
of low 02
Animals diversity decreases, pollution tolerant
species increase
Organic loading
11
Area of seafloor potentially impacted by wastes
1 salmon farm (200,000 fish) 2
X 10 net pens
9680 m2 2.5 acres
29,120 m2 7.5 acres
30 m Mixing Zone
Each net pen is 22 m in diameter
104 m
44 m
220 m
280 m
12
Former Fish Farm
Control or Reference Site
13
N
14
Mean Redox -154.38 mVNHE
Mean Redox 34.92 mVNHE
Mean Sulphides 1308 µM
Mean Sulphides 29.73 µM
Mean no. of species 14
Mean no. of species 31
Species diversity 3.85
Species diversity 2.58
Crow Harbour Samples
Control Site Samples
15
Control site sediment core (2003)
Farm site sediment core (2003)
16
Mean sediment Eh at a former fish farm in Crow
Harbour and a Reference Site (2002-2004)
Sediment Depth
17
Mean Surface Sediment Sulphides at a former fish
farm in Crow Harbour and a reference site
(2002-2004)
18
Crow Harbour (CH)farm vs reference site
(RS)Species Numbers and Diversity 2002-2004
19
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20
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21
Well-Regulated?
  • the first 10 years (1979-1989) salmon aquaculture
    was virtually unregulated
  • Province signed an MOU with DFO in 1989 which
    gave province development and licensing
    responsibility
  • DFO and EC still retained responsibility for
    enforcing section 35 (prohibits a HADD - harmful
    alteration, degradation or destruction of fish
    habitat) and section 36(3) (prohibits release of
    deleterious substances) of Fisheries Act
  • Monitoring of farms sites by province began in
    1989 as a pilot project
  • First monitoring report in 1992 found 37 or 48
    farms had moderate to high environmental impact
    ratings

22
Well-Regulated?
  • In 1991 New Brunswick gets an Aquaculture Act
    that sets site allocation rules (by then there
    are already 57 farms) confidentially provisions
    of the Act prevent public release of monitoring
    data
  • By 1997, disease and sea lice outbreaks,
    conflicts with local fishermen over allocations
    of farm sites prompt a review of the Site
    Allocation Policy moratorium on new sites
    imposed
  • In 2002 environmental monitoring transferred to
    provincial Environment Department and
    environmental performance guidelines are finally
    established annual monitoring results are
    finally made public
  • In 2003 Provincial Department of Fisheries and
    Aquaculture finally establishes a Compliance and
    Enforcement section

23
Well-Regulated?
  • In 2005, DFO Regional Director General (Atlantic
    Region) finally requests DFO Science Branch
    prepare an expert opinion on the effect of
    sulfides on diversity of benthic community
  • According to expert opinion
  • 60-70 of biodiversity is lost when sulfides are
    1500 3000 µM,
  • 70-90 of biodiversity is lost when sulfides are
    greater than 3000 µM,
  • 2006,province changes environmental rating system
    for sulfide levels that constitute a HADD under
    the Fisheries Act (from 6000 µM to 4500 µM) the
    level is set higher than the expert advice
    provided by a DFO scientist in 2005

24
Well-Regulated?
 
Annually, 25-30 of farms are allowed to operate
even though sulfide levels in sediments are in
the high impact category and would likely be in
violation of section 35 of federal Fisheries Act.
25
New Brunswicks Salmon Aquaculture Industry
  • Economically sustainable? not without
    government subsidies
  • Ecologically sustainable? not without
    environmental subsidies
  • Well-regulated? not for ecological impacts

26
2005 Nova Scotia Industry Consultation
  • Complaints by industry that application and
    approval process was too burdensome and too long
  • Federal EA process was viewed as a problem
  • Scarcity of suitable inshore sites, federal
    restrictions on movement of eggs and fish, public
    opposition on sites, lack of government support
    to reduce financial risk of disease other
    catastrophic problems and lack of direction
    from government seen as problems by industry

27
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28
2005 - 48 salmon sites - 16 in Gulf of Maine
Region - Rest along the South Shore and Bras dOr
Lakes
29
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