Science Response 2021/042

Hydrodynamic Connectivity between Marine Finfish Aquaculture Facilities in British Columbia: in support of an Area Based Management Approach

Context

Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s (DFO) Aquaculture Management Division (AMD) is the regulatory body for managing aquaculture in British Columbia (BC). The aquaculture management regime in BC is robust and complex, with oversight from provincial and other federal regulatory agencies. Licenses and their associated conditions are the primary tool used to manage the fishery, and are issued under the authority of the Pacific Aquaculture Regulations and the Fisheries Act. AMD licenses marine finfish, marine shellfish, and land-based hatchery and production facilities, including approximately 114 marine finfish farms, which is the focus of this review. AMD has made a commitment to move towards Area-based Management (ABM) in BC, which has also been a recommendation made by a number of external groups. This new approach will shift AMD away from assessing and managing each individual finfish farm in isolation, and support ongoing collaborative work with external partners (e.g., environmental non-government organizations, First Nations, industry and other stakeholders).

Individual farms can be connected to each other by the flow of water; and they are similarly connected to wild fish and fish habitat that are proximal to the farms. Hydrodynamic connectivity between marine finfish aquaculture facilities can present transmission risks between farms, and between farmed salmon and wild salmon, specifically related to sea lice (Adams et al., 2012; Cantrell et al., 2018, 2020) and pathogens (Bravo et al., 2020; Foreman et al., 2015b). Regional BC data, along with that from other fish farming nations, indicates that an area based management approach involving coordinated farm treatments, stocking plans, fallowing, etc. can be more effective than individual farm management when managing disease and pest outbreaks. This approach may also decrease transmission and risk to wild fish.

AMD is requesting that DFO Science Branch provide science advice on hydrodynamic connectivity between existing marine finfish aquaculture sites, in order to delineate “compartments” that could be a basis of area-based management of finfish farms in BC.

The assessment and advice arising from this Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat (CSAS) Science Response (SR) process will be used to inform area management decisions, and conditions of license for 2022. Consultations are anticipated in 2021 prior to licensing. In addition, this information will be one element brought forward to broader multi-stakeholder discussions on area-based management.

This Science Response results from the Regional Science Response Process of February 15, 2021 on the Hydrodynamic Connectivity between Marine Finfish Aquaculture Facilities in British Columbia: in support of an Area Based Management Approach.

Science Response 2021/042 (PDF, 4,568 KB)

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