First Nations group criticizes federal fisheries department

An Indigenous-led group is criticizing what it says is the "gross mismanagement" of aquaculture in British Columbia by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), as it calls for a separation of its regulatory and promotional responsibilities.

The First Nations Wild Salmon Alliance says the department is mired in conflict of interest stemming from its dual role, which the group's chairman Bob Chamberlin described as like "marking your own homework."

Chamberlin says the group wants the department to stick to its primary obligation of looking after the environment and fisheries, and to implement "a truly independent" scientific body to help inform government decisions affecting marine life inB.C.

A spokesperson for the DFOsaidin a statement that scientific integrity guides and shapes how it generates advice to inform decision making, including through impartial peer review.

"DFO continues to engage with our partners and stakeholders on the development of a responsible plan to transition from open net-pen salmon farming in coastal British Columbia waters by 2025," said spokesperson Kathryn Hallett.

"Consultations are ongoing with First Nations, the province ofB.C., industry, ENGOs, and British Columbians."

She said the goal is for the fish and seafood farming industries to operate responsibly and sustainably in a way that conserves the aquatic ecosystem for the future.

Chamberlin and the alliance have been vocal critics of federal policy on fisheries inB.C., including what he says is industry involvement in the reports by the Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat on issues such as fish farming's risk to wild salmon stocks.

Chamberlin says such participation in the scientific reports results in a "predetermined" outcome that would benefit industry.

"In conclusion, we need to fix the current [Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat]process, which is run by DFO and entwined with the management preferences, influences and aspirations of the department," Chamberlin said during a briefing in Ottawa.

"Based on our considerable professional experience, I reiterate that Canada should implement a truly independent science advice body to directly advise decision-makers and recommend further research without being subjected to vested interests inside or outside of DFO."

Other scientists have also raised the question of whether the secretariat process is truly evidence-based and transparent in the past.

A peer-reviewed paperfrom Pacific Salmon Foundation researchers last year also claims the department's aquaculture management is not impartial in nature and can be influenced by vested interests.

"The issues with DFO science advice are not due to isolated lapses, but are instead structural ... and beyond the reach of incremental corrective measures," the paper reads.

Salmon farmers' association pushes back

Brian Kingzett, the executive director of the B.C. Salmon Farmers' Association, rejected the notion that the DFO was in a conflict of interest.

"The Fisheries and Oceans Canada process has very respected scientists," he told CBC News. "They're regulating stakeholders, they consult stakeholders because there's a lot of input to be gained.

"[The alliance's allegation] is a difficult argument to hear in the public sphere,especially when it is affecting something as important as the salmon farming industry in British Columbia."

Kingzett saidhe doesn't disagree that decision-making around salmon farming should be guided by science, and there was certainly room for improvement at the DFO when it came to bringing in other international experts for its reports.

He saidthe secretariat's latest evaluations have found salmon farming inB.C. to be of "minimal risk" to wild salmon,though the Wild Salmon Alliance has long claimedthe industry is causing pollutants, pathogens and parasites along salmonmigration routes.

"I think that this issue of, you know, one group feeling their science should be listened to over another's is inappropriate," Kingzett said.

He addedthat all farms inB.C. have agreements or established partnerships with First Nations in whose territories they operate.