Transparent and Accountable – A New Approach to Regulating Aquaculture, Op-Ed

NOTE: The following is an op-ed from Keith Colwell, Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.

Aquaculture in Nova Scotia is an industry that is an increasingly important economic contributor to rural regions in the province.

Last year, the aquaculture industry was worth more than $60 million and employed 606 men and women in full- and part-time positions. We have 44 companies actively farming fish at more than 270 sites in Nova Scotia with a young workforce.

In an effort to capitalize on this and address credible concerns about the impact of aquaculture development on our environment, government consulted with community groups, scientific experts and people throughout the province. That included listening to an independent regulatory review that held 18 months of public consultation and advised a more transparent and accountable process was needed as part of new regulations to oversee the industry.

And in June of this year, the auditor general made nine recommendations for improving the monitoring of aquaculture development in Nova Scotia, including more consistent policies and guidelines and better communication with the public. We also took direction from the ONE Nova Scotia Coalition which called on government, industry and community leaders to come together around our rural sectors, including fisheries and agriculture.

On Oct. 26, at the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic in Lunenburg, I released new aquaculture regulations that will bring a more responsible and transparent approach to aquaculture development as the government prepares to accept new applications in 2016.

The regulations represent fundamental changes to how companies can acquire a licence and lease if they want to operate either fin fish or shellfish farms in Nova Scotia. We also wanted to ensure there was greater enforcement so the industry operates responsibly. The responsibility for compliance has been transferred to the Department of Environment.

Highlights of the new regulations include:

• greater opportunity for public comment as applicants outline their plans for a new site and at adjudicative hearings to approve licence and lease applications
• more proactive release of information for items like new licences and renewals
• a revamped website that will make it easier for the public and industry to find information
• establishing an aquaculture administrator for processing licence and lease renewals, and reallocation of inactive sites
• for the first time, mandatory reporting of fish diseases will be required
• an independent Aquaculture Review Board will be created to evaluate all new marine site applications and significant changes to existing licences.

The protection of wild Atlantic salmon is very important. I want to see this iconic fish return to our rivers. While several factors are likely causing the decline of wild stocks I want to ensure that salmon farming isn't one of them. We have included stringent containment management requirements in our new aquaculture management regulations and will create a working group of industry, government, and the angling community that will provide a way to trace the origin of escaped salmon.

To ensure we are balancing the benefits of economic growth with protection of the environment, these new regulations will also bring greater clarity and improvement to the process of approvals for businesses which want to invest in Nova Scotia and strengthen the way we identify, monitor and manage risks of any investments.

Going forward, decisions about aquaculture will be based on science and fact, and will allow many opportunities for the public to contribute to the decision-making and to know what is going on in their own communities.

For a copy of the regulations go to http://novascotia.ca/fish/aquaculture/.