Times Colonist Newspaper Not interested in the Environment

A week has gone by since my sending the following note to the TC. They have not responded, so I guess they don't care about the aguatic environment in BC and wild salmon. Hmm. I'm surprised. I would not have thought they would pass up the opportunity to learn more about the movement to on-land that has been happening for the past five years. BC is really behind the global movement to farm salmon on land.

Read this note, and I think you will agree with me. I read the TC every day, and am very surprised they are not interested in the future for fish farming and wild salmon. Hmm:

HI TC

I read your article by Dennis Dugas on fish farming in the Islander yesterday.

Do you want me to write an article featuring the other side, meaning on-land fish farms?

See my website: https://fishfarmnews.blogspot.com/.

I have been on the environmentally sound side on this issue for the past ten years, and have written more than 600 posts on the various subjects. I read 30 global fish farm/seafood industry newsletters every week.

Here are several things to consider:

1. Fish farm stats are hugely overstated. For example, while fish farms and DFO have been using the figure of 7,000 jobs for years, the reality is the BC Government’s own BC Stats Report shows only 1800 jobs, meaning fish farms overstate jobs by almost 400%. See: http://fishfarmnews.blogspot.com/2019/03/mar-21-2019-bc-stats-report-2016.html.

2. In-ocean fish farms are old tech, and the world is moving on to on-land fish farms. My list is now at 338 on-land fish farms around the globe. See: http://fishfarmnews.blogspot.com/2016/05/152-different-on-land-fish-farm-systems.html.

3. The growing US on-land industry is heading toward being five times the size of the BC industry, and is where 85% of BC product is sold. US on-land will likely wipe out the BC in-ocean industry, unless they move to on-land. Consumers don’t want damaging in-ocean product. See: https://fishfarmnews.blogspot.com/2020/11/on-land-fish-farms-in-usa.html.

Note that Whole Oceans, among those opening large plants in the US, has picked up a long-term lease for the on-land Kuterra plant on the Nimpkish River, BC. They only have to put one on-land farm in Port Hardy, and a new era of fish farming can begin. Dennis Dugas might become keen once he sees them operate in a highly environmentally-sound way.

I wrote an essay on how to calculate the sewage cost of in-ocean. It is conservatively estimated at $10.4B in BC. In Norway, the home of the BC fish farmers, the government gives out free licences to set up on land. In-ocean licences auction for $32- to $40-million because of the high environmental cost. We should do the same here. $5000 is too cheap.

One final thing, I wrote reports like the BC Stats Report when I worked for government in Finance, and thus have good number-crunching skills.

Would you like me to write you an op-ed on on-land fish farms?

DC (Dennis) Reid

Note: I was doubly surprised as I wrote the fishing column for the paper for a decade.