By: Nercya Kalino, Peak Associate
Fish farming has complicated impacts on the environment. Most of us don’t have the slightest idea what processes fish go through before they land on our plates. When you learn what happens behind the scenes in the fishing industry, it becomes harder to see eating fish as appetizing. Over the years, the practice of open-net cage farming has been an ongoing concern between Indigenous peoples and the Canadian government; the government has been urged to abide by restrictions on farms along the BC coast. In 2018, Pacific Wild released a statement about the farm operations in the Musgamagw Dzawada’enuxw Nation territory. They said the fish farms located in that territory were “operating without free, prior, and informed consent of the nation, violating the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.” This has been a progressing problem for a long time, and it’s only one of many violations in the industry.
Ethical farming of any kind of meat is crucial to the future of sustainable eating. Fish are no exception. With open-net cage farming, wild fish are exposed to chemicals, parasites, and fecal infestation from waste in the ocean and crowded living conditions. Living Oceans stated that, in “BC alone, salmon farms produce the same amount of waste as a city of half a million people,” and fish farms are the “perfect environment for disease transmission,” which can easily spread to wild fish and negatively impact local populations.
This is quite concerning. Mass farming has been an inevitability of the fish industry, and it contributes to many people’s livelihoods — but it shouldn’t exist without extreme caution and regulations. The BC government recently examined the issue of rights violations on Indigenous territories. In 2022, they released a statement concerning sustainable aquaculture to embrace reconciliation with Indigenous communities, protect jobs, and respect wild salmon. There was a new policy made about open-net cage farming effective this coming June. The policy will only grant tenure renewals for open-net cage farms operators who ensure “their operations will not adversely impact wild salmon stocks” and agreements with Indigenous peoples. This is a good sign.
But fish farming is a complex issue in terms of ethics and economies. The Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs wrote about the history of fish farming and how it’s impacted their community; farms often invade burial islands sacred to Indigenous people. On top of that, “those nations on whose waters these fish farms are located experience immediate and destructive impacts.” Some of these impacts include the “destruction of traditional harvesting grounds, and the poisoning of water and marine resources.”
There are a few actions consumers can take to avoid contributing to harms caused by mass fish farming. Many brands display the Ocean Wise symbol on their packaging to indicate ethically farmed fish, but it’s also important to research individual brands to ensure their ethicality. It can also help to reduce your consumption of larger fish species like salmon and halibut in favour of small species like sardines and mackerel. Samantha Renshaw, “Science Lead at Ocean Wise,” also stressed the importance of supporting small and family-run fisheries. The next time you find yourself with fish on your plate, ask yourself how it got there, what it was exposed to, and what that means to you.
