Document sparks fish fracas

Judith Lavoie
Times Colonist

Tuesday, May 10, 2005

Politics and pressure from the aquaculture industry play a major part in provincial government decisions on salmon farming, according to Fisheries Ministry documents leaked to the Times Colonist.

"Finfish and shellfish growth will need to be managed politically," Fisheries Minister John van Dongen says in a September 2002 letter to Premier Gordon Campbell. The letter is headed "Big Ticket Political Issues."

NDP Leader Carole James and environmental groups say the documents prove that politics, not science, is at the root of government's fish farming policies, which have included lifting the moratorium on expansion of salmon farms.

Van Dongen said government decisions have been ruled entirely by science and good management.

The B.C. Liberals received about $70,000 in donations from the salmon farming sector between 1996 and 2004 and groups on both sides have lobbied the government.

But that has not affected government decisions, van Dongen insisted. "I categorically reject that accusation. I have had an open door to all sides. Political donations have had nothing to do with my decisions. Zero," he said.

The package, which includes cabinet briefing notes and letters from van Dongen to Campbell, documents how "right to farm" legislation was framed to stop local governments doing an end run around provincial rules. Changes to the act, which put new fish farms under the legislation, were made after the government received letters from groups such as the B.C. Shellfish Growers Association.

"The impediment to our industry is the zoning imposed by local governments," says a March 2002 letter.

A letter to an opponent of fish farming expansion, drafted for van Dongen's signature, illustrates how information is managed. The original draft says "Atlantic salmon are capable of producing offspring in the wild, something that has been known since the early 1900s."

However, the sentence is deleted and a margin note from van Dongen's ministerial assistant says, "Technically correct, but politically problematic."

Van Dongen said governments have to manage perceptions while basing decisions on science. "You are always dealing with politics and perceptions. A number of people making these accusations are being political and they are not always using good science -- just the science that supports their point of view," he said.

There have been nine applications for new salmon farm sites in the last four years and only one is operating, because of rigorous environmental rules, van Dongen said.

James said the documents show political interests coming ahead of science.

A briefing from the legal services branch, which says government does not have to enforce its own laws also raises questions, James said.

"Most British Columbians expect government to follow the law, not pick and choose which ones they are going to follow," she said.

The province wants more control over fisheries and would like to negotiate an agreement with Ottawa.

A 2002 briefing note prepared for Fisheries Minister John van Dongen, leaked to the Times Colonist, says B.C is looking for a formal arrangement with the federal government "that ensures the province can effectively influence federal fisheries decision-making that affects British Columbians."

The same note says groups such as the B.C. Survival Coalition "see greater provincial authority over fisheries as a way to reverse federal policies that they claim unfairly support native-only fisheries."

Van Dongen said the aim of negotiating with the federal government was to reduce duplication. "We have taken a cooperative approach with the federal government on all issues like wild salmon and aquaculture," he said.

But Vicky Husband, conservation chairwoman of the Sierra Club of Canada, said she finds the prospect of the province trying to wrest power from the federal government "quite alarming."

"The provincial government has weakened the Fish Protection Act and weakened regulations. I think the public should be very wary," Husband said.

There appears to be a vested interest in fish farming, she said. "I think it's one more promise to fish farmers because it would be easier if the provincial government had a greater mandate."

Van Dongen said that was absolutely not the intention. "We have not favoured business over protecting the environment for one minute," he said.