Salmon Aquaculture: Lessons from New Brunswick

Inka Milewski, Science Advisor

Conservation Council of New Brunswick

Port Mouton, Nova Scotia

November 15, 2006

Salmon Aquaculture: Lessons from New Brunswick

• Economically sustainable?

• Ecologically sustainable?

• Well-regulated?

Economically Sustainable? “mom and pop” to Multinational

1986 1996 2006

Number of Farm Sites 28 74 98

Production 727 mt 16,300 mt 35,000 mt

Number of fish per farm 7,000 70,000 300,000 – 400,000

Price per pound (wholesale) $12.82 CND $7.55 CND $2.50 CND

Value of salmon sales $9.2 million $122.5 million $200 million

Number of Companies 28(1 corporations control 1

farm)

45(3 corporations control

53 farms)

12(1 corporation controls and/or

contracts from all farms)

2006 Salmon Farm Sites

Economically Sustainable?: Government Driven and subsidized

• From 1985 to 1996, ACOA pumped over $34 million into NB’s salmon aquaculture; 60% was direct contributions and grants

• In 1987, NB Salmon Grower’s Association formed; the Association received $4.3 million from government for their work between 87’-96’

• Beginning in 1996, outbreaks of ISA resulted in the slaughter of millions of fish; in 1997- 98 federal government paid out $32.5 million and the province $8 million in compensation

• In 2000 DFO launched Program for Sustainable Aquaculture and dedicated $75-million over five years with $15-million per year thereafter

• In 2004, DFO Minister, Gerald Regan, creates Aquaculture Management Directorate within DFO “to ensure aquaculture is more of a priority”

Ecologically Sustainable? Impacts of Salmon Farms

• Environmental impacts are associated with net pens, fish feed and use of chemicals and drugs

• Many effects still not studied– impacts of net pens structures

on the behaviour of migratory species

– loss of foraging, spawning and/or nursery habitat for wild species as a result of waste accumulation

– sub-lethal effects of pesticides on non-target species

Ecologically Sustainable? Waste Impacts of Farms

• By volume, largest component of waste discharges from finfish aquaculture operations are fecal wastes

• 95-98% of wastes deposited on the bottom are re-suspended in days and transported elsewhere

How much Fecal waste is released from salmon farms?

1 salmon farm1 200,000 fish1000 mt

182 mt of fecal waste/year1

Equivalent to fecal wastes from 2667 people1

93 salmon farms in S.W.N.B.33,600 mt in 20012

6115 mt of fecal waste/year

Equivalent to fecal wastes from 89,611 people

1Source: Hardy 2001 2NB. Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Aquaculture

Changes in Benthic Diversity with Increased Organic Loading

Animals and bacteria in sediments produce H2O and C02

More nitrogen compounds like ammonia (NH4 ) are produced

More sulphur compounds like H2S are produced

More methane compounds (CH4 ) are produced

Organic loading

O2 levels drop, C02 levels increase, Redox values drop

Ammonia and sulphide levels increase

Animals diversity decreases, pollution tolerant species increase

Microbial community changes to bacteria tolerant of low 02

220 m

1 salmon farm (200,000 fish) 2 X 10 net pens Each net pen is 22 m in diameter

9680 m2

~ 2.5 acres

44 m

29,120 m2

~ 7.5 acres + 30 m Mixing Zone

104 m

280 m

Area of seafloor potentially impacted by wastes

Control or Reference Site

Former Fish Farm

N

Crow Harbour Samples Control Site Samples

Mean Redox -154.38 mVNHE Mean Redox 34.92 mVNHE

Mean Sulphides 1308 µM Mean Sulphides 29.73 µM

Mean no. of species 14 Mean no. of species 31

Species diversity 2.58 Species diversity 3.85

Control site sediment core (2003) Farm site sediment core (2003)

-400

-300

-200

-100

0

100

200

300

Redox - mV

NHE

Crow

Harbour

(pre farm)

Crow

Harbour

2002

Crow

Harbour

2003

Crow

Harbour

2004

Reference

Site 2002

Reference

Site 2003

Reference

Site 2004

0 cm

4 cm

8 cm

Mean sediment Eh at a former fish farm in Crow Harbour and a Reference Site (2002-2004)

Sediment Depth

Mean Surface Sediment Sulphides at a former fish farm in Crow Harbour and a reference site (2002-2004)

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

Crow Harbour 2000 (pre farm)

Crow Harbour 2002Crow Harbour 2003Crow Harbour 2004 Reference Site 2002Reference Site 2003Reference Site 2004

Sulphides (uM)

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

2002 2003 2004

Total Taxa

RS

CH

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

2002 2003 2004

Diversity (H')

RS

CH

Crow Harbour (CH)farm vs reference site (RS):Species Numbers and Diversity 2002-2004

Well-Regulated? • the first 10 years (1979-1989) salmon aquaculture was

virtually unregulated• Province signed an MOU with DFO in 1989 which gave

province development and licensing responsibility• DFO and EC still retained responsibility for enforcing section

35 (prohibits a HADD - harmful alteration, degradation or destruction of fish habitat) and section 36(3) (prohibits release of deleterious substances) of Fisheries Act

• Monitoring of farms sites by province began in 1989 as a pilot project

• First monitoring report in 1992 found 37 or 48 farms had moderate to high environmental impact ratings

Well-Regulated?• In 1991 New Brunswick gets an Aquaculture Act that sets

site allocation rules (by then there are already 57 farms); confidentially provisions of the Act prevent public release of monitoring data

• By 1997, disease and sea lice outbreaks, conflicts with local fishermen over allocations of farm sites prompt a review of the Site Allocation Policy – “moratorium” on new sites imposed

• In 2002 environmental monitoring transferred to provincial Environment Department and environmental performance guidelines are finally established; annual monitoring results are finally made public

• In 2003 Provincial Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture finally establishes a Compliance and Enforcement section

Well-Regulated?

• In 2005, DFO Regional Director General (Atlantic Region) finally requests DFO Science Branch prepare an expert opinion on the effect of sulfides on diversity of benthic community

• According to expert opinion:– 60-70% of biodiversity is lost when sulfides are 1500 – 3000 µM, – 70-90% of biodiversity is lost when sulfides are greater than 3000

µM,

• 2006,province changes environmental rating system for sulfide levels that constitute a HADD under the Fisheries Act (from 6000 µM to 4500 µM) – the level is set higher than the expert advice provided by a DFO scientist in 2005

Well-Regulated?

 

Annually, 25-30% of farms are allowed to operate even though sulfide levels in sediments are in the high impact category and would likely be in violation of section 35 of federal Fisheries Act.

New Brunswick’s Salmon Aquaculture Industry

• Economically sustainable? – not without government subsidies

• Ecologically sustainable? – not without environmental subsidies

• Well-regulated? – not for ecological impacts

2005 Nova Scotia Industry Consultation

• Complaints by industry that application and approval process was too burdensome and too long

• Federal EA process was viewed as a problem• Scarcity of suitable inshore sites, federal

restrictions on movement of eggs and fish, public opposition on sites, lack of government support to reduce financial risk of disease other “catastrophic” problems and lack of direction from government seen as problems by industry

2005

- 48 salmon sites

- 16 in Gulf of Maine Region

- Rest along the South Shore and Bras d’Or Lakes

Measurement Maine11

(salmon aquaculture )New Brunswick22

(Finfish aquaculture)Nova Scotia33 (“Generic”Aquaculture)

Monitoring Requirements

Remediation Triggers Monitoring Requirements

RemediationTriggers

Monitoringrequirements

RemediationTriggers

Redox Potential(Eh, mV)

U -100 to 0 U < 0 U

Sulfides (µm) U 1300 -6000 U > 1300 U > 3000

Microbial(Beggiatoa sp.Coverage)

U > 25% photo coverage U U

Anoxic Sediment(Sedimentcolour)

U U U

Pollution-TolerantTaxa

U number of individuals in asingle taxa > 70%

Pollution-Sensitive Taxa

U > 50% reduction in meanabundance not identified aspollution-tolerant

Taxa Richness U > 25% reduction in totalnumber of all taxacompared to mean baselineor reference site

Azoic Conditions U > 50% reduction in totalabundance compared tomean baseline or referencesite

U U

SedimentDescription and/or % OrganicContent

U U U

Video Transect U U U

Copper U

Zinc U

Medications U

Monitoring Requirements

Remediation Triggers Monitoring Requirements

RemediationTriggers

Monitoringrequirements

RemediationTriggers

U -100 to 0 U < 0 U