Salmon farmers in British Columbia, Canada, are remain in the dark on whether necessary salmon farming licenses will be renewed in June.
In June 2022, Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) announced it was renewing licenses for marine finfish aquaculture facilities outside the Discovery Islands – located in British Columbia – for two years. The decision impacted salmon farms run by Mowi, Grieg, Cermaq, and more and was part of an overall push to phase out all net-pen fish farming in the area after Canada’s Liberal Party and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called for a shift away from net-pen farming by 2025.
Those two years are nearly at an end, and B.C. Salmon Farmers Association Communications Manager Michelle Franze said whether the DFO plans to renew licenses again is still unknown.
“The uncertainty the transition process has created, along with short-term [two-year] licenses, has severely impacted investment in the sector, and farmers require a minimum six-year license term,” Franze told SeafoodSource.
The DFO's consultation on the license renewal has thus far included detailed discussions on ...
