February
12, 2002
Inventing
Titles for Defending Fish Feedlots
Just
when you thought the Campbell government had banned the
word "environment" a headline appeared on the
BC
Liberal Party website calling Joyce Murray the "Environment
Minister".
The
headline and new title for Murray is over a copy of a letter
to the editor she sent at government expense to clarify
their recent clarification on fish feedlots. Murray, actually
Minister of Water, Land and Air Protection repeated the
previous announcement that fish feedlot expansion will occur
effective April 30, 2002. She then tried to defend a new
regulation that will provide the basis for industry wide
pollution. Nowhere in her letter did she explain the contradiction
between the expansion date and the dates provided in the
"service plan" for the Ministry of Sustainable
Resource Development. That is where government says "Complete
coastal plans that will identify shellfish and finfish aquaculture
sites for Vancouver Island, the North Coast, Sunshine Coast
and the Queen Charlotte Islands by March 2004."
The
Campbell gang has a lot of explaining to do. Maybe they
need a real Minister of the Environment.
February
4, 2002
Rushing
past Timelines for Fish Feedlots
March 2004 vs. "decisions by April 2002"
A
two year contradiction has emerged between the "Service
Plan" of the Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management
and government's announced timeline for "fish farm"
expansion. Aquaculture really means fish feedlots
that are nothing like farms.
The
BC Assets
and Land Corporation has been made the sole agency for
determining the siting of fish farms and its decisions will
be made by April 30, 2002. Environmental protection has
been sacrificed for fast track industrial permits.
Removing
the name environment from any ministry signaled a big shift
for Campbell's New Era. It is now up to the Federal
government to protect our environment using the Canadian
Environmental Assessment Act as it applies to aquaculture.
On January
31, 2002, the Campbell government announced the lifting
of the moratorium on new fish farms. The news
release concluded by saying:
"Improved
and new policies for fish escapes, fish health, siting and
relocations, fish waste and research and development have
been developed and will be finalized by April 30, 2002."
"Applications
for new aquaculture sites will be accepted after April 30,
2002, and are expected to take up to a year to process.
Since aquaculture has a long production cycle, businesses
need to make decisions now for production to begin by 2003."
(emphasis added)
Meanwhile
the "Service Plan" (pdf)
for Stan Hagen's Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management
says "Complete coastal plans that will identify
shellfish and finfish aquaculture sites for Vancouver Island,
the North Coast, Sunshine Coast and the Queen Charlotte
Islands by March 2004." Technically, April 30,
2002, is "by March 2004" but most people would
think those words mean that a process would take until 2004.
The
BC Assets
and Land Corporation's backgrounder claims:
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