Fisheries Committee on Dec. 6th, 2011

[Fin Donnelly, NDP, New Westminster—Coquitlam, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'd like to thank our guests for appearing today for what I think is an important study of closed containment and its feasibility.

Mr. Scott, I think you made it pretty clear that your organization is trying to achieve certain goals, and I would say you've done some analysis of why you've chosen to provide closed containment versus open-net farming in your stores. In your analysis, have you decided why you wouldn't choose wild-caught salmon entirely versus including some closed containment as an option? How did you come to that conclusion?

[Blendle Scott]

Is your question why would we need to supplement our wild-caught salmon with closed containment salmon?

Customers want fresh product year round. They don't accept discontinuous supply as they used to. We sell these year round now, but there used to be a season.

So we sell as much fresh, wild product for as long as we possibly can. Then we supplement that with frozen, wild-caught product, and then the next choice, when customers want exclusively fresh out of season, is to have closed containment salmon. That's the niche that penned salmon filled when it started in the eighties, the off-season fresh product. Consumers want product year round, so we have to find a method that we believe is sustainable to look after our customers.

[Fin Donnelly, NDP, New Westminster—Coquitlam, BC]

Thanks.

On the seasonality versus year round, are you noticing any trends whereby more or fewer people are going back to seasonality, or is the trend increasing for year-round products all the time?

[Blendle Scott]

We have never sold more salmon than we're selling today, and customers expect it year round. The season obviously is a big part of that, but customers want all fresh product year round.

[Fin Donnelly, NDP, New Westminster—Coquitlam, BC]

Is the rate of green products in general increasing, whether it's eco-certified or organic? Do you notice a trend over the years?

[Blendle Scott]

Yes. We've been selling organic and natural foods. We went fairly heavily into it at the end of the nineties and in early 2000, and it certainly outpaces the growth of the more conventional supermarket products. And in lots of categories the organic fair trade natural products are in the top ten. Coffee and cereal are examples.

[Fin Donnelly, NDP, New Westminster—Coquitlam, BC]

Do you have a percentage? Do you notice a growth rate? Is it 10%, in terms of a market shift or customers who are purchasing 5% more green or eco-certified products?

[Blendle Scott]

In the last 10 years there has been double-digit growth on the natural, organic products, and low single-digit growth on conventional grocery products.

[Fin Donnelly, NDP, New Westminster—Coquitlam, BC]

All right. Thank you.

Ms. Roebuck, does your organization endorse closed containment systems?

[Kelly Roebuck]

With the Monterey Bay Aquarium and SeaChoice, because we need to have peer-reviewed assessments, the one closed containment assessment that has turned out to be a supergreen best choice is the AquaSeed closed containment coho, farmed in Washington State.

Then when it comes to the Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform, we fully support a transition to closed containment facilities.

[Fin Donnelly, NDP, New Westminster—Coquitlam, BC]

And Living Oceans?

[Kelly Roebuck]

Living Oceans as well, yes.

[Fin Donnelly, NDP, New Westminster—Coquitlam, BC]

Does that extend to any type of closed containment? Does that extend to, for instance, the AgriMarine system at Middle Bay?

[Kelly Roebuck]

Living Oceans and CAAR have been closely working with AgriMarine and have had constant dialogue over the last 10 years, and we fully support the improvements they are working towards.

As for SeaChoice, we hope to see an assessment for AgriMarine in the future.

[Fin Donnelly, NDP, New Westminster—Coquitlam, BC]

Great. Thanks.

I have a similar question about wild caught versus closed containment. Do you have a stand there, in terms of what you feel is a more sustainable position, or alternative, or option? I think it's pretty clear where you are on closed containment versus open net, but what about wild caught versus closed containment?

[Kelly Roebuck]

Wild caught is quite complex, for sure. We can't blanket wild caught. It has to go down to stock by stock, species by species, and also to the seasonality of that run. At the moment, based on the assessment of closed containment farmed coho salmon in Washington State, it is the best choice. When it comes to the wild B.C. and Alaskan Pacific salmon, we would be looking at a stock-by-stock analysis in the future, because it varies greatly.

[Fin Donnelly, NDP, New Westminster—Coquitlam, BC]

Okay, thanks.

In terms of other certification programs that are out there, like the Marine Stewardship Council—MSC certification—can you comment about how that certification process differs from, say, SeaChoice, if you look at salmon?

[Kelly Roebuck]

That's a good question.

There's a differing methodology in place, for sure, and it's based on zero to 100, when it comes to the Marine Stewardship Council. You can have a pass at 80 and over, but you can also have a conditional pass with the Marine Stewardship Council of 60 and over. That is a very general difference between us, because we don't have that zero to 100 methodology in place. We are looking at a more consultative methodology in the future, but it would still be based on the green-yellow-red system.

For the finer details, I would definitely refer to our science team to get into the nitty-gritty of the methodology differences.

[Fin Donnelly, NDP, New Westminster—Coquitlam, BC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rodney Weston]

Thank you very much.

Mr. Sopuck, please go ahead.

[Robert Sopuck, Conservative, Dauphin—Swan River—Marquette, MB]

Thank you very much.

A quick question for both Mr. Scott and Ms. Roebuck.

Do you both believe that open-net pen aquaculture negatively affects wild salmon stocks?

[Kelly Roebuck]

That is a good question, indeed, and I would like to refer to—

[Robert Sopuck, Conservative, Dauphin—Swan River—Marquette, MB]

It's the only question.

[Kelly Roebuck]

Currently, independent science-based assessments do have environmental concerns on the impacts of wild stocks from open-net pen farmed salmon.

[Robert Sopuck, Conservative, Dauphin—Swan River—Marquette, MB]

Mr. Scott.