A majority of B.C.’s fish processing facilities are out of compliance with their permits and some are discharging effluent “acutely lethal to fish,” according to a provincial audit report released Wednesday.

“This audit clearly tells us more work needs to be done to ensure our coastal waterways are safe for all wild fish stocks,” B.C. environment minister George Heyman said in a statement.

“The industry has been largely operating under an outdated permitting regime, going back several decades.”

The environment ministry conducted the audit after an underwater video filmed by photographer Tavish Campbell showed a stream of bloody effluent pouring into the water from farmed salmon processed by the Browns Bay Packing Company near Campbell River.

The bloody wastewater was tested and found to contain piscine reovirus (PRV). The virus has been linked to a potentially deadly disease known as HSMI that causes heart lesions and organ hemorrhaging in fish, heightening concerns about the impact of open-net pen salmon farms on the health of diminishing wild salmon populations.

Waste from fish processing plants includes “offal and other solids created during eviscerating, skinning and, filleting and also the process water that is used in fluming, butchering and cleaning,” according to the audit report.

The audit found that 72 per cent of the processing facilities examined were out of compliance with their permits, also noting that most of those permits lack the “foundational requirements” for environmental protection.

“Permits that are decades old aren’t satisfactory to protect the environment,” Heyman told The Narwhal.

“We need to review our permits more frequently.”

The ministry will begin that process by focusing on the highest volume fish processing plants, Heyman said.

Farmed salmon represent almost 70 per cent of all seafood processed at B.C.’s facilities, which also process wild salmon, other wild finfish, farmed trout, and other seafood. The audit examined 18 facilities, five of them exclusively dedicated to processing farmed salmon.

While the majority of the infractions were administrative, such as failing to post signage, more serious violations included poor effluent discharge quality and exceeding permitted discharge volumes.

Sixty per cent of the facilities whose effluent was examined as part of the audit were out of compliance with discharge volumes, including the Browns Bay Packing Company, and 50 per cent were out of compliance with discharge quality standards.

“The results of the fish toxicity tests show that four out of six effluent samples taken are acutely lethal to fish in the lab environment, meaning that the toxicity tests resulted in 50 per cent or more fish mortality,” the audit report stated.

No assessment for the presence of PRV was conducted.

Campbell commended the environment ministry for commissioning the report, calling it a “good first step.”

“I found it very distressing to dive in Brown’s Bay and see this blood coming out and have an idea that it was infected with this virus that was harming wild salmon. It feels good that there’s been a response,” he told The Narwhal.

“But it’s certainly not the end to my work to try to bring about more awareness of these viruses.”

Campbell said he’s surprised and dismayed that the audit used outdated information on PRV, drawing on a March report by the B.C. Centre for Aquatic Health Sciences instead of a paper published in May by scientists from DFO and the Pacific Salmon Foundation that highlighted a link between PRV and disease in Chinook salmon.  

“They’re not taking into account the latest science that says that PRV is a risk to wild salmon.”

“We’re calling on the government to recognize that these viruses, and especially PRV, do pose more than a minimal risk of harm to wild salmon,” he said.

The audit pointed out that the only test method currently available for PRV involves detecting genetic material present in effluent, and that B.C. lacks adequate lab capacity to monitor and report on viruses.

Heyman said the ministry is aware of the most recent study on PRV and “that’s exactly why we want to work with the federal government to reduce the impacts of PRV on fish stocks to the greatest extent possible.”  

Green Party MLA and environment spokesperson Sonia Furstenau said the audit findings illustrate why the government should adopt recent recommendations to reform B.C.’s professional reliance model, which puts industry in charge of its own environmental monitoring.

“Many British Columbians were horrified, like I was, to see Tavish Campbell’s videos of blood water effluent that prompted this audit,” Furstenau said in a statement.

“It is no wonder people don’t trust the process when we must rely on private citizens and the media to bring such serious issues to light.”

The audit comes on the heels of an announcement by the B.C. government that starting in 2022 it will only grant tenures to salmon farm operators who have reached agreements with First Nations.

Heyman said the government is taking immediate steps to ensure permits are updated and strengthened at fish processing facilities.

Among the environment ministry’s new recommendations are to modernize existing permits to include “additional environmental protection provisions, such as more rigorous discharge requirements and increased monitoring,” and to require fish processing facilities to review and update their standard operational procedures “to reduce the volume and maximize the safety of effluent discharged into the environment.”

Furstenau said adopting both the professional reliance recommendations and the environment ministry’s recommendations “will go a long way to restoring the public’s trust that government is looking out for their health and safety, as well as the long-term sustainability of our natural resource sector.”

Campbell, a campaign spokesperson for the environmental group Wild First, said the farmed salmon industry must be transitioned out of the water and onto the land.

“That really is the only solution to stopping the spread of these viruses — to grow these salmon in closed containment systems on land.”

“When we’re talking about the blood water I think it’s really important to acknowledge the fact that even if the processing plants improve the treatment of their effluent these farmed fish that are infected with PRV are still being raised in open net pens, just miles down the channel from these processing plants.”

Adam Olsen, Green Party MLA and agriculture spokesperson, pointed to the release of infected blood from farmed fish as another reason why the NDP government should keep its promise to transition away from open-net pen finfish aquaculture.

“Wild salmon are culturally, economically and environmentally essential to our province, yet we are allowing them to be hit at every stage of their development,” said Olsen. “Now we learn they have also been exposed to ‘acutely lethal’ levels of effluent.”

Of 91 different groupings of B.C. wild salmon, only 28 are expected to have sufficient numbers for a healthy population in 2018, according to DFO.

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Laboratory testing by the B.C. government has confirmed tens of thousands of litres of bloody effluent released into the ocean from two fish processing plants contained a dangerous virus prevalent in farmed Atlantic salmon in B.C.

Two fish processing facilities that service the farmed fish industry, the Brown’s Bay Packing plant near Campbell River and the Lions Gate Fisheries plant in Tofino, were inspected by the province in early December and laboratory results confirmed the presence of piscine reovirus (PVR), the B.C. Ministry of Environment told DeSmog Canada.

Piscine reovirus, which affects 80 per cent of farmed Atlantic salmon, was first detected in B.C. fish farms in 2011 but has since been detected in wild cutthroat and steelhead trout as well as wild chinook, sockeye coho and chum salmon. The virus is linked to a host of health problems for fish, including heart and skeletal muscle inflammation and haemorrhages in the internal organs.

Underwater footage captured by Tavish Campbell in November brought increased public scrutiny to the release of ‘bloodwater’ discharge from B.C. fish processing plants, prompting elected officials to reevaluate the environmental risk associated with the practice.

At the time of filming, Campbell gathered samples that the Atlantic Veterinary College found to contain piscine reovirus. The province has now confirmed those findings.

“I would have been surprised if they didn’t find it,” Campbell told DeSmog Canada.

An while he’s glad government is committed to reviewing the fish processing plants, Campbell said the threat of viral infection for wild salmon starts with the fish farms themselves.

“Certainly these plants are one source of infection for wild salmon. They need to be dealt with,” Campbell said. “But it’s really not good enough while there’s all these infected fish in the water just up the passage.”

B.C. has experienced a surge of public opposition to fish farming in recent months. Several First Nations, which have been occupying fish farm operations in the Broughton Archipelago since September, met with provincial cabinet ministers last week to discuss whether or not the government will renew aquaculture tenures for major farmed salmon producers, Marine Harvest and Cermaq.

Farmed Atlantic salmon infected with piscine reovirus. Photo: Alexandra Morton

Fish plant effluent pipes a known danger to wild salmon

There are currently 109 fish processing plants in B.C., 28 of which have provincial permits under the Environmental Management Act to release effluent into ocean waters.

The provincial discharge permit for the Brown’s Bay Processing plant, obtained by DeSmog Canada, shows that in 1989 the province granted the facility permission to release 28,000 litres of effluent every day.

“British Columbians expect their government to ensure any discharge into the water is safe, and does not threaten wild salmon,” B.C. environment minister George Heyman said in a statement provided to DeSmog Canada.

“The previous government ignored the issue and failed to update regulations or even regularly conduct inspections,” Heyman said.

The most recent inspection of the Brown’s Bay facility occurred in 2013.

“That isn’t good enough, and that is why, in December I announced an immediate review of fish processing plants, which will include audits of 28 facilities, as well as strengthening requirements to ensure wild salmon are protected,” Heyman said.

The province will review whether effluent released from the 28 plants is causing harmful pollution, whether the current permits contain provisions to protect the environment, whether permit holders are in compliance with existing rules and whether or not the rules set out in the permits reflect best practices to protect wild salmon stocks.

Michael Price, salmon researcher and PhD candidate at Simon Fraser University, said while he isn’t surprised government has confirmed the presence of piscine reovirus in bloodwater, he is surprised it has taken so long for B.C. to address the release of untreated effluent into fish habitat.

B.C. fish farm in the Okisollo Channel. Photo courtesy Tavish Campbell

Price conducted research in 2010 that found effluent from facilities processing farmed fish contained live sea lice and viable sea lice eggs, which indicated the discharge was not being treated to kill pathogens. His research further found the release of sea lice-laden effluent was occurring in sockeye salmon migratory routes and rearing habitat.

“That to me is probably the most frustrating. Many of us have had concerns that virulent pathogens are being distributed into nursery waters of juvenile salmon for nearly eight years now,” Price told DeSmog Canada.

Effluent released from fish processing plants is also not screened to limit the amount of tissue of infected fish being released into the ocean, Price said.

“And we know this is exactly how pathogens are transmitted: through mucus and slime and the tissue of infected fish.”

The release of untreated effluent is not permitted in European countries where fish farming takes place, Price noted.

“They have biosecurity practices in place in Scotland, Norway, other countries where there’s an aquaculture industry. These farmed salmon companies know this, these are the rules they play by there,” Price said.

“And we know this is exactly how pathogens are transmitted: through mucus and slime and the tissue of infected fish.” https://t.co/yMXxoiUW0K

— DeSmog Canada (@DeSmogCanada) February 5, 2018

Feds launch scientific review of aquaculture industry

On February 2, the federal government announced an independent expert panel would review the farmed fish industry and make recommendations “on the appropriate use and consideration of scientific evidence in protecting the marine environment in decision-making on aquaculture.”

The panel will be led by Canada’s Chief Science Advisor, Dr. Mona Nemer, who will deliver a final report to fisheries minister Dominic LeBlanc and science minister Kirsty Duncan. The report will also be made publicly available.

LeBlanc acknowledged “Canadians have real concerns around aquaculture.”

“We look forward to the recommendations of the panel led by the Chief Science Advisor on how science can be better applied to decision making and communicated to the public in support of sustainable aquaculture,” he said in a statement.

Price, who has published research on the federal government’s failure to monitor B.C.’s wild salmon stocks, said he is uncertain about the intended outcome of the new expert panel.

Price said many of the 75 recommendations made by the 2012 Commission of Inquiry into the Decline of Sockeye Salmon in the Fraser River, headed by Justice Bruce Cohen, have yet to be followed.

The Cohen Commission cost taxpayers more than $37 million.

“I don’t think we want to waste taxpayer dollars repeating that proces,” Price said. “I would think that first step would be to implement the recommendations of this inquiry when it comes to aquaculture.”

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By Maryann Watson, Marine Scientist and Stephanie Hewson, Staff Counsel at West Coast Environmental Law

Clouds of blood pumped straight from a fish plant in B.C. made worldwide headlines last week after diver Tavish Campbell published a shocking video revealing the practice. Since then, people from all over the province have asked us at West Coast Environmental Law about its legality.

The short answer is that the practice of discharging bloodwater from fish plants is legal for now, even if the blood contains instances of PRV. Currently, the federal government regulates fish farms and animal health, while the province regulates fish processing facilities. This has created two separate systems that are not clearly linked, leaving regulatory gaps that threaten the health and habitat of wild salmon and other marine organisms.

Fish Blood From Fish Farms

It appears that under the current regulations, fish blood can legally enter the ocean from open-net pen fish farms. The federal Fisheries Act prohibits unauthorized deposits of blood and other biological substances into the water (which likely qualify as "deleterious substances" under the Act), except when they come from fish farms directly. Under the Aquaculture Activities Regulation, fish farms can deposit fish blood and other matter (such as fish feed and feces) directly into the sea, though they must monitor for disease and other parameters, and to minimize the impact of the discharge.

Fish Blood from Fish Processing Facilities

It appears that fish blood can also legally enter the ocean from fish processing plants. Though the Fisheries Act prohibits the deposit of "deleterious substances," there's an exception when the release is authorized. It is not clear whether this exception includes provincial authorizations. The provincial Ministry of Environment regulates wastewater discharge from these plants through permits under the Environmental Management Act. We looked at the permit held by the Brown’s Bay fish processing facility, which requires the company to follow provincial and federal procedures when dealing with diseased fish, bloodwater treatment and disease monitoring.

Though the permit does not name the procedures that the company should follow, the practice captured in Tavish’s footage may violate the 1975 non-legally binding Fish Processing Operations Liquid Effluent Guidelines, which restrict the discharge of bloodwater and require treatment of contaminated process water.

What About PRV?

Both fish farms and fish processing facilities must monitor fish and fish blood for disease. So why is it legal to discharge bloodwater that contains PRV, despite the fact that it has been linked to HSMI?

Although discarding diseased fish parts into the water is prohibited under the federal Health of Animals Act and its regulations, PRV and HSMI are not listed as reportable diseases under the Act. So it appears that under the current regulations, it is legal to discharge fish processing water that contains instances of this virus.

This is a bigger issue than just one processing plant: over 80% of farmed salmon in BC carry PRV. However, under current regulations, farmed fish are not tested for the virus. Scientist Alexandra Morton and Ecojustice are in court with the federal government arguing that the government has been acting illegally by issuing licences allowing the transfer of farmed salmon without testing for the virus. Transferring fish into fish habitat or fish farms that carry disease or disease agents is prohibited in the Fishery (General) Regulations under the Fisheries Act.

The "bloodwater" dump exposes weaknesses in the fish processing regulatory system @WCELaw https://t.co/bZoKCZFqGf

— DeSmog Canada (@DeSmogCanada) December 6, 2017

What Can be Done?

Wild salmon are under assault from a slew of forces: pollution, changing ocean conditions, warmer waters, and possibly open-net pen aquaculture itself, as the 3-year judicial inquiry led by Mr. Justice Cohen found back in 2012. Protecting wild salmon appears to have been lost in the complex division of responsibilities between the provincial and federal governments for oversight of fish farming operations.

Though this fish processing plant may have been treating the bloodwater to the standard of the current regulations, it is apparent that these laws are not strong enough to protect wild salmon from disease.

Members of the Musgamagw Dzawada'enuxw and ‘Namgis nations have been occupying fish farm sites in the Broughton Archipelago off northern Vancouver Island since August, and want the fish farms removed from their territory. Tavish’s video and First Nations’ occupation of fish farms highlight the environmental and public health risks associated with aquaculture on the Pacific coast, from both cultivation of fish and fish processing. We, like many others, are concerned about the lack of adequate regulation, oversight and enforcement at all stages of fish farming and processing.

Though the Province is responsible for inspecting some of these facilities, ultimately the protection of fish and fish habitat in marine environments falls to Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO). As a DFO workshop noted back in 2003, we need to address public concern about fish plant effluents, “perhaps the least examined source of marine environmental effects,” and find solutions that include changing the law.

Thankfully, following the release of this footage, the provincial and federal governments both announced investigations into the regulatory requirements for fish processing plants. A month ago the BC government launched a review of the Province’s animal testing laboratory which conducts diagnostic testing on farmed salmon. While the reviews from both governments are a welcome step, there is a larger problem of under-enforcement and regulatory omission, and a need for a hard look at the industry.

There are many plants and fish farms that require action from both levels of government, including clearer regulations and regular inspections and enforcement. The development of a federal Aquaculture Act is an opportunity to introduce stronger standards for this industry and better protections for wild and farmed fish.

We’ll be examining solutions to the issue of bloodwater discharges that may affect not only wild salmon health, but the health of other marine organisms. West Coast is willing to assist with the government-led review processes, and encourages both governments to look at the entire aquaculture industry closely, with the goal of ensuring our laws are up to the task of not only protecting but restoring our wild salmon.

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Footage of bloody discharge being released into B.C.’s coastal waters from farmed-fish processing plants by photographer Tavish Campbell has made international headlines and prompted the promise of further investigation from both provincial and federal governments.

But critics say that while governments are eager to stem a wave of concerns arising from the footage, not enough is being done to protect B.C.’s threatened wild salmon populations from the threats of the farmed-salmon industry that stem from the use of open net pens.

In addition to the footage, Campbell collected samples of the discharge that laboratory testing found contained Piscene Reovirus, a disease carried in an estimated 80 per cent of Atlantic farmed salmon on the B.C. coast. The virus is linked to the presence of heart and skeletal muscle inflammation, a deadly condition found in B.C. wild salmon stocks.

B.C. Environment Minister George Heyman said the ministry dispatched inspectors to the Brown’s Bay processing plant near Campbell River to determine the contents of the effluent being released and take further samples if necessary.

“I think the bottom line for us is we want to make sure anything being dumped into our oceans is free of contaminants, fee of pathogens and not a threat to wild salmon,” Heyman told DeSmog Canada in an interview.

The Brown’s Bay processing plant received a discharge permit from the B.C. government in 1989, granting the company permission to release 28,000 litres of effluent every day. There are 109 fish processing plants in B.C.; if they are all releasing roughly the same as the Brown’s Bay plant, that’s ten Olympic swimming pools of effluent being released into B.C. waters daily.

The Brown’s Bay plant was inspected in 2013, and found to be out of compliance with the province’s environmental laws. According to Heyman no further inspection took place at the time.

The permit, which Heyman said does not reflect modern conditions and standards, is currently under review. He added there are older permits for additional fish processing plants the government will also place under review.

“We are looking at conditions that reflect today’s reality and today’s expectation and that’s that what is dumped in the ocean is clean and not a threat to wild salmon,” Heyman said. “So we’ll be looking at it from that perspective as well as from First Nations who are being consulted we’ll look at best practices around the world around discharges into the ocean.”

Bloodwater Not Only Threat Wild Salmon Face

Campbell said that while a review of B.C.’s out-of-date permits is warranted, the release of contaminated effluent is just one threat the farmed-salmon industry poses to wild salmon stocks.

“The bloodwater is certainly a point source for infection but if we get rid of the bloodwater the problem doesn’t go away because ultimately these juvenile wild fish are still swimming past the open net pens and picking up these viruses and diseases,” Campbell told DeSmog Canada.

Aaron Hill, ecologist and wild salmon policy analyst for the Watershed Wild Salmon Society, agreed.

“It’s really hard to quantify exactly where this wastewater discharge lands on the threat matrix but we know that salmon farms host a number of viruses and parasites that are transmitted to wild fish and harm wild fish,” Hill told DeSmog Canada.

“Many of our salmon populations are in really bad shape due to a number of factors,” Hill said, saying climate change is considered the number one threat to wild salmon.

“We can’t flip a switch and make the oceans more productive or make rivers cooler and safer for fish. But we can get these farms out of the ocean and onto land. We can stop bloody diseased waste from being piped into the water.”

Many of the companies operating farmed salmon open net pens in B.C. are Norwegian, the country behind many of the farmed salmon operations worldwide. Currently Norway does not allow for the discharge of fish processing waste into the ocean.

B.C.’s Environmental Monitoring and Enforcement Weak: Furstenau

British Columbia has a poor record of monitoring and enforcing its own environmental laws due to staff and budget cuts, according to Green Party MLA Sonia Furstenau.

“While I appreciate the Minister of Environment’s immediate response to the videos, we need a government that works to proactively protect our environment, not one that waits for the public to prove that we’ve got a problem,” Furstenau said during Wednesday’s question period in the house.

“Is the minister going to expand his review to cover every plant that releases effluent into wild salmon habitat to ensure it’s not contaminated, or will Mr. Campbell need to keep testing the blood water?”

The B.C. Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations is responsible for leases and tenures for fish farms. Ocean discharge permits are managed by the province’s environment ministry.

However, regulation and promotion of the aquaculture industry falls to federal jurisdiction under the Fisheries Act.

Heyman said his ministry has been in contact with Environment Canada as well as local First Nations to discuss the effluent permits and Campbell’s footage.

“It’s important that all parties with jurisdiction take a unified approach to protecting wild salmon. That’s our expectation and we hope the federal government will join us and work with us and First Nations to protect wild salmon.”

Federal Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr said his ministry is also investigating the results of recent samples taken from the discharge pipes — and is open to potential changes under the Fisheries Act that would prevent the release of contaminants that could further threaten B.C.’s struggling wild salmon populations.

Campbell said he doesn’t see a way for open net fish farms and healthy wild salmon stocks to coexist. He hopes recent outrage over the outfall pipes will add to growing calls to move the aquaculture industry on land.

“I think the writing is on the wall for this industry. They can’t keep continuing to operate in the way they have been with open net pens in the water,” Campbell said.

“There’s too much opposition to it and there’s too much science saying if that’s going to happen we’re basically sacrificing our wild stocks.”

Permit 8124 – Brown Bay Fish Processing Plant by DeSmog Canada on Scribd

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