B.C. shellfish growers experiencing a watershed moment

Quadra Island oyster farmer Steve Pocock believes B.C.’s shellfish sector is facing a watershed moment.

West Coast growers have endured a tough couple of years as the COVID-19 pandemic dried up demand from restaurants and international markets, and extreme temperatures in June cooked countless beach-grown oysters and clams alive in their shells.

And now growers have another sink or swim dilemma — the need to change farming practices and tackle marine debris created by the shellfish sector, said Pocock, who is also president of the BC Shellfish Growers Association (BCSGA).

Beach cleanups by some coastal stewardship groups and communities have documented large amounts of debris and plastic coming from areas where shellfish farming is concentrated.

Social licence for old farming practices is in steep decline, and producers need to overcome their resistance to change and improve or consider getting out of the sector, Pocock said.

“There's a little bit of frustration … with people who think they can carry on the same way they did 20 years ago,” he said.

“Shellfish growers, like anyone else, need to adapt and change to the new standards that are expected of them.”

Shellfish operators will soon have to enclose Styrofoam floats in a hard casing, inspect and dive beneath their platforms to retrieve debris annually, mark all gear with identifying data, and self-report annually to demonstrate compliance or risk fines or the loss of their licence.

It will be hard for smaller operations to be able to absorb the costs, Pocock said.

However, most active shellfish producers are on board, with 75 per cent already reporting they’re in compliance with the association’s new stewardship plan and the new regulations from Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), some of which will come into effect in April, Pocock said.

“Unfortunately, the industry gets tarred as a whole when people aren’t compliant,” he said.

“If nine farms you drive past look fine, but the 10th farm is a complete mess, people are going to remember the one that is a mess.”

There’s also a misperception growers are profiting from federal or provincial funding programs that subsidize some of the costs they face in meeting improved environmental standards, Pocock said.

“The farmer has to put up a percentage of cash and also make significant labour commitments to carry out the projects,” he said.

“In our case, tens of thousands of dollars.”

Derelict farms already pose a big part of the shellfish debris problem, he added.

Previously, the province or federal government, which share jurisdiction over the industry, had to take operators to court to enforce environmental standards, a costly and time-consuming exercise.

But new regulations will allow fisheries officers to immediately ticket and fine licence- or tenure-holders who aren’t in compliance, he said.

Regardless of the challenges, Pocock is optimistic a continued push by the association, the province, and DFO will produce results on the pollution front.

“I’m hoping that with a joint effort between the industry and the regulators, we can get to a better place.”

Solving the debris issue guarantees the future and marketing potential of an industry that has the advantage of a light carbon footprint to produce a high-quality protein for consumers who are more and more environmentally conscious, he added.

Shellfish are also superheroes when it comes to tackling climate change. Bivalves such as oysters, mussels and clams filter their own food from the ocean, improving water quality and marine habitat for other wildlife, and reducing the likelihood of harmful algal blooms in warming waters. They also store significant amounts of carbon in their shells.

But growers will have to bite the bullet and pay for the sector’s necessary environmental upgrades to continue to profit from the industry, Pocock said.

“The farmers have to dig in their pockets and find a lot of money to make those improvements,” Pocock said.

“And you either improve and comply, or you need to stop because there really isn’t any other option.”

Rochelle Baker / Local Journalism Initiative / Canada's National Observer

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Rochelle Baker, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Canada's National Observer