Why

legislating Canadian Salmon Farms on land is a bad idea *Edited Aug 24 2017

My company has over 30 years experience in global food production and distribution. We have worked
with governments, farmers, scientists, and multinational corporations in all areas of the world, to
produce and deliver the food that you eat. From produce, to poultry, to pink salmon, we have global
experience in all segments of the food industry. Along with that, we are the only company in the world
that supplies both Coho and Sockeye salmon from land-based, closed containment aquaculture, (as
West Creek Aquaculture). We bring a unique and expert perspective to this subject.

I first need to explain some basic principles of the food business. People generally buy only enough food
to meet their consumption requirements for the day, or the week. You dont trade in your old potatoes
for the new model. When you are out of potatoes, you buy more. Food production companies try very
hard to have their production volumes meet the demands of consumption, as excess is generally just
waste. Its very difficult to get people to eat more potatoes than they normally would, at a specific time.
However, its also just as difficult to stop people from eating certain foods they are used to. We are
habituated to consume turkey at Christmas, coffee in the morning, and tomatoes in our sandwiches.

However, what is the largest reason that we change our consumption habits? Price of course. When we
have bad summer weather and cherries are $15lb we tend to buy less of them. Beef has been very
expensive of late and many families are not able to afford as much. Ask yourself how many times you
have not purchased steak because of the price, or do you buy the same amount of steak, regardless of
the price? Most consumers around the world must fit their choices to their budget.

Salmon markets are no different. Consumers demand salmon. We expect it in our sushi, on menus and
in store counters. While you may be specific about the type of salmon you want, the vast majority of
consumers on earth are not. There is no Coho or Sockeye, farmed or Atlantic, it is just salmon, and its
pink. Global farmed salmon production is approximately 2 million metric tonnes per year. That means
consumers are eating and expect to eat approximately 2 Billion kgs of farmed salmon every year.

Legislating Canadian and only Canadian salmon farms out of the ocean, and on to land is a poor idea.
Production costs of land-based salmon are approx 100% more than ocean farmed salmon. Land
acquisition, building construction, equipment, and energy costs are permanent factors that will always
equate to land produced salmon being more expensive than ocean grown.

However, lets assume legislation to move salmon farms on land passes, what happens next? From a
supply perspective Canada would stop producing 120 Million kgs of ocean-farmed salmon that fulfills
world demand and expectations. Where will the salmon come from that consumers expect to purchase
and eat each week? Other farmed salmon producers cannot simply produce more salmon right away.
They need government approval, infrastructure, brood-stock, and 2 years to grow the fish. Where will
the salmon come from to make up the shortfall?

Idealists say newly formed Canadian land based salmon farms will supply the demand, but this is false.
In our competitive global environment, it is nave to suggest a consumer in Miami or Singapore is going
to pay significantly more for the Canadian salmon over the Norwegian or American salmon? They dont
know or probably care if its farmed, and they certainly dont worry about it being land based. They
simply want their salmon dinner at a similar price as they paid last time. While you may look down your
nose at this consumer, consider there are 2 bananas in the store counter, and 1 is 100% more expensive
than the other, but they appear the same, which one are you choosing?

The global consumer will not pay much more for the land based salmon yet they still want their salmon
dinner. Where will the salmon come from to make up the demand? What salmon resources are quickly
available to be harvested and supply consumers the salmon they expect to eat? Have you guessed it?
Why wild salmon of course! Any time you make less of something, demand increases. Higher prices
drive greater efforts of illegal and unreported fishing to fill the demand. More foreign vessels delve into
international waters to target wild salmon seeking the easy sell and large profits. It could only take four
short years for wild salmon runs to be poached and harvested to extinction levels during the worldwide
shortage of farmed salmon. Legislating Canadian salmon farms on land doesnt reduce the pressure on
wild salmon, it increases it.

What about the land based industry in Canada? Isn't there a new industry of opportunity and future
prosperity? As mentioned earlier, consumers choose the product they expect at an affordable price.
Almost 100% of current farmed salmon customers purchase it because it is a product they are happy
with, at a reasonable price. If you produce an equally satisfactory product, at double the price, you
probably dont have a very good future, in a global environment. This does not even factor in if any
salmon farming companies will embrace moving to land, or just pull out of Canada all together.
Considering our global marketplace, and that most countries are not subject to the activist agenda in BC,
it would be reasonable to assume 100% of ocean salmon farmers would simply leave Canada
altogether. While some might be happy with that future, consider what would happen with wild stocks
as a result.

With Ocean Salmon farmers leaving, Canada would lose 10,000 direct and hundreds of thousands of
indirect jobs. Remote communities, including First Nations, would be devastated. A bleak future would
bring further negative effects to remote communities and their families. Wild salmon stocks would be
illegally harvested to extinction levels, and there would be no land-based industry. Legislating Canadian
salmon farms on land will bring the opposite effects that idealists suggest for Canada and wild salmon.

I feel that any discussion about saving wild salmon must include a discussion of reduction in Wild
salmon consumption. Human consumption is the largest and greatest threat to wild salmon by a
country mile. Fishermen kill almost 500 Million Wild Salmon every year to satisfy consumer demand. If
we did not kill wild salmon their biomass would skyrocket, almost overnight, farmed salmon or not.
Many activists fighting farmed salmon are doing so to support wild salmon harvest and consumption. I
dont believe I have ever heard an activist group suggest consumption should be discussed; yet they say
they want to save wild salmon? Think about that narrative for a minute, we want to save wild salmon,
so we can eat them.

The global demand for salmon is not going away but increasing. The reason wild salmon still exist is
because salmon farms supply 2 Billion kilograms each year to hungry global consumers. With excellent
quality salmon, produced as the most efficient and lowest environmental impact of any protein, farmed
salmon should be managed as an asset to save wild salmon, and feed our future world, not vilified.
Salmon farming is on the verge of some amazing things where small pelagic or baitfish will not be
required to grow the fish. Plant protein, insect feeds, and algae based proteins are all replacing
fishmeal. As aquaculture continues to develop it will solve other issues and continue to improve, as it
has for many decades.



If you would prefer your farmed salmon came from a land based facility, we already have that covered
for you, its in stores, as West Creek Coho, Kuterra Atlantic Salmon, Atlantic Sapphire, and others, but it
costs a little more. We wish activists would advise consumers they could make a choice with their
pocket book, not Facebook.

EDIT With the recent salmon farm escapes in Washington state, just a few kilometers south of
Vancouver Island, it is painfully obvious that removing salmon farms from Canadian waters will provide
no assurance that wild salmon will not interact with salmon farms whatsoever. Too many people are
surprised to learn that salmon farms are in such close proximately to Victoria, Vancouver, and the
Fraser River. However these farms have been there for 30 years, with very little, if any attention from
Canadian activists. With so many Canadian anti-salmon farm activists receiving funding from USA
interests, it requires explanation why they do not speak of these USA farms, so close to our shores and
the Fraser River? Why do so many activists target Canadian salmon farms at the north end of Vancouver
Island, on the inside passage, when the majority of migrating Fraser River Salmon travel outside
Vancouver Island, through the Strait of Juan de Fuca, past the US salmon farms, on their way to the
Fraser River? It appears they have purposely ignored these USA farms, and singled out Canadian farms
in their marketing to consumers. Why?


Don Read
President
Willowfield Enterprises Ltd.