February 15-18, 2009 Washington State Convention Center Seattle ...

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SUCCESSFUL APPLICATION OF A SCIENCE-BASED APPROACH TO SETTING
REGULATORY ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS FOR COASTAL FINFISH
AQUACULTURE, BRITSH COLUMBIA, CANADA
Eric R. McGreer* and Bernie Taekema
British Columbia Ministry of Environment
Environmental Protection Division
Regional Operations, Vancouver Island
2080A Labieux Road
Nanaimo, BC, Canada V9T 6J9
eric.mcgreer@gov.bc.ca
In September 2002, a new performance-based, provincial waste regulation was introduced in British Columbia, the Finfish
Aquaculture Waste Control Regulation (FAWCR). The FAWCR was developed to provide protection for the marine environment,
and support lifting of an existing moratorium on new coastal fish farm licenses. Development of the chemical and
biological standards used in the regulation was based on extensive pre-monitoring and utilization of existing scientific
knowledge from the Pacific Northwest and globally. An overview of the results from seven years of environmental monitoring
will be presented together with a discussion of key factors which have contributed to the success of the program. The FAWCR
is currently being amended to incorporate new scientific information, and expand and streamline its role in environmental
protection while accommodating increased production efficiencies by the industry. The importance of the amendments will be
discussed in relation to their implications for regulatory science.
The primary chemical standard used in the FAWCR is the concentration of free sulphides in sediment pore water. Specific
levels not to be exceeded are provided for the fish production cycle including peak production (6,000 uM) and re-stocking
(1,300 uM). Exceedance prompts biological sampling of benthic communities to confirm impact. Generally, compliance with
the FAWCR by the industry since 2002 has been good which has required the industry to actively manage its operations to
accommodate increases in production while keeping within the regulatory limits. Changes in benthic community structure at
farms which have demonstrated impacts over several years have been documented, and the steps to development of indicator
species will be highlighted.
Research in support of regulatory amendments has been completed in the areas of development of protocols and criteria for
video monitoring of hard seabed substrates, adoption of an “ecological threshold” approach to biological monitoring, updating
protocols for use by government agencies and industry, increasing regulatory effectiveness to balance environmental protection
and increased production efficiencies by industry, and certification of data/information providers.
Emerging issues which require regulatory research for possible inclusion in future amended versions of FAWCR have been
identified as far field effects, application of an ecosystem-based approach, and several forms of cumulative effects.