National Aquaculture Strategic Action Plan Initiative

Strengthening Sustainable Aquaculture Development in Canada

Under the leadership and direction of DFO, and with the support of the Provinces and Territories, the National Aquaculture Strategic Action Planning Initiative (NASAPI) has been launched to develop targeted action plans to facilitate sustainable development in all regions of the country. Each Strategic Action Plan will target precise and realistic objectives to be achieved within a 5-year time frame. Implementation will be facilitated through a national agreement endorsed by the Canadian Council of Fisheries and Aquaculture Ministers (CCFAM) and coordinated amongst the federal and provincial / territorial governments via MOUs or other similar mechanisms.

What's been done to date:

To date, eleven meetings concerning finfish and shellfish have been held in PEI, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland & Labrador, Quebec, Ontario and the Prairies. A discussion paper, shared in advance with all workshop participants, was developed to focus and stimulate productive discussions throughout the consultation process. In order to facilitate more intensive expert discussion, the issue of identifying priority species for diversification efforts was dealt with separately through five advance regional workshops in February and March of 2009.

Federal British Columbia Aquaculture Regulation:

In light of the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the British Columbia governance and regulatory regime, the west coast NASAPI meetings were postponed until the BC regulatory landscape was clarified. The BC Supreme Court allowed DFO one year to develop and implement a federal aquaculture regulation for BC. In view of the scope of work involved, DFO has approached the Court to secure an extension to December 2010 and DFO is proceeding on the assumption that this extension will be granted. If the extension is not granted by the Court, DFO will establish and implement appropriate interim measures for the management of aquaculture in BC.

The public consultations to support the development of the BC regulation will be held in tandem with the National Aquaculture Strategic Action Plan Initiative (NASAPI) discussions. First Nations and other aboriginal groups sessions and those dealing with the finfish and shellfish sectors in BC are now scheduled to take place in December 2009 and January 2010. An updated document, "Federal BC Aquaculture Regulation & Strategic Action Plan Initiative Discussion Document" is available to guide these discussions.

DFO is seeking views on the elements of a BC aquaculture regulation and the National Aquaculture Strategic Action Plan, noting that the initiatives are in the discussion stage only.  DFO has not yet taken a policy position on elements, nor is there a draft regulation or action plan developed as of the public release of the BC discussion document.