Strategies for the mitigation of environmental impacts from aquaculture: An international comparison

Abstract

This research project was conducted to analyse and compare the environmental effectiveness, economic efficiency, fairness and simplicity of two policies supporting the reduction of the environmental impacts from the farming of Atlantic salmon in Canada and in Norway. Reduction of biodiversity loss, potentially caused by aquaculture, has led to new regulations by governments. In Canada, licenses impose quality standards for the installation and the equipment that must be used in aquaculture facilities. Detailed maintenance routines must also regularly be made on the equipment. These measures should reduce fish escapes and reduce biodiversity loss. In Norway, the Ministry may establish protected areas for wild Atlantic salmon populations, preventing aquaculture activities from occurring within the boundaries of these areas. Norway’s longer history and higher production might suggest a policy with greater environmentally effectiveness, economic efficiency, fairness and simplicity. However, the comparison suggested that both countries have policies that are not based on sufficient scientific evidence to support strong environmental effectiveness, although Canada’s is slightly higher than Norway. Furthermore, while both policies have similar economic efficiency, the Canadian one is fairer and it has greater simplicity. Overall, the poor weight of evidence supporting the environmental effectiveness of both policies suggests that governments should probably promote policies that define an end goal rather than the methods to achieve a particular goal. This might encourage the industry to take greater responsibility and adopt adaptive management strategies.