Eco-imperialism and the Anti-aquaculture Movement

Eco-imperialism and the Anti-aquaculture Movement

March 20, 2004

By Patrick Moore, Ph.D.

I recently attended a seminar in New York City sponsored by the Congress on Racial Equality. The title of the meeting was “Eco-imperialism”, a relatively new term to describe the actions of environmental groups who are stifling development in Asia, Africa and Latin America. For example, the activists boast that they have prevented the construction of 200 hydro dams in developing countries. This means no electricity,
irrigation, or flood control. Their zero-tolerance campaign against genetically modified foods resulted in Zambia turning away corn from the United States while people starved to death. The campaign to end the use of DDT for malaria control results in millions more infections every year in tropical countries.

But eco-imperialism is not limited to developing countries in the tropics. It is alive and well right here in British Columbia in the form of the campaign against salmon farming and other types of aquaculture.

Anti-aquaculture activists have for a long time portrayed themselves as the underdogs, fighting the good fight. This is the David versus Goliath myth they have constructed for themselves – and it’s nothing short of an absolute lie.

The truth is that anti-aquaculture activists like the $20-million David Suzuki Foundation can draw upon the enormous financial and staff resources of multi-billion dollar American charitable foundations; the resources available to the aquaculture industry to counter activist attacks simply pales in comparison.

With almost unlimited resources from elite, American, urban-based charitable foundations that have little understanding of the lives of rural people, anti-aquaculture activists have launched what can only be termed an eco-imperialist campaign to impose their values on BC coastal communities and First Nations people.

At a time when other sectors offer diminishing opportunities, aquaculture holds the promise of stable, long-term, well-paying jobs for thousands of British Columbians year-round.

The sector is providing First Nations with new opportunities for growth and prosperity. It is without a doubt the most promising industry to bring self-sufficiency to First Nations communities along the entire coast of the province.

Salmon aquaculture employs members of First Nations in communities such as Campbell River, Klemtu, Alert Bay, Port Hardy, Fort Rupert, Port Edward, Kitkatla, Tofino and surrounding villages in Clayoquot Sound.

The industry generates more than 4,000 jobs throughout the Coast and contributes over $600 million annually to the BC economy.

For many BC Coastal communities and First Nations, aquaculture has become their economic lifeblood.

The Kitkatla First Nation, for example, has signed an innovative joint venture agreement with Pan Fish Canada to develop ten salmon farm sites in the region. The Kitkatla hope to train some 100 individuals to work on the farms and the project offers the promise of long term employment for a community in desperate need of an economic boost.

But the eco-imperialists will have none of it.

They have sought to bring the project—and many others like it—to a grinding halt. Like the imperialists of old, the new eco-imperialists have delusions of grandeur. They don’t seek consensus; they seek conquest.

The views of rural communities and First Nations, their hopes and dreams for a better life – all this means nothing to the activists. In their imperialist zeal to attack aquaculture, real consultation with communities simply gets thrown out the window. So too does reason, logic and science.

Let there be no mistake: In the last year we have witnessed nothing less than an unprecedented, well funded and highly coordinated campaign to rob BC coastal communities and First Nations of a prosperous and sustainable future.

It’s a campaign of fear-mongering based on exaggeration and misinformation. And it’s one that must be stopped because aquaculture is the future of coastal communities.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimates that by 2030 global fish consumption will reach 160 million metric tonnes. But the amount of wild fish available for human consumption on a sustainable basis will be no more than 100 million tonnes. The future shortfall in supply will have to come from
aquaculture.

More and more, communities and First Nations are rising up against the eco-imperialists. Recognizing that their livelihoods are now at stake, communities across Coastal BC are organizing against the activists and in support of aquaculture.

Grassroots groups like Campbell River-based Positive Aquaculture Awareness are aggressively countering activist misinformation and communicating the real message about aquaculture’s economic and environmental sustainability.

That message is now being heard loud and clear and British Columbians are beginning to understand how important aquaculture truly is. Despite unrelenting attacks, the last year has seen the aquaculture sector make some remarkable gains in terms of increased support and positive profile.

The grassroots struggle against the eco-imperialists must continue.

Nothing short of the future of coastal communities and First Nations depends on it.