Lack of fairness prompts Federal Court to set aside B.C. fish farm phaseout

Lack of fairness prompts Federal Court to set aside B.C. fish farm phaseout

By Amy Smart

Source: globalnews

4/27/2022

Credit: Jonathan Hayward. JOH

A Federal Court judge has set aside a Department of Fisheries order that would have phased out fish farming in British Columbia’s Discovery Islands.

Federal Court Judge Elizabeth Heneghan says in a decision issued April 22 that the order made in late 2020 by then-fisheries minister Bernadette Jordan breached the right to procedural fairness owed to the 19 fish farms that were expected to shut down by the end of June.

Fish farm operators Mowi Canada West, Cermaq Canada and Grieg Seafood applied for a judicial review of the order that prevented them from restocking their farms, arguing it lacked reasons and didn’t “show an appreciation of the facts.”