Aquaculture Opportunity Studies and Coastal Planning

The Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management (MSRM) assists in the siting and relocation of fish farms by providing detailed resource maps of areas of interest to the aquaculture industry using the province's new siting criteria.

As part of the ongoing process of relocating poorly sited salmon farms in an effort to minimize the environmental and social impacts, and support local economies in coastal communities, the provincial government has screened specific geographical areas in order to find new tenure sites. Through the Aquaculture Opportunity Studies (AOS), the government has produced regional maps that identify areas where  tenure applications have a reasonable chance of success, as well as areas where habitat considerations, significant social conflicts or other issues may be barriers.

MSRM AOS Work

The Coast and Marine Planning Branch is the provincial office responsible for planning and management of provincially owned foreshore and nearshore. The primary instruments for this work are integrated coastal plans which are developed in conjunction with federal and provincial agencies, First Nations, industry and the public. These plans inform the provincial tenure process by directing applications to areas where they are most compatible with identified biological values and existing and potential human use.

AOS mapping was developed as a coarse filter for determining areas with potential for salmon aquaculture in advance of costly and time consuming tenure referrals. Where integrated coastal planning is undertaken, more specific aquaculture opportunities are identified by evaluating the AOS product against a more comprehensive set of resource values and with greater public input. The Coast and Marine Planning Branch website has further information on these initiatives.

Current AOS map products and links to the Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management can be found below.

Current Aquaculture Opportunity Studies

• Quatsino, Nootka and Kyuquot Finfish Aquaculture Opportunity Maps
• North Coast Finfish Aquaculture
• North Islands Straits Finfish Aquaculture (Broughton to Cape Caution)

Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management Links

• MSRM Home Page
• MSRM Decision Support Services
• MSRM Coast and Marine Planning Branch
• MSRM Aquaculture Opportunity Studies

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Updated:  December 30, 2003