A freshwater fish farm owned by Agrimarine operating out of Lois Lake finally had its day in provincial court, after years of investigation by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) for noncompliance and operating outside of a licence area.
Senior scientist with the nonprofit organization Watershed Watch, Stan Proboszcz, was in Powell River Provincial Court this morning, Thursday, August 22.
"My understanding is that the Crown counsel and the defence [Agrimarine] worked together for the last year to come up with an agreed statement of facts, and also agreed to penalties, and so they presented that to the judge," said Proboszcz.
In the courtroom, Proboszcz said the judge agreed with the decision to fine the company $350,000.
It was reported previously by Glacier Media that Agrimarine faced multiple federal and provincial investigations, and continued to operate despite setting up operations outside its licence area.
Glacier Media journalist Stefan Labbé reported in January 2023, that a provincial inspection report revealed the fish farm was pumping out over 1.7 million kilograms of trout per year — more than 1,100 times its licence permits. The report warns the company it could face up to $75,000 in fines if it didn't come into compliance.
"So, according to what I heard today, there's no more fish being farmed there, and there hasn't been fish being farmed there for a while,” said Proboszcz. "The company still has their facilities in the water, even though they're empty, and apparently they have to be removed by August 31, 2025."
Proboszcz said that even though the fish farm was repeatedly threatened with fines and given a chance by the DFO to get into compliance, it kept operating.
"It's a positive outcome for the native fish populations in the lake, such as the resident trout," said Proboszcz. “Hopefully they're not going to be experiencing more of the escaped fish from the farm fish, which may compete for food with the native fish, and may even bring in pathogens because they're being introduced [to the lake]."
Proboszcz said it was explained in court why the fine was so high.
"It's a deterrent to other companies, so they follow the rules,” he added, “because this company just totally avoided the rules, and knew about it, and just kept doing it.”
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