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Fish Farms in Canada: Where Is the Law?

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First Online:
Part of the Palgrave Studies in Green Criminology book series (PSGC)

Abstract

Mass farmed fish die-offs and escapes have brought attention to the aquaculture industry and raised concerns about whether the law regulating this industry is adequate to protect fish and the environment in which they live. Focusing on a “mass asphyxiation” mortality event that took place in Newfoundland, Canada, at the end of the summer of 2019, this chapter will survey some of the issues related to animal welfare and the “green harms” raised by this incident with an eye to the wider implications for fields of law relating to nonhuman animals and the environment. One would think that the law would be protective toward the vulnerable interests of these entities. What we find, on the contrary, is weak law and what law there is facilitating government-supported industry use. This case study demonstrates that the law is failing to protect nonhuman animals, specifically fish, reflecting and reinforcing their poor regard, and leaving them to a terrible fate.

Keywords

Fish farms Canada Animal welfare Environmental harm Fish Nonhuman animals Animal law Animal law and policy Farmed salmon Wild salmon 
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Notes

Acknowledgement

The author wishes to thank the members of the Brooks Institute for Animal Rights, Law and Policy 2021 Summer Academic Workshop, especially Jennifer Jacquet and Becca Franks. Thanks also to Angela Lee. The author also gratefully acknowledges the able research assistance of Clara Pencer, John River Sommerhalder, and Deniz Yilmaz. Sooin Kim of the Bora Laskin Law Library provided heroic reference support during the first and second Covid-19 lockdowns when this chapter was written. The editors were especially patient in waiting for the piece to be completed despite delays caused by that challenging time.

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Copyright information

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Faculty of LawUniversity of TorontoTorontoCanada

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