Farmed Salmonids

CODE UNDER DEVELOPMENT

The aquaculture sector has initiated the development of Canada’s first Code of Practice for farmed salmonids (salmon, trout, charr).

CODE DEVELOPMENT TIMELINE

Start: November 2018
Public comment period: November to December 2020
Projected completion: Fall 2021
Code development timeline

Resources:

Committees

Code Development Committee members

Participants are defined as per NFACC’s Guiding Principles for Codes of Practice.

Role	Committee Member	Organization
Code Manager	Caroline Ramsay
Code Manager Support	Kate Cooper
Producer	Barry Milligan (Chair)	Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance
Producer	Wendy Vandersteen	Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance
Producer	Arlen Taylor	Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance
Producer	Amanda Borchardt	Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance
Transporter	Several producer representatives with knowledge and expertise will serve in this capacity
Veterinarian	Chris Harvey-Clark	Canadian Veterinary Medical Association
National animal welfare association	Leigh Gaffney	World Animal Protection Canada
Provincial animal protection enforcement authority	Carolyn Sanford	Prince Edward Island Department of Agriculture and Fisheries
Provincial government representative with responsibilities in animal welfare	Myron Roth	British Columbia Ministry of Agriculture
Retail and food service organization	Alexandra Leclerc	Retail Council of Canada
Processor	Several producer representatives with knowledge and expertise will serve in this capacity
Federal government	Kim Klotins	Canadian Food Inspection Agency
	Victoria Pedersen	Canadian Food Inspection Agency
Researcher/academic	Richard Moccia	Co-Chairs of the Scientific Committee
	David Scarfe
Technical Expert	Roland Cusack

Scientific Committee members

Name	Named by
Jim Duston	Canadian Society of Animal Science (CSAS)
Richard Moccia (Co-Chair)	International Society for Applied Ethology (ISAE) (Canadian chapter)
Don Stevens	Canadian Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA)
David Scarfe (Co-Chair)	Canadian Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA)
Michelle Lavery	Scientific Committee, as additional needed animal welfare expertise. Additionally served as the Research Writer.

Priority welfare issues for the Scientific Committee report

The Code Development Committee and Scientific Committee collectively identified the following list of priority welfare issues. The Scientific Committee is developing a report synthesizing the results of research relating to these animal welfare issues.

Current understanding, definitions or roles of consciousness, sentience,and feelings-based perspectives, learning, behaviour, nociception, neurophysiology, philosophy, morals/ethics, public perceptions and the “Precautionary Principle” on farmed salmonids welfare
Welfare measures/indicators in fish (acute and chronic stress/distress and those associated with injury and disease)
Impact of sea lice on fish welfare and welfare concerns associated with treatments
Fasting/feed withdrawal
Welfare appropriate stocking rates/density and management in relation to associated factors (e.g. temperature, water quality, fish behaviour)
New and emerging water quality issues in recirculating aquaculture systems affecting fish welfare
Impact of lighting and photoperiods (including quality) on fish welfare
Welfare concerns associated with hormonal and diurnal induced spawning, and creating non-reproductive fish (triploids, monosex)
Genetic improvement strategies (including natural selection and genetic engineering)
Welfare implications of using ice slurry for slaughter

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