Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s (DFO’s) Pacific Aquaculture Regulations and Conditions of Licence for aquaculture in B.C. require licence holders to take various fish escape prevention measures, including maintaining infrastructure in a manner to prevent the escape of farmed fish into the environment as well as responding to remedy the cause of the escape as soon as possible. When there is evidence that an escape event has occurred, licence holders must report the incident to the department within 24 hours either through the Observe Record and Report Line (ORR 1-800-465-4336), or to a dedicated email mailbox, detailing the cause, time and location of the event and the species, size and number of fish involved. The licence holder must also provide fish health information about the stock, such as exposure to therapeutants. A more detailed written report is then submitted to the department within seven days. DFO monitors BC waters for escaped Atlantic salmon through the Atlantic Salmon Watch Program (ASWP), which relies on voluntary reports from fish harvesters. A summary of [reports made to the ASWP](https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/f0299fb3-73b9-4977-b96a-c83bd84ebdc4 "reports made to the ASWP") since July 2005 is available.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s (DFO’s) Conditions of Licence for finfish aquaculture include requirements to minimize harm to wild fish that swim into facilities. Facility operators must also maintain an incidental catch log, which is a record of wild fish caught at the facility during harvest and transfer events. This information is submitted to DFO and public reports are posted quarterly. The tables provided list the reported incidental catch of dead wild finfish and the year and month in which they were captured from B.C. marine finfish facilities during harvest and transfer events. Data are reported in the quarter in which the harvest activities ended and will not exist for farms that do not have fish on site or where no incidentally caught fish were recorded.

Fish health on British Columbia salmon farms is managed throughout the production cycle to maintain healthy fish populations and to identify and address disease occurrences as soon as they arise. Aquaculture licence conditions set out mandatory monitoring and reporting requirements to ensure any potential impacts are appropriately mitigated at salmon farms. A central component of on-farm fish health management is a Fish Health Management Plan (FHMP). FHMPs are approved by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) and describe the fish health principles that the licensee must follow to maintain fish health and biosecurity at the farm. Both DFO and aquaculture companies have veterinarians on staff (or available on contract, for some companies) to monitor fish health on farms. Company veterinarians oversee routine health screening and ensure appropriate husbandry in day-to-day operations and identify appropriate management measures if fish health concerns arise. Licence holders must routinely submit a variety of fish health data to DFO. Routine reports include monthly sea lice abundance, antimicrobial use and information on [mortality rates](https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/85986a45-b71d-4380-8990-d5763fdf19a5"mortality rates"), including the suspected [cause of mortality](https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/0a8c5505-ecb3-4d8b-8120-462bd7def6bb"cause of mortality"). Additional reports are submitted if there are elevated mortalities, a fish health event that requires the involvement of a veterinarian or sea lice abundance over the DFO determined threshold. Through the Fish Health Audit and Surveillance Program, DFO oversees the health of cultured salmon to minimize fish health and disease risks to wild and farmed fish and publishes [reports](http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/aquaculture/regs-eng.html"reports") on regulation and monitoring of BC’s marine finfish aquaculture facilities. Sites are [routinely inspected](http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/aquaculture/reporting-rapports/health-compliance-conform-sante/index-eng.html"routinely inspected") to ensure compliance with licence conditions and FHMPs, to verify the accuracy of industry reporting, and to collect samples for [independent](https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/6c891715-317c-4d4d-9fe8-ea425e01d9d2"independent") fish health and disease screening. All salmon aquaculture transfers require authorization under section 56 of the Fishery (General) Regulations. Movements of fish to and from farms may be required to introduce new stock, facilitate growth at different life stages or optimize production. All transfer applications are accompanied by a signed veterinary attestation which details the health status of the fish to be transferred and attests to their health. DFO reviews these applications to determine whether the movement may adversely affect local aquatic species and habitats. DFO veterinarians and biologists assess the information gathered by DFO audits and inspections, as well as that submitted by industry to gain a complete picture of the health status of the fish to be moved. Occasionally a fish health concern will be identified during the review conducted by DFO fish health staff. Most often, clarification with the industry’s fish health staff will be sufficient to address the concern; however occasionally additional mitigative measures are deemed necessary to address potential risks. Animal welfare and ensuring humane treatment of the fish are an important consideration when choosing the most appropriate mitigation option. Common mitigation measures include: • Pre-transfer grading to select the healthiest fish within the age class • Humane culling to remove affected fish or “poor performers” that are most likely to harbour disease or unlikely to ingest medicated feed. Poor performers are fish that fail to thrive, stop or reduce feeding, and may be emaciated (long and skinny). There are various reasons a fish becomes a poor performer, including failure to adapt to salt

Fisheries and Oceans Canada is responsible for licensing all aquaculture facilities in British Columbia. The aquaculture licence and conditions of licence are designed to ensure the sustainable operation and development of the aquaculture industry. The following lists contain details related to currently licensed aquaculture facilities in British Columbia.

The 2019 amended Fisheries Act (FA) contains a provision that will require DFO to have a public facing Registry to provide public access to records relating to fish and fish habitat protection and pollution prevention, including: • Ministerial agreements • Standards and Codes of practice • Ministerial orders • Fisheries Act Authorizations • Permits for designated projects • Fish habitat restoration plans This work supports the Government’s goals around transparency, access, and accountability in federal decision-making. The new online version of the [FA Registry](https://far-rlp.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/) is now available to Canadians. This latest release includes the Fisheries Act Authorizations (updated automatically.) The FA Registry is currently accessible through the [Common Project Search Portal](https://common-project-search.canada.ca/), a one-stop online location for Canadians to search and browse through DFO authorizations as well as projects and assessments submitted to the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada and Transport Canada. DFO will be undertaking continuous development of the Fisheries Act Registry. This release is the second step towards implementing the full FA Registry that will provide additional content as well as new features to the FA Registry, increasing transparency and proactive disclosure as well as improving digital capacity and service for Canadians. Click here to visit the [Fisheries Act Registry](https://far-rlp.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/).

This list provides name and contact information for various fish suppliers for the public to obtain live fish for stocking or for bait.