Letter to the editor ... Vancouver Sun May 2, 2014
Public payouts to private fish farms slammed
Re: Farms in B.C. netted $4.1 million in compensation for diseased fish, April 30
It is disheartening to once again see millions of dollars of taxpayers’ money used to bail out rich multinational corporations carrying out an inherently risky business.
Losses from disease, to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars per year, is the bane of existence for fish farmers worldwide, in particular for those that practise open-net-pen fish farming in which constant exposure to a wide range of uncontrollable pathogens is as certain as taxes.
Fish farmers, and any other farmer for that matter, can buy insurance against loss due to disease. Why then should we, the taxpayers, be on the hook for what amounts to an insurable loss? Aren’t these companies insured?
If not, they should suffer their losses gracefully and invest in other methods of producing fish so that such losses are minimized, like raising them on land in closed-containment facilities, rather than relying on government handouts when disaster strikes.
Insurance is an important element of any business’s risk-management strategy. It’s a cost of doing business. If that cost is too high, then maybe it’s not the kind of business one should be engaging in.
JOHN WERRING, Senior Science and Policy Advisor, David Suzuki Foundation
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Topic: Letter To The Editor Re FF Payouts (Read 2090 times)