VANCOUVER—Fisheries and Oceans Canada has refused to release the names of salmon farms that have been investigated for infractions since 2016, in part because the department claimed it could result in “financial loss or gain” or “prejudice the competitive position” of a third party.

In response to an access to information request filed by the Star in April, the federal department released three pages that show companies were investigated after whales became trapped at the facilities. Others were investigated, issued warnings, and in one case charged for spilling damaging substances into waters used by wild fish.

In Newfoundland and Labrador, there were incidents where farmed salmon escaped and young salmon were spilled near a salmon river. No further details were provided.

In all cases, the department concealed the name of the company involved. The government argued releasing the names could affect the investigation or enforcement of laws and cause a financial loss or gain to a third party.

The government’s lack of transparency is “troubling,” said Kwikwasut’inuxw Haxwa’mis First Nation Chief Bob Chamberlin, who is also the vice-president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs.

“Everything, it seems, that is negative winds up falling under a cone of silence within government,” Chamberlin said. “It’s either characterized as proprietary or it’s a concern about whether it’s going to hurt the company’s profitability and so on.

“But that is just in stark contrast to looking after the environment and wild fisheries.”

It’s this kind of situation that led Justice Bruce Cohen to observe Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s conflicting roles of promoting the industry and protecting wild salmon, he said. Cohen investigated the decline of the Fraser River sockeye and raised serious concerns about the risks posed by the salmon farming industry.

“Prime Minister (Justin) Trudeau has committed to Canadians that there would be transparency in governance, science-based decision-making and so on and so on, and yet this continues where essentially the government is keeping secrets and allowing this industry to keep dumping harmful things into the ocean,” Chamberlin said.

Asked Monday about the response to the Star’s access to information request, a spokesperson for the federal department said, “The information requested in this case relates to matters under investigations. Disclosure of this information while investigations are ongoing could be injurious to the operations as well as respecting non-disclosure of third-party information. If investigations lead to charges, that information is made public.”

Yet in two cases, the names of the companies involved were concealed even though charges were laid, according to the documents released. The Star has filed a complaint to the Information Commissioner of Canada, in an effort to overturn the redaction of the company names.

Shawn Hall, a spokesperson for the BC Salmon Farmers Association, said while the industry can’t comment on how government agencies respond to access requests, it has asked the fisheries minister to make investments to ensure information about aquaculture is easily available to interested Canadians.

While Hall said he’s not aware of any charges that have been laid against B.C. salmon farms since the beginning of 2016, two incidents that occurred in the province were listed in the department’s response to the Star: the humpback whale entrapments.

Those incidents both happened in 2016 and were disclosed by the companies themselves at the time, he said.

“We’re committed to transparent operations and to disclosure of information,” Hall said. “If anything, this highlights that the B.C. salmon farming industry does operate in a transparent, responsible manner,” he added.

According to CBC reports, three humpback whales became trapped at fish farms within a period of months that year and two whales died.

One had become trapped in equipment at a Marine Harvest facility, where it died. Just weeks later, another whale died after it was trapped between two nets at Greig Seafood’s Atrevida. No charges appear to have been laid in either case. A third whale was rescued.

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Hall said those incidents were “effectively addressed at the time.”

“The industry proactively held workshops, consulted with experts to better understand whale activities around farms and made operational changes, such as eliminating loose ropes that could potentially cause a hazard, and we haven’t had any issues since,” he said.

The Fisheries and Oceans Canada spokesperson said the department has also tried to increase transparency. Starting last month, it began publishing the types and quantities of drugs and pesticides used by aquaculture companies online, said Frank Stanek, the department’s manager of media relations.

But those concerned about the impact of open net-pen fish farms on wild salmon species want to see more information made available, and better monitoring and enforcement by the government.

Stan Proboszcz, the science and campaign adviser for Watershed Watch Salmon Society, said the public should “absolutely” know which companies are investigated and for what, but a lot of the reporting released is very general, he said.

He worries it’s also underestimating the level of non-compliance in the industry.

“These farms are really isolated, in some of the most isolated places in British Columbia, so it’s really tough to know what’s going on at some of these farms,” Proboszcz said.

In a report released in April, Environment Commissioner Julie Gelfand found the fisheries department hadn’t sufficiently enforced its aquaculture regulations “to minimize harm to wild fish.”

In B.C., she said officials have limited options for addressing non-compliance. While they can provide educational information or write warning letters, the department rarely takes a company to court, the report said.

And according to the department’s statement to the Star on Monday, the names of companies won’t be released unless they’re charged.

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