East Coast salmon farmers are urging Ottawa to deny federal funds to the Atlantic Salmon Federation, saying taxpayer dollars must not bankroll “an activist group” targeting aquaculture, rural jobs and domestic seafood production.
By Fabian Dawson
SeaWestNews
Salmon farmers on Canada’s East Coast are calling on Ottawa to stop funding the Atlantic Salmon Federation (ASF), which they say is a foreign-funded activist organization working to undermine and ultimately dismantle the nation’s salmon farming sector.
In an open letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney and Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson, the Atlantic Canada Fish Farmers Association (ACFFA) called for a formal review of the federation’s charitable status.
It also demanded that none of the taxpayer dollars from Ottawa’s recently announced $81.7 million earmarked for wild Atlantic salmon conservation and restoration be funneled to ASF. That funding was part of the federal government’s broader $3.8 billion nature package which is aimed at pairing nature protection with economic growth.
The ASF, headquartered in New Brunswick, brands itself as being dedicated to the conservation & restoration of wild Atlantic salmon.
But ACFFA calls it “a foreign-funded, activist organization that has repeatedly engaged in campaigns designed to misrepresent, undermine, and ultimately dismantle Atlantic Canada’s salmon farming sector while providing negligible outcomes for genuine conservation.”
“Their activities are strategic, coordinated efforts to de-market farmed salmon and erode public trust in a vital Canadian food-producing industry,” said Tom Taylor, ACFFA’s Executive Director.
He pointed to the groups campaigns such as “Off the Table” and salmon.info which he said are not neutral public education initiatives.
“They are deliberate, well-funded communications strategies designed to spread misleading and incomplete information about farmed salmon, with the explicit goal of discouraging its consumption and shutting down the sector. These efforts are harmful and deceptive.
“Such conduct raises serious concerns under the standards of the Competition Bureau, which has expressly included the raising of funds for charitable or non-profit purposes as a business activity that is subject to the deceptive marketing provisions of the Competition Act.
“We believe these campaigns warrant formal investigation as intentionally deceptive marketing practices aimed at damaging a lawful Canadian industry.”
The letter says Atlantic Canada’s finfish farming sector employs more than 9,400 people, generates $3.2 billion in economic output, produces more than 356 million meals annually and supports more than 1,400 local businesses. It argues those numbers translate into real stakes for coastal communities across a region that is nearly 40 per cent rural.
Public support reflects this reality. In February 2026, polling conducted by Narrative Research Associates found that 85 percent of Atlantic Canadians support aquaculture.
Beyond economics, the association said salmon farming is part of Canada’s food security infrastructure. “Our work strengthens Canada’s food security, economy, and global reputation as a producer of safe, high-quality protein,” Taylor wrote in the open letter.
To reinforce that point, the letter highlights the Fundy Salmon Recovery program as an example of what the industry calls real, science-based conservation. The initiative brings together Indigenous partners, aquaculture operators, scientists and governments, and has helped return more than 13,000 mature wild salmon to inner Bay of Fundy rivers, with more than 700 tagged fish returning.
Taylor contrasted that collaborative model with ASF’s approach. “This is what responsible, science-based conservation looks like: collaboration, transparency, and outcomes,” he wrote. “It stands in stark contrast to the approach taken by the ASF.”
The ASF is supported by many of the same ideologically aligned activists in British Columbia, where the anti-salmon farming campaign has for years been powered by claims that have collapsed against the broader body of scientific evidence.
Yet despite that real world data that concludes no measurable negative impacts from B.C. salmon farms on wild salmon populations, the Carney government is still sitting on the Trudeau-era plan to ban ocean salmon aquaculture in B.C. by June 30, 2029.
The B.C. Salmon Farmers Association and its First Nation’s partners say that policy will decimate a sector that supports about 7,000 jobs in indigenous and coastal communities and contributes roughly $1.5 billion annually to the provincial economy.
It will also leave taxpayers on the hook for more than $9 billion once compensation for fish farmers, suppliers and First Nations is combined with subsidies for still-unproven closed-containment alternatives.
(Main image courtesy of ACFFA)