Aquaculture needs the same political will Ottawa gives to its mega projects

“The salmon farming sector has demonstrated its value but continues to be sidelined by federal hesitation and activist pressure,” – Dallas Smith, IPSS advisory council member

By Fabian Dawson
SeaWestNews

The federal government’s political will pushing mega nation-building projects needs to be matched with equal commitment to the sectors that are already delivering jobs, training and revenue to coastal communities, says one of BC’s most influential Indigenous leaders.

“It’s vital that the support for these multi-billion-dollar projects also extends to smaller and medium-sized sectors that create meaningful jobs and opportunities for coastal communities,” said Dallas Smith of the Tlowitsis Nation and President and Chair of the Nanwakolas Council Society.

“These smaller sectors may not have the big numbers but are essential for local economies and livelihoods,” said Smith, who is also an advisory council member of the Indigenous Partnership Success Showcase (IPSS), which held its 2025 summit in Vancouver yesterday.

“We’ve had some great movement on LNG, mining and other energy projects in Canada. But we can’t just focus on the billion-dollar projects. We need to start looking at how we can support the medium and small size stuff based on the template that’s been developed through major projects.”

Speaking on the sidelines of the IPSS day-long program titled The Gathering: Reconciliation in Action at the Vancouver Convention Centre, Smith said the examples emerging from First Nations across the country prove what’s possible when governments and industry support Indigenous-led development instead of working against it.

“If we can do it in some of these places, we can do it in more of these places,” he said, pointing to Indigenous communities that have navigated permitting, financing and environmental oversight to build stable local economies.

Smith, who speaks on behalf of the Coalition of First Nations for Finfish Stewardship (FNFFS) – an organisation of traditional Rightsholder First Nations with salmon farms in their traditional waters – said nowhere is the need for political follow-through more obvious than in seafood farming and coastal aquaculture in BC.

Salmon farming in BC generates $1.17 billion in annual economic activity. It supports 4,560 full-time jobs. All salmon farms operate in formal partnerships with First Nations. But activist-induced federal decisions to phase out ocean farming on the Pacific coast have already cut production. The result is falling investment and warnings of thousands of job losses if a planned 2029 shutdown of marine salmon farms proceeds without proven alternatives.

“The salmon farming sector has demonstrated its value but continues to be sidelined by federal hesitation and activist pressure,” said Smith.

“It’s still perplexing to me how hard of a discussion it is to help build the economy around aquaculture in Canada…We have reached a point where we’re importing seafood that we grew for 20 years on the coast, and now we’re buying it from Chile and Scotland.”

Smith said Canada’s reluctance to support an industry that keeps coastal communities afloat undermines both food security and economic reconciliation.

“Canadians need to take a good hard look at how we deal with food security and the economic opportunities that come with it, and aquaculture is a prime example of what we’re not doing right,” he said. “Work with the Nations who want to do it and start from there.”

Smith added that salmon aquaculture is not a standalone operation because it anchors broader development in the marine economy.

“These other sectors, shellfish, seaweed, processing, couldn’t carry the production costs on their own without an anchor like salmon aquaculture being part of the program,” he said.

That interdependence is already being felt along the coast. The BC Shellfish Growers Association has warned that many of the services and suppliers their industry relies on may not survive if federal decisions continue to weaken salmon farming.

Aquaculture suppliers across the province have echoed the same concern, telling the provincial government that uncertainty in federal policy is pushing coastal communities toward an economic breaking point.

Smith said the public debate around salmon farming also reflects a deeper issue that shows how outside activists often try to speak for Indigenous communities while ignoring the Nations that actually host, regulate and benefit from aquaculture.

“We’ve made tremendous progress in aquaculture but activist groups are using some First Nations to bolster their ideological  position rather than respecting nation-to-nation decisions,” he said.

He stressed that Indigenous communities have strengthened their own governance by dealing directly with neighbouring Nations rather than letting outside voices dominate the conversation.

“The longer we can keep the discussions nation to nation, without the activists, the farther we’re going to go,” he said

Smith’s comments came as Prime Minister Mark Carney was in Terrace yesterday promoting Ottawa’s latest round of major nation-building initiatives, including expanded LNG capacity, new transmission infrastructure and critical-mineral developments.

Smith said that for many First Nations, the real measure of progress lies not just in what gets built next but in what is already delivering results.

“If the federal government wants to build a stronger country, it must strengthen the industries already proving their worth in Indigenous territories.

“Nation-building is not only about what comes next…It’s about building on what already works.”

IPSS advisory council member Isaiah Robinson, Deputy Chief Councillor of the Kitasoo Xai’xais Nation, pointed to his community’s salmon farming partnership in Klemtu as proof of what long-term, Nation-led development can achieve.

He said the results are clear. The community now has a 99 percent employment rate and salmon farming accounts for more than half of the local economy, generating about three million dollars a year. Robinson added that the work is supported by strong environmental stewardship and a growing science program that guides the Nation’s aquaculture operations.

Other members of the IPSS Advisory Council, which is a slate of leaders who bridge Indigenous governance, industry, and community development, include  Deanna Lewis of the Squamish Nation, Crystal Smith of the Haisla Nation, Justin Napoleon, former Chief of Saulteau First Nation, and Lana Eagle, an Indigenous relations strategist from Whitecap Dakota First Nation.

The IPSS is Canada’s leading forum for forging durable partnerships between Indigenous communities and the business world, with a focus on projects of all scale that drive economic reconciliation and shared prosperity.

(Main image shows Dallas Smith hosting a session at the IPSS summit in Vancouver)