‘Now is the time to adopt a unified ‘Team BC’ approach…With the right policy support, salmon farming can play a critical role in reducing B.C.’s nearly $11 billion deficit while generating thousands of well-paying jobs’ – B.C. Salmon Farmers Association
By Fabian Dawson
SeaWestNews
As global seafood demand skyrockets and U.S. trade tariffs loom, British Columbia’s salmon farmers say they are ready to invest millions of dollars, creating thousands of jobs to solidify Canada’s position as a leader in sustainable food security.
For this to happen, the salmon farmers say they need firm commitments on business certainty and policy support rooted in clear, science-based regulations from all levels of government.
This is the urgent message B.C.’s salmon farming leaders are delivering to MLAs in Victoria this week as Premier David Eby unveils retaliatory measures to counter the economic whiplash triggered by U.S. President Donald Trump’s unpredictable tariff threats.
“Now is the time to adopt a unified ‘Team BC’ approach,” said Brian Kingzett, Executive Director of the B.C. Salmon Farmers Association (BCSFA).
“With the right policy support, salmon farming can play a critical role in reducing B.C.’s nearly $11 billion deficit while generating thousands of well-paying jobs and ensuring a stable, high-quality food supply,” he said.
Kingzett said the sector’s latest economic analysis confirms that a responsible, collaborative strategy—built on First Nations agreements and backed by all levels of government—could unlock $2.5 billion in annual economic output by 2030, inject $930 million into Canada’s GDP, and create 9,000 jobs, generating $560 million in wages annually.
“Science continues to tell us that farm-raised salmon and wild salmon can co-exist, and as B.C. seafood producers, we are ready to work alongside all levels of government to build a responsible future for the sector,” he said.
“With the return to stable, science-based policies, BC salmon farmers can help secure B.C.’s food production and drive economic growth while protecting wild salmon.”
A recent independent report by the Macdonald-Laurier Institute (MLI), one of Canada’s top think tanks, backs up the economic potential of B.C.’s salmon farming industry.
According to the report, “salmon farming could benefit Canada by providing economic stability to coastal communities, fostering greater cooperation with First Nations, driving technological innovation, and protecting wild salmon.”
It highlighted that the current Federal Government plan to ban ocean salmon farming in B.C. post 2029 is a textbook case of foreign-funded activists hijacking national policy, dismissing science, crippling economic stability, and sabotaging reconciliation efforts with First Nations reliant on salmon farming.
The MLI is calling for a reversal of the ongoing Transition Plan for the sector, which carries a staggering $9 billion price tag for taxpayers and poses extensive economic, social, and environmental consequences.
The report, authored by Ken Coates, Director of Indigenous Affairs at MLI, emphasized that while Canada scales back its ocean-based salmon farming, other nations are surging ahead, recognizing the industry’s pivotal role in food security, economic stability, and environmental sustainability.
Countries like Norway, Scotland, and Chile are aggressively expanding their aquaculture industries, deploying advanced technologies to boost output while maintaining strict environmental safeguards, said Coates.
Others like Australia and New Zealand are seeing rapidly increased government financial and policy support for the aquaculture industry.
New Zealand’s Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones this month unveiled the country’s Aquaculture Development Plan 2025–2030, setting an ambitious goal to triple the sector’s revenue to $3 billion annually.
To fast-track this growth, the New Zealand government has already implemented key measures, including extending marine consents, enacting the Fast-track Approvals Act, greenlighting the country’s first open-ocean salmon farm, and investing $11.72 million to expand offshore aquaculture.
In Australia, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has assured the future of salmon farming in Tasmania’s Macquarie Harbour, which, like B.C., is battling ideological activism threatening the industry’s stability.
“I can confirm that the Australian Government will introduce legislation to ensure appropriate environmental laws are in place to continue sustainable salmon farming in Macquarie Harbour,” Albanese wrote in a letter to the sector.
Tasmania supplies over 90% of Australia’s Atlantic salmon production, valued at over A$1 billion.
In British Columbia, where farmed salmon is the province’s top agri-food export generating over $1.17 billion and supporting 4,560 full-time jobs, all in partnership with First Nations, political and financial support for the sector is lacking, said Kingzett.
“At a time when the federal government is investing heavily in other provinces, including nearly $37 million to fund improvements to infrastructure, innovation and science partnerships in Nova Scotia’s fish and seafood sector, over $13.3 million in funding to support innovation and sustainability in New Brunswick’s fisheries sector, and Pacifican’s $5 million commitment to boost plant-based “seafood” production, BC salmon farmers, producing Canada’s most consumed seafood, farm-raised salmon, is again being left behind,” he said in a statement issued today.
The Business Council of B.C. (BCBC), which represents over 200 leading companies, post-secondary institutions and industry associations, has also called on Premier David Eby to oppose Ottawa’s mandate to shut down marine salmon farms in the province.
“Dismantling this sector without robust alternatives risks unravelling B.C.’s coastal regions’ social and economic fabric,” it warned.
“The stakes are too high to ignore,” BCBC said just as the Eby Government unveiled its latest budget which spelled more bad news for the province.
According to the 2025 budget tabled earlier this month, British Columbia faces a record $10.9 billion operating deficit in 2025/26, with massive shortfalls projected over the next three fiscal years.
“We’re going to pull together. We’re going to fight, and we’re going to win,” said Eby in a special public address to the province as the budget was released.
That’s precisely what B.C.’s salmon farmers are asking him to do as they take their message to Victoria this week—stand up for an industry that fuels the province’s economy and food security.
(Main image shows members of the BCSFA Board of Directors outside the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. From left to right: Brad Hicks (Partner, Taplow Feeds Ltd.), Tim Rundle (Managing Director, Creative Salmon Co. Ltd.), Diane Morrison (Managing Director, Mowi Canada West), Stephanie King (CEO & Founder, InWater Technologies), David Kiemele (Managing Director, Cermaq Canada), Brian Kingzett (Executive Director, BC Salmon Farmers Association), and Jennifer Woodland (Managing Director, Grieg Seafood BC and BCSFA Board Chair).