Aquaculture: Trudeau Liberals create a net loss for Canada’s seafood farmers

The Trudeau government, by disregarding its own peer-reviewed science, has inflicted severe damage on the aquaculture sector – harm that must be stopped, especially in the face of looming U.S. tariff threats, say Canada’s seafood farmers.

By Fabian Dawson
SeaWestNews

Canada’s seafood farmers are demanding that the Trudeau Liberal Government immediately halt policies that are crippling the aquaculture sector, especially in the face of devastating tariff threats by the U.S.

These policies, driven by anti-fish farm activists rather than science, have weakened the nation’s domestic food production and impact over 17,500 jobs, hitting small coastal communities the hardest, said the Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance (CAIA).

Releasing its analysis of the 2023 aquaculture production and trade data today, CAIA said Canadian farmed seafood production, which generates over $5.3 billion in economic activity and $2 billion in GDP, has plunged to its lowest level in a decade.

“The loss in overall production—which has deepened in 2024—is the result of non-science-based and unnecessary federal government actions to reduce salmon production in British Columbia,” said the national association that speaks for Canada’s seafood farmers.

This sharp decline is due to the Liberal government ignoring its own fisheries scientists, who confirm B.C.’s marine farms pose minimal risk to wild stocks, in favor of activist groups, many backed by U.S. funding.

The government is now advancing a reckless Transition Plan that will unleash widespread economic devastation in B.C., leaving taxpayers on the hook for an estimated $9 billion in compensation to existing salmon farmers, suppliers, and First Nations.

“In the last five years, the Trudeau government has listened to extreme activists and, against their own internal peer-reviewed science advice, undertaken damaging actions that have weakened a sector that has major opportunity for Canada,” said Timothy Kennedy, President & CEO of CAIA.

“Especially in the face of U.S. tariffs that would, if implemented, brutalize coastal communities, it is time to stop all damaging actions and policies that undermine the strength and vitality of our sector,” he said.

According to CAIA, these actions and policies include:

• B.C. Salmon Farming Transition and ‘Ban’: Threatening the livelihoods of 4,500 people and many coastal and First Nations communities and now being used by activists to attempt to constrain development in Atlantic Canada.
• Transport Canada’s ‘Safe Manning’ proposal: Requiring—without any industry consultation—four crew members (instead of two or three), significantly increasing costs for operators amid skilled labor shortages.
• Proposed Marine Protected Areas (MPA) and National Marine Conservation Areas (NMCA): Such as the one-million-hectare NL south coast fjords NMCA, which should be stopped immediately as it will cut off significant areas for fish harvesters and negatively impact aquaculture producers.
• Proposed changes to Conditions of License for B.C. shellfish farmers: Removing production from certain areas without scientific justification.

CAIA said the 2023 Aquaculture Production Data shows Canadian farmed seafood production was 145,985 tonnes in 2023, the lowest level in a decade and 27% less than peak production levels in 2016 (200,804 tonnes).

In 2023, the total value of farmed seafood produced in Canada was $1.26 billion and has fallen 25.3%. Additionally, exports of Canadian farmed seafood have fallen to $882.8 million in 2023, the lowest value in real terms since 2015.

These declines come as countries around the world boost their seafood production to feed growing populations, in line with calls by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to increase global aquaculture output.

Canada’s farmed seafood production now lags behind the U.K. and U.S., while falling even further behind Norway and Chile—smaller nations that have sustained aquaculture growth through thriving farmed salmon industries.

“Aquaculture production is fast expanding and now accounts for over 50% of global seafood production. It is a critical path to feeding a growing global population with healthy ocean-based protein,” said Kennedy.

“With the world’s greatest capacity for cold water aquaculture, Canada can either be at the front of the world with innovation and opportunity or be on the wrong side of history,” he said.

“It is time to begin on a new and innovative pathway towards food security and job creation through seafood farming.”

A Net Loss for Canada

2023 was a year defined by disappointing results for the Canadian aquaculture industry, despite market indicators showing increasing demand for farmed salmon, both domestically and internationally.

• Canadian farmed seafood production was 145,985 tonnes in 2023, the lowest level in a decade and 27% less than peak production levels in 2016 (200,804 tonnes).
• Canadian farmed finfish production fell to 107,144 tonnes in 2023, a 15.7% decline from 2022. Farmed shellfish production also declined in 2023, down 4.5% to 38,699 tonnes.
• In 2023, the total value of farmed seafood produced in Canada was $1.26 billion, falling 25.3% in real terms since its peak value of $1.69 billion (constant 2023 dollars) in 2018.
• Total farmed finfish value decreased 11% from 2022, to $1.13 billion in 2023. Farmed shellfish value also fell by 2.8% in real terms from 2022, to $126.5 million.
• B.C. farmed salmon production fell 42.1% to 50,067 tonnes in 2023, driving an overall decline in Canadian salmon production of 16.7%. Farmed salmon production in Atlantic Canada increased by more than 55% to 47,525 tonnes, after recovering from production issues in 2022.
• Farmed salmon production in Canada fell to 97,592 tonnes in 2023, a reduction of 33.9% since peak production of 147,662 tonnes in 2016.
• Farmed salmon accounted for 63.7% of production and 83.4% of the value of Canadian farmed seafood in 2023.
• Farmed mussels ranked second in overall production, at a 16.9% share and 3.6% of value. In third place, oysters held an 11.6% share of farmed seafood production and a 5.3% share of value.
• Exports of Canadian farmed seafood fell to $882.8 million in 2023, the lowest value in real terms since 2015, and have dropped 24.5% since the peak export value of $1.17 billion in 2019.
• Canada’s farmed seafood trade balance was $717 million in 2023, down 26.7% from the peak trade balance of $978 million in 2018.

Main image shows Timothy Kennedy, President & CEO of CAIA, addressing the Fisheries and Oceans Canada standing committee.