Kirstyn Hallberg Is Not Taking Her Foot Off the Gas

Recognized as one of B.C.’s young salmon farming leaders, the Vancouver Island mother and environmental specialist says the people behind the sector deserve to be seen.

By Samantha McLeod
SeaWestNews

Kirstyn Hallberg, Senior Environmental Specialist at Cermaq Canada, has built her career in B.C.’s salmon farming sector by watching the water, studying change and helping farm sites respond before problems arrive. Her background is in marine biology and oceanography, and her work has led her into an area she had long been drawn to.

“I actually always had a special interest in phytoplankton,” she said. “I never realized that you could actually get a job in phytoplankton. Then when this came up, I was like, “Wow, that is exactly what I’ve always been interested in.”

In salmon farming, that knowledge is an important line of defence. Some algae can change quickly and form harmful blooms, making close environmental monitoring essential on the West Coast.

Now recognized as one of the 2026 Young Salmon Farmers Award recipients, Hallberg is also part of a generation of young professionals trying to build careers, families and futures in B.C.’s salmon farming sector while political and regulatory uncertainty hangs over the industry.

When SeaWestNews first spoke with Hallberg in 2023, that uncertainty was already shaping the lives of young people in aquaculture. Three years later, she says, it has not gone away. If anything, it has become more ambiguous.

“Given that everything is so politically charged right now, I think it’s such an important time to not take your foot off the gas,” she said.

For Hallberg, the award is meaningful because it recognizes her work, and the efforts being made by young people across the sector at a time when their careers and communities continue to be shaped by government decisions, public debate and online misinformation.

For Hallberg, salmon farmers have to remain vigilant because the ocean never gives anyone the luxury of looking away.

On the West Coast, that means every season brings new patterns, new risks and new lessons. Harmful algal blooms, in particular, can change quickly, and Hallberg says the key is to monitor carefully and act before problems escalate.

She describes a robust environmental monitoring program that includes wireless probes, site staff taking measurements throughout the day, and regular checks for oxygen, temperature, salinity, turbidity and harmful algae.

That kind of monitoring allows workers to respond proactively rather than simply reacting after a problem has arrived.

Hallberg has also been part of another kind of monitoring in recent years: watching how salmon farming is discussed online.

Until recently, she managed social media for Young Salmon Farmers of B.C., a role that put her close to both positive storytelling and misinformation.

“People consume so much information from social media nowadays,” she said. “TikTok is turning into the new search engine when people want to look things up.”

For Hallberg, that makes it important that the online conversation not be left only to those opposed to the sector.

“If the entire internet is only flooded with the antis and the negatives, and that’s all they’re going to see, then if people don’t know any better, you can’t necessarily blame them if they don’t have the right information,” she said.

Some of the most meaningful social media work, she found, happened in the comments.

When she saw people repeating common claims about farmed salmon, Hallberg would sometimes respond directly with information. Those exchanges showed her that honest dialogue can still make a difference, even in hostile online spaces.

It also connects back to the larger question facing the industry: whether the people who work in salmon farming are being seen clearly.

Hallberg describes salmon farming as a specialized industry filled with people who genuinely enjoy the work. They like being on the water. They like food production. They like living, working and playing in rural coastal communities.

Without certainty, Hallberg said, it becomes harder to retain talent and invest in the tools, technology and improvements that could strengthen the sector.

Still, the industry has also given Hallberg a community.

She says many young salmon farmers are in the same stage of life, building careers while also raising families. She points to fellow award recipient Amanda Luxton, whose young son has played with Hallberg’s son at Young Salmon Farmers events.

At one recent banquet after the awards, the two boys sat together at the table eating salmon.

For Hallberg, these are not side notes. They are the foundation of the life she is building on Vancouver Island, where family, work and the ocean are tied together.

“It’s on the coast. It’s on the water,” she said. “I’m sitting in my kitchen right now looking out at the ocean, which is what I have always dreamed of.”

Asked what she wishes more British Columbians understood about salmon farmers, Hallberg’s answer was immediate.

“That we’re people,” she said.

“We live in your communities,” she said. “We’re families. We’re farmers. We’re playing soccer on the same soccer teams, and our kids are swimming together. We’re just as involved, and we’re just like everybody else.”

Kirstyn Hallberg is a mother. An environmental specialist. A communicator. A coastal resident. A young leader in a sector still fighting to be understood.

And she is not taking her foot off the gas.

Main images: Kirstyn Hallberg on the water