Mowi grows globally as its B.C. salmon farms remain in aquaculture limbo

Mowi’s latest annual report shows growth in major salmon-producing regions, while its B.C. business faces highly uncertain future prospects amid Ottawa’s aquaculture policy paralysis.

By Fabian Dawson
SeaWestNews

Mowi, the world’s largest salmon farmer, is expanding in major seafood-producing regions backed by regulatory certainty, while its British Columbia business remains constrained by a federal policy framework tilted against aquaculture growth.

The company’s latest annual report show it growing in key salmon producing regions including Chile, Scotland and Iceland, even as it describes its Canada West business in B.C. as a 20,000 gutted weight tonne operation with “highly uncertain future prospects.”

The company said the outlook for its B.C. operations has been adversely affected as Ottawa sits on a Trudeau-era political decision to ban marine salmon farming in B.C. from 2029.

The annual report says Mowi expects Chile volumes to rise from 78,000 GWT in 2025 to 82,000 GWT in 2026, with 95,000 GWT projected by 2029. In Scotland, the company is guiding to 74,000 GWT in 2026, up from 72,000 GWT in 2025, with 80,000 GWT expected by 2029.

In Iceland, where Mowi increased its stake in Arctic Fish in 2025, the company reported 15,000 GWT in 2025, with volumes expected to rise to 17,500 GWT in 2026 and 25,000 GWT by 2029.

Mowi said Scotland’s growth is being supported by post-smolt investments, new broodstock capacity and new site development tied to recently awarded licences.

In Chile, the company described the country as a lower investment, high-volume region which is expected to grow under the ‘traffic light system’ that links expansion to environmental and sanitary performance.

In Iceland, it said “supportive framework conditions” are expected to help drive further growth in the coming years.

The company also reported record global harvest volumes of 558,870 tonnes in 2025, record revenues record revenues of €5.73 billion (about C$9.15 billion) and operational EBIT of €727 million (about C$1.16 billion) in 2025. Mowi said it expects total harvest volumes to reach 605,000 tonnes in 2026.

In Canada, Mowi’s results showed a split between its East and West Coast operations. The company said Canada East suffered a setback in 2025 after record-warm seawater temperatures and low oxygen levels caused high mortality at several sites, reducing expected 2026 harvest volumes to 12,000 GWT from 17,000 GWT in 2025.

Even so, Mowi said the long-term potential for the region remains and noted that it still holds many unused licences there. It also said the government decision affecting Canada West does not apply to Canada East.

For Canadian operations overall, Mowi reported operational EBIT of negative 39.8 million euros in 2025, compared with positive 3.4 million euros in 2024. The company said market prices for salmon of Canadian origin declined from 2024 levels and that early harvesting and mortality costs in Canada East weighed on results. Total Canadian harvest volume rose to 36,584 tonnes in 2025 from 30,426 tonnes in 2024, largely because 2024 volumes in Canada East had been low.

Mowi’s latest annual report reflects a wider Canadian trend in which salmon farming growth is being concentrated outside British Columbia, even as demand at home continues to rise.

Ocean-raised salmon generate more than $1.17 billion a year for British Columbia’s economy and support 4,560 full-time jobs. Mowi produces more than one-third of the province’s farmed salmon, underlining its role in a sector that remains B.C.’s top agri-food export.

Current provincial production is roughly half of what the sector generated before the Trudeau government, under pressure from anti-fish farming activists, announced its plan to phase out open-net salmon farms in British Columbia by 2029.

Ottawa is now advancing the broader Transition Plan for the sector, which carries a staggering $9 billion price tag for taxpayers, along with extensive economic, social, and environmental consequences.

B.C.’s salmon farmers and their First Nations partners say the sector could generate up to $2.5 billion in annual economic output and about 9,000 jobs by 2030 under a more stable regulatory framework, rising to as much as $4.2 billion in annual output and more than 16,000 jobs by 2040.

The Trudeau government’s decisions, including its unscientific “ban” of “open net pen” salmon farming in British Columbia, have created a chill on investment in the aquaculture sector across Canada, states the Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance (CAIA).

Since 2015, farm-raised salmon production in B.C. has fallen by more than 40 percent Over the same period, Canada’s salmon imports have more than doubled reaching approximately $700 million annually, according to the B.C. Salmon Farmers Association (BCSFA)

Much of this growth has come from increased imports of salmon from countries such as Chile and Norway as Canada turns to international suppliers to meet demand that could be fulfilled locally, it said.

“Salmon remains Canada’s most consumed seafood,” said Brian Kingzett, BCSFA Executive Director  “The data clearly shows demand is strong. With long-term regulatory certainty, Canada has a real opportunity to produce more of this food at home.”

(Main image courtesy of Mowi)