Mowi’s record quarter sharpens spotlight on B.C. salmon farming ban

Global harvests and profits surge for the world’s and Canada’s largest salmon farmer, even as Ottawa’s 2029 plan to ban marine salmon farms in British Columbia keeps the nation’s aquaculture sector on the brink.

By Fabian Dawson
SeaWestNews

Mowi, the world’s and Canada’s largest salmon farmer, has posted the second‑best first quarter in its history, even as regulatory aquaculture decisions continue to cloud the company’s outlook for its ocean farms in British Columbia.

The company reported record first quarter revenues of about C$2.25 billion, fuelled by a 26 percent surge in global harvest volumes to roughly 136,000 tonnes of Atlantic salmon.

The growth was broad‑based. Norway remained Mowi’s workhorse, harvesting about 75,500 tonnes in the quarter, up just over 20 percent from a year earlier, while Chile lifted output by roughly 50 percent to around 21,000 tonnes and Scotland increased volumes to about 20,500 tonnes, a rise in the high‑teens.

Mowi’s Iceland unit continued its recovery with roughly 6,000 tonnes, close to two‑thirds more than in the same period last year and smaller operations in the Faroes and Ireland contributed a further few thousand tonnes between them, rounding out the record 136,000‑tonne harvest.

Operational earnings also edged higher as Mowi drove farming costs lower and ramped up output across Norway, Scotland, Chile and Iceland, underscoring how the company continues to grow briskly in jurisdictions where long‑term licences and expansion pathways are clearer.

“I am extremely impressed with my 11,700 colleagues around the world who continue to deliver record volumes, record earnings and not least extremely good operational and cost performance,” said Mowi CEO Ivan Vindheim.

While Mowi’s Canadian harvest climbed sharply in the quarter, with volumes in British Columbia rebounding from last year’s depressed levels, the region is increasingly treated by company investors as a political risk rather than a core growth engine.

Mowi operates salmon farms on both coasts of Canada, running roughly two dozen ocean sites in British Columbia and additional farms in Atlantic Canada that together produce about 36,000–45,000 tonnes of Atlantic salmon a year.

It generates an estimated $90 million‑plus in annual Canadian revenue and directly employs around 600 people in B.C. and a further 250 or so in Atlantic Canada, anchoring hundreds of rural and coastal jobs tied to the country’s farmed‑salmon export sector.

Vindheim is among the aquaculture business and First Nations leaders calling on the Carney government to reverse Ottawa’s 2029 open‑net pen ban in B.C. They say the Trudeau‑era policy has already damaged the economies of coastal communities, eroded First Nations rights in British Columbia and weakened Canada’s food security.

Industry estimates warn that if the ban is not repealed, shutting down the marine farms in B.C. will wipe out roughly C$1.17 billion in annual economic activity, eliminate more than 4,500 well‑paid jobs and remove up to 50,000 tonnes of Canadian farmed salmon from the market.

In addition, a report for the BC Salmon Farmers Association (BCSFA) calculates at least C$9 billion in “unnecessary costs” to taxpayers to compensate for the sector’s closure and subsidize unproven replacement technologies.

The Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance (CAIA) said since 2015, farm‑raised salmon production in B.C. has dropped by more than 40 percent, while Canada’s salmon imports have more than doubled to about C$700 million a year, much of it sourced from Chile and Norway to meet demand that could be filled by Canadian farms.

“Salmon remains Canada’s most consumed seafood,” said Brian Kingzett, BCSFA’s 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.”

(File photo: Mowi)