Joint federal–provincial report finds B.C. is nowhere near ready for large-scale land-based salmon farming, citing high costs, energy strain, rising emissions, and threats to Indigenous and coastal communities.
By Fabian Dawson
SeaWestNews
Large-scale land-based salmon farming in British Columbia is not economically viable, not technologically ready, and not suited to the province’s geography or infrastructure, states a new government report that once again shreds the claims of anti-fish farm activists.
The latest findings also cast significant doubt on the viability of the federal government’s activist-induced transition plan to phase out open-net pen salmon farming in BC by 2029 and replace it with closed containment systems.
According to the report, land-based alternatives are nowhere near ready to support the scale of B.C.’s aquaculture production, raising red flags over food security, market stability, freshwater and energy use, and the future of Indigenous and rural livelihoods.
Prepared for the B.C. Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), the report finds that despite years of advocacy by the Trudeau-era Liberals and their activist allies, “there are still significant challenges for the expansion of the land-based salmon farming sector.”
These include “high initial capital costs and ongoing operating costs that are a significant barrier to both entry and building scale.”
The British Columbia Salmon Aquaculture Land-Based Siting and Alternative Technology Assessment, details that globally, only a handful of land-based salmon farms have reached production levels exceeding 2,500 tonnes annually, and most have not demonstrated long-term profitability.
Adding to the economic pitfalls are site limitations. The report notes that each land-based facility requires “around 4–5 hectares of flat land,” massive volumes of high-quality freshwater, and substantial electrical infrastructure. With B.C.’s mountainous terrain and remote coastlines, such sites are few and far between. Those that do exist would require costly upgrades.
The report also signals that a large-scale shift to land-based salmon farming in B.C. would not only strain the province’s power grid but also undermine the sector’s overall environmental performance by increasing greenhouse gas emissions, which is contrary to the goals of the current Mark Carney-led Federal Government.
The latest findings build on the conclusions of earlier government-backed studies and global experts in fisheries, aquaculture, and climate science who have consistently warned that demands to move all B.C. salmon farming to land-based systems within five years are not only unrealistic but reckless.
According to their analysis, producing enough salmon on land to meet global demand would require as much energy as it takes to power a city of 1.2 million people, and would result in significantly higher CO₂ emissions.
Growing Atlantic salmon on land costs up to 12 times more than ocean-based farming, these scientists found. One study also calculated that relocating current Atlantic salmon production to land-based systems on Vancouver Island would increase greenhouse gas emissions by 22,881,000 kilograms annually. That’s equivalent to the energy needed to power a city the size of North Vancouver (52,200 people) for a year.
Another estimated that replacing existing marine salmon farms with land-based Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS) in BC would require between $1.8 billion and $2.2 billion in direct investment. Even with that level of funding, the report projected it would take at least 10 years before a stable, large-scale land-based sector could be operational in BC.
The new report released yesterday also examined specific regions across British Columbia to assess their viability for land-based salmon aquaculture, and the findings were sobering.
In Vancouver Island, where most existing aquaculture infrastructure is located, only a small number of sites met minimum requirements for flat land, power, and water access. Even these were considered “marginal” due to limited freshwater capacity and potential conflicts with residential or recreational land use.
The Sunshine Coast and Fraser Valley were flagged for significant infrastructure gaps. Many locations lacked access to reliable three-phase power and had limited options for discharge treatment. In the Fraser Valley, land competition with agriculture and high land prices make RAS projects economically unfeasible, despite decent access to utilities.
Further north, in Campbell River and Port Hardy, the terrain is steep and infrastructure sparse. The report notes that any attempt to build facilities there would face “substantial upfront costs to install roads, power lines, and water delivery systems,” making them uncompetitive without government subsidies.
In Prince Rupert, where land availability is less constrained, other factors such as power instability and remoteness severely limit feasibility. Shipping logistics, workforce availability, and maintenance concerns were all identified as long-term barriers.
Currently, ocean-raised salmon generate over $1.17 billion for the B.C. economy, supports 4,560 well-paid full-time jobs, and remains the province’s top agri-food export. That represents nearly half of what the sector produced before the Trudeau government aligned itself with anti-fish farming activists.
An industry economic analysis warns that a full open-net ban would unleash widespread economic devastation, leaving taxpayers potentially liable for $9 billion in compensation to fish farmers, suppliers, and Indigenous communities with signed benefit agreements.
In an earlier interview with SeaWestNews, Brian Kingzett, Executive Director of the B.C. Salmon Farmers Association said: “Land-based salmon farming has not been done successfully to scale anywhere in the world and will not come close to replacing the production of ocean salmon farms in B.C. … It’s not going to save our jobs. It’s not going to help B.C.,”
The BC Coalition of First Nations for Finfish Stewardship (FNFFS) has also unequivocally rejected land-based salmon farming as a viable solution.
“Some Nations in this coalition have completed feasibility studies on land-based salmon farming in their territories for many years, and they came to the same result: it is not possible, and if it was, they would have moved to land-based salmon farming years ago,” FNFFS said.
(Main File image from Linkedin shows a land-based salmon farm)