Resource Communities Chair Tells PM to ‘Get It Done’ on Salmon Farming in B.C.

Mayor Kermit Dahl, chair of the Alliance of Resource Communities, says Ottawa has made its decision on the future of salmon farming in B.C. and must make it public, warning that further delay threatens jobs, investment and First Nations partnerships.

By Fabian Dawson
SeaWestNews

Campbell River Mayor Kermit Dahl says the federal government has already made its decision on the future of salmon farming in British Columbia and Prime Minister Mark Carney now needs to make it public.

“We have been told several times now that the decision has been made and it is sitting on the PM’s desk,” Dahl told SeaWestNews at the Get It Done B.C. conference in Vancouver.

“A few weeks ago, the deputy fisheries minister who visited Campbell River said the same thing. I don’t know what the delay is. The PM needs to get it done.”

Dahl, who chairs the Alliance of Resource Communities, made the comments as municipal, First Nations, industry and political leaders gathered for the conference focused on economic growth, investment and resource development in B.C.

Ottawa’s current policy calls for conventional ocean salmon farming in B.C. to end after June 2029, despite federal scientists concluding that the sector poses no more than a minimal risk to wild Pacific salmon.

Carney inherited the activist-driven policy from the previous federal government and has faced growing calls from coastal communities, business groups, salmon farmers and First Nations to replace it with a science-based aquaculture framework.

Dahl said he remains optimistic Ottawa will reverse the ban.

“I can’t see the government making the wrong decision and shutting down salmon farms that have minimal impact on wild fish, support thousands of jobs and operate with First Nations agreements,” he said.

The stakes are particularly high in Campbell River and other coastal communities where salmon farming supports marine service companies, processors, tradespeople, transportation firms and other local businesses.

The B.C. sector generates about $1.17 billion in annual economic activity and supports about 4,560 full-time jobs, including more than 1,000 Indigenous workers. All remaining salmon farms operate under agreements with the Rights-holder First Nations in whose territories they are located.

Dahl said Ottawa should also look closely at First Nations communities that have built jobs, businesses and economic independence around salmon farming.

“Just look at how salmon farming has lifted their communities,” he said. “I don’t think the prime minister will want to take this away from them.”

Dahl also framed the issue around food security and Canada’s growing dependence on imported seafood.

“Today at this meeting we are having a salmon lunch provided by the B.C. Salmon Farmers Association,” he said.

“Are we going to have farmed salmon from Chile at next year’s event?”

He said the global demand for farmed salmon will continue regardless of what Ottawa decides or what the activists want.

“Farmed salmon is not going away,” Dahl said. “We can either do it here responsibly, sustainably and under our regulations or get it from other countries.”

Dahl’s argument comes as the Carney government places greater emphasis on domestic food production, trade diversification and reducing Canada’s dependence on foreign suppliers.

To offset reduced salmon production in B.C., Canada imported more than $1 billion worth of salmon in 2025, including $41.1 million from China, according to federal data.

Meanwhile, new polling presented at the conference found 59 per cent of British Columbians ranked growing exports of natural resources, energy and clean technology as the best way to generate new provincial revenues for public services and priorities.

The poll showed British Columbians still care deeply about the environment and the province’s natural resources but are becoming more pragmatic about development and more frustrated with delays and federal decisions that can hold projects back.

Dahl said the federal salmon farming decision is one test of whether Ottawa’s focus on investment, jobs, food security and stronger communities will translate into action.

“We should be building. We should be creating good Canadian jobs. We should be strengthening our communities and our partnerships with First Nations,” he said.

“We’ve spent a lot of time talking about what British Columbia could do. It’s time to figure out what we will do and then get it done.”

This is the second year of the Get It Done B.C. conference, organized by Resource Works and held alongside the annual Union of B.C. Municipalities convention.

Resource Works founder Stewart Muir said the benefits of resource development extend well beyond the communities where projects are located.

“When there is growth in the resource economy and new jobs are created, 55 per cent of those new jobs occur in Metro Vancouver,” Muir said. “It really is an urban and rural connection.”

(Main image shows Campbell River Mayor Kermit Dahl, chair of the B.C. Alliance of Resource Communities addressing delegates at the Get it Done B.C. conference.)