Brian Kingzett, Executive Director of the B.C. Salmon Farmers Association, reflects on the challenges and achievements of 2024 while sharing the sector’s vision for the year ahead.
By Fabian Dawson
& Samantha McLeod
SeaWestNews
As 2024 draws to a close, British Columbia’s salmon farming sector finds itself at a critical crossroads, driven there by the faltering Federal Liberals, who have prioritized securing votes from activists over First Nations’ rights and science-based decision-making.
The sector, which should be celebrated as a cornerstone of Canada’s blue economy, has instead been left to navigate a political decision that threatens to devastate coastal communities, eliminate 4,560 jobs, and saddle Canadian taxpayers with a $9 billion bill to compensate salmon farmers, suppliers, and First Nations.
The Trudeau government is now advancing a Transition Plan for ocean-based salmon farms in B.C., proposing a sector-wide ban by 2029 after rejecting its own comprehensive peer-reviewed studies that show the salmon farms pose less than a minimal risk to wild stocks.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) also recently admitted that it has no data to show that wild salmon stocks will rebound if the ocean salmon farms are removed – debunking a myth propagated by activists.
“The sector brought its A-game over the past year”
Despite the adversity, the sector has demonstrated resilience, innovation, and an unwavering commitment to its First Nation partners, its workforce, and the environment, said Brian Kingzett, Executive Director of the B.C. Salmon Farmers Association.
“The sector brought its A-game over the past year with companies, First Nations, supply chains, and communities working together to demonstrate why salmon farming is a sustainable solution to Canada’s food security challenges,” he said.
Kingzett said the most significant hurdle for the industry continues to be the lack of clarity from the federal government regarding the transition process for open-net aquaculture.
“To this day, we still don’t know what the goalposts are for the transition process and what exactly the federal government is trying to achieve… This has left companies operating on razor-thin margins and forced highly skilled workers to leave B.C. for more secure opportunities elsewhere.
“Aquaculture innovations doing phenomenally well in Europe are not being deployed here because companies don’t know if they’ll even exist in a year or two.”
Land-based aquaculture, touted as a solution by the activists, has also been found to be an unrealistic option for B.C. given that it requires the use of large amounts of land, water, and power and thus has a significant environmental footprint, in particular, greenhouse gas emissions.
At the same time, activists are targeting land-based fish farming with animal welfare criticisms and effluent discharge concerns from such operations, further complicating its feasibility as a viable alternative.
“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.,” said Kingzett.
The recent struggles by land-based fish farming companies like Atlantic Sapphire and Sustainable Blue demonstrate that while biological success may be achievable, the financial and logistical barriers are immense without substantial subsidies and market proximity—conditions not available in B.C.
A BC government-commissioned report has projected that replacing B.C.’s current salmon farm production with land-based or closed containment operations would require a direct investment of between $1.8 billion to $2.2 billion.
“Resilient economies and protected ecosystems”
Looking back at 2024, Kingzett said while the well-funded activists were spending tens of thousands of dollars on social media to attack the sector, salmon farmers and their First Nation partners deployed enormous resources to show how salmon – both wild and farmed – can thrive in B.C.
Last April, they released a comprehensive review of their aquaculture operations to showcase the importance of unifying traditional knowledge and western science in the sector.
The 500-page collaborative report, which was commissioned by the Coalition of First Nations for Finfish Stewardship (FNFFS), reinforced the socio-economic importance of the sector to the province and stressed that the future of salmon farming in B.C. must be determined by First Nations who want to farm fish in their traditional territories.
The ‘scientific textbook’ called Modern Salmon Farming in British Columbia: A Review, is also aimed at closing the knowledge gaps about the industry and countering the campaign of disinformation by anti-salmon farming opponents.
“We will continue to use our voices and our best decisions for our communities, and we won’t be swayed by well-funded urban activists and outsiders with misinformed agendas,” said Dallas Smith, spokesperson for the Coalition.
All existing salmon farms in B.C. are supported by the First Nations communities that they operate in, he said.
The Coalition has warned the $9 billion cost to phase out the sector – estimated in an economic analysis last month – does not include the immeasurable impact on remote Indigenous communities, where salmon farming once broke cycles of despair and suicide.
“Salmon farming isn’t just about jobs in my nation; it is also the backbone of First Nations communities up and down the coast of British Columbia… This ban will sink us,” said Isaiah Robinson, Deputy Chief Councillor of the Kitasoo Xai’xais Nation, which has been farming salmon since the 1980s.
Last April, the Kitasoo Xai’xais First Nation was awarded the prestigious Blue Park Award, for exceptional marine biodiversity conservation – a testament to the Indigenous community’s stewardship of its traditional territories.
The award, a first for Canada, recognized the Indigenous community’s efforts to create a new Marine Protected Area (MPA) in the heart of the Great Bear Rainforest in B.C.’s remote central coast.
This achievement highlights the broader potential of partnerships between salmon farmers and First Nations and demonstrates what the future of coastal B.C. could look like with resilient economies and protected ecosystems, said Kingzett.
“A key player in B.C.’s food security landscape”
In 2025, Kingzett said the BCSFA, together with First Nations will continue their data collection near closed and operating salmon farms, which have continuously shown no impact on wild salmon populations.
“We need to continue demonstrating to the public that we are a wholesome, sustainable producer of protein that is good for the environment and takes pressure off wild fisheries,” he said.
Kingzett said the coming year will bring even greater challenges and opportunities for the sector, which will continue to innovate and adapt, even in the face of stalled investments.
“As 2025 unfolds, the salmon farming industry will need to stay the course, leveraging its strengths while navigating an uncertain regulatory and political landscape.
“Public trust and education remain our top priorities as the sector continues to position itself as a key player in B.C.’s food security landscape.
“Politically, a federal election could shift the regulatory environment and yield a more common-sense approach to the sector.
“Whatever the case may be as to who leads the country in 2025 and beyond, we need to keep proving that we are part of the solution to Canada’s food security challenges to all parties, federally and provincially.”
“The stakes are high, but the potential is even greater”
Kingzett said salmon farmers see the transition plan as an opportunity to develop innovative aquaculture systems, enhance production efficiency, and uphold their commitment to ecological sustainability.
“But the focus on replacing current production with unproven technology and the short five-year timeline leading up to a ban on open-net salmon farms in 2029 is reckless, unfeasible, and irresponsible.
“We need a plan that balances economic development, environmental sustainability, and social well-being, while providing stability and certainty for the sector to invest in and implement new technologies and innovations,” he said.
Towards that end, BCSFA and FNFFS are urging the government to adopt their no-cost-to-taxpayers alternative to the current transition plan – one that achieves the same goals without devastating impacts on the sector, First Nations’ rights, and B.C.’s coastal communities.
This plan also emphasizes the conservation and protection of wild stocks, ensuring that sustainable aquaculture practices coexist with efforts to restore and safeguard wild salmon populations.
“If the same outcomes can be achieved through feasible and innovative technologies, what justifies the decision to ban marine net-pen aquaculture in B.C.’s coastal waters by June 30, 2029?” asked Kingzett.
Despite the challenges looming ahead in 2025, Kingzett said the vision of salmon farmers and their First Nation partners for a sustainable, resilient, and prosperous coastal B.C. remains intact.
“The stakes are high, but the potential is even greater because salmon farming in B.C. is more than just an industry—it presents a future worth fighting for,” said Kingzett.
(File image shows Brian Kingzett, Executive Director of the B.C. Salmon Farmers Association)