According to the Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance’s (CAIA) recent analysis of 2023 Statistics Canada aquaculture production and trade data, the country’s aquaculture industry suffered significant losses during Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s time in office.
Now, as 25 per cent tariffs loom for imports into the U.S., the CAIA has determined that policy reversals are necessary.
“Aquaculture production is fast expanding and now accounts for over 50 per cent of global seafood production,” said Timothy Kennedy, President and CEO of CAIA.
“It is a critical path to feeding a growing global population with healthy ocean-based protein. With the world’s greatest capacity for cold water aquaculture, Canada can either be at the front of world with innovation and opportunity or be on the wrong side of history.
The 2023 Statistics Canada data shows that the overall production decline, which was pushed by non-science based federal policies to reduce salmon production in B.C., led to Canada’s weakened state of domestic food production.
Here are the main takeaways from the CAIA’s data analysis regarding Canadian farmed seafood in 2023:
- Volume was down 27 per cent from peak production levels in 2016, amounting to a 54,819-tonne decrease.
- Total value was down 25.3 per cent from its peak value of $1.69 billion in 2018.
- Exports fell 24.5 per cent from Canada’s peak export value of $1.17 billion in 2019, amounting to a $287.2-million decrease.
Kennedy explained that the Canadian government undertook damaging actions during Trudeau’s office, which have significantly weakened Canada’s aquaculture sector.
This comes as the Prime Minister resigned from his post on January 6, 2025, amid significant controversy of his salmon farming transition plan.
Kennedy warns that failure to reverse these actions, especially in the face of U.S. tariffs, could undermine the sector’s strength and “brutalize coastal communities” that rely on the industry for their economies and individual livelihoods.
The so-called damaging policies include the following:
- The British Columbia (B.C.) salmon farming transition and ban, which involves a nationwide shift from open net-pen farming by June 30, 2029. This is currently limiting salmon aquaculture development in Atlantic Canada and affecting 4,500 jobs, as well as the economies of many coastal and First Nations communities. This comes after the government instated a rule in July 2024 only considering B.C. aquaculture licenses for marine or land-based closed-containment systems.
- The Transport Canada “Safe Manning” proposal, which requires four-person crews for ships (instead of two- or three-person crews). This could lead to significant cost hikes for Canadian ship operators.
- Proposed Marine Protected Areas (MPA) and National Marine Conservation Areas (NMCA), which will cut off fish harvesters from key areas, as a result, negatively impacting aquaculture producers.
- Proposed changes to Conditions of License for B.C. shellfish farmers, which will cease production in certain areas despite lacking scientific justification, thereby negatively impacting B.C.’s shellfish industry.
In light of everything, Kennedy offered a forward-thinking mindset. “It is time to begin on a new and innovative pathway toward food security, job creation and new economic and community opportunity through seafood farming,” he said.
