Farmed salmon is more than just another meal option
By Mary Ellen Walling, Special to the Sun, May 10, 2010
Salmon are a mainstay on dinner tables around the world, but here in Canada and more locally, B.C., the farmed production of this popular fish is much more than just another meal option.
A recent study released from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans this month clearly identifies aquaculture as a growing and stable industry in Canada -- important to the economy at local, provincial and national levels. ( www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/aquaculture/ref/aqua-es2009-eng.htm)
From the early days of trout, oyster and salmon farming, the aquaculture industry has grown to be a food production powerhouse, creating just over $1 billion in GDP in Canada in 2007, more than $320 million in direct GDP and about $685 million in spinoff business. It has created an estimated 14,500 full-time equivalent jobs -- many of them in coastal and rural communities in Canada.
In British Columbia, salmon farming has grown to take its place as the province's largest agricultural export, generating $800 million in economic output according to PricewaterhouseCoopers. It provides stable, year-round employment for 6,000 men and women, in direct and supply and service jobs, largely in coastal communities where other opportunities are limited.
The industry's contribution within B.C. doesn't tell the whole story, though. Aquaculture has extensive economic linkages across Canada. The social-economic report by DFO revealed that aquaculture in B.C. triggered economic activity valued at $1.2 billion across the rest of Canada as well.
This means jobs in coastal British Columbia that are sustaining community economies in places like Campbell River, Gold River, Port Hardy and Klemtu are also providing opportunities across the country -- in Ontario, Quebec, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, and New Brunswick.
These linkages are building a community of young aquaculturists who are benefiting from the investment in their own small communities and are knitting a community of interest across Canada that means a great deal for local residents. Having the opportunity to live and work in the community where they have grown up means a great deal to these young people and their families.
Recently, anti-salmon farming campaigner Alexandra Morton has received media attention for her protest walk down Vancouver Island calling for the eviction of farm companies in British Columbia.
To read more about misinformation spread through her campaign, go to http://salmonfarmers.org/misinformation-campaigner-corrected-provincial-....
Looking at the DFO report, we see that simply getting rid of farms isn't the answer when it comes to the economic health of communities across Canada.
Salmon farmers understand that they need to demonstrate that they are operating their farms in a sustainable way. There is a strong commitment among salmon farmers to ensure they are protecting the environment and growing a product that sustains wellbeing and health.
Our workers take this commitment very seriously and look forward to seeing this industry develop and thrive in Canada.
All of our farmers care very much about wild salmon and about the economic health of their communities big and small. Both are important -- and both can be preserved with the focused success of salmon-farming.
Mary Ellen Walling is executive director of the B.C. Salmon Farmers Association
