FAQs
Salmon farming is a form of aquaculture, which means growing animals or plants in water. Salmon farmers raise their livestock from egg to harvest – beginning in on-land recirculation hatcheries and finishing in ocean net pens along remote areas of the Coast. These fish are cared for by veterinarians, fish health technicians and the farm workers who make sure they are fed and healthy throughout their lives.
Farming salmon provides the world access to a healthy, lean protein year-round. The world’s population is growing quickly and as the demand for food increases, wild stocks (particularly in the ocean) are facing increasing pressure by fisheries. By farming salmon, we are adding to the supply of seafood and helping to meet the market demand without over-stressing wild sources. Today, half of the world’s seafood is farmed.
Along with reducing pressure on wild stocks, farming salmon also provides a fresh source of this healthy protein all year round. Because of natural migratory patterns of wild salmon, commercial fisheries can only provide the product fresh during a few months of the year. Because harvests for farm-raised salmon can be scheduled, they are able to bring fresh fish to the market quickly, any month of the year.
The BC salmon farming industry provides $800-mllion to the province’s economy each year and employs 6,000 people directly and indirectly. Most of those jobs are in rural coastal communities on Vancouver Island.
There are 130 salmon farming licenses in the province. Because of operational regulations and regular fallowing periods there are 75 to 80 farms, on average, operating at any given time. Those farms produce roughly 75,000 metric tonnes of salmon each year.
Canada (including operations on both the east and west coasts) has the fourth largest salmon-farming industry in the world. BC’s operations represent about 3.5 per cent of the world’s farmed salmon production.
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Salmon farms are located in remote coastal areas on BC coast. They can be found in the regions of the Discovery Islands, Broughton Archipelago, Quatsino Sound, Klemtu, Nootka Sound and Tofino/Ucluelet.
Experts in nutrition roundly agree that salmon is an excellent source of healthy Omega 3 fatty acids and by consuming it regularly you can reduce the chances of heart disease and stroke, Alzheimer’s, arthritis and other autoimmune diseases.
Farmed salmon – like wild salmon – is an excellent lean protein to incorporate in your diet.
The largest percentage of salmon farmed in BC is Atlantic salmon. Each species of salmon: Pink, Chum, Coho, Sockeye, Chinooks and Atlantics each have different nutritional profiles. Atlantic salmon ranks near the top in the amount of Omega 3s and is low in saturated fats.
The colour of farm-raised salmon is due to pigments called carotenoids. Carotenoids are key to the growth and development of all fish. In the wild, salmon would get this from eating krill while carotenoids are added to our fish feed, along with other vitamins and minerals, to create a healthy diet on the farms.
Seafood consumers also have important questions too about contaminants in products. Mercury levels in farm-raised salmon are far below levels that could adversely impact health. PCB levels in Atlantic salmon are around 0.0014 parts per million. That is quite low considering that pork and beef are around 0.022, salted butter is at 0.07 and the allowable limit by Canadian and US officials is 2.0. According to a spokesperson from the Harvard School of Public Health, the cardiovascular benefits of eating seafood like farmed salmon are greater than any PCB/dioxin risk by a factor of 300:1.
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Our farmers are British Columbians who take very seriously the protection of the environment where they operate. While there’s no denying that salmon farming – like any marine industry – will have an impact on the environment where it operates, our companies and their regulators have developed programs to ensure that impact is highly managed and not significant.
The siting of our farms is highly regulated to ensure that they are placed in areas with strong water flow, and the ocean bottom and water quality is monitored regularly. After each harvest, the site is left fallow to allow the sea floor time to rest and regenerate. The feeding of our fish is monitored closely to nearly eliminate the waste of any feed to the ocean floor.
The health of our fish is monitored and tested regularly. While their health and survival rates are very high, in cases where fish do need to be treated, it is done under the direction of veterinarians. Each month, fish are checked for sea lice, and levels are kept below maximum levels as outlined by the federal government.
There has never been an exotic disease found on our farms, and samples of our fish are collected by our regulators for ongoing testing.
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