The decision to ban net-pen salmon farming makes Canada and British Columbia outliers among major salmon-producing nations.
It matters because global aquatic animal production is projected to increase by roughly 10 percent by 2032, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Aquaculture remains one of the fastest-growing sources of animal protein worldwide, and as incomes rise, salmon consumption rises with them.
Other major salmon-producing nations are aligning their policies with the FAO’s Blue Transformation framework — curbing overfishing while strengthening regulation and oversight of both marine and land-based aquaculture.
The framework sets out “a vision to expand aquatic food systems and increase their contribution to nutritious and affordable healthy diets, ensuring environmental stewardship and inclusive growth, especially for those communities that depend on fisheries and aquaculture — leaving no one behind.” (writer’s emphasis)
Mitigation Efforts Matter
Norway is the leading example of putting those principles into practice. It continues to invest in research, innovation, and real-world trials to improve environmental performance in salmon farming.
One measurable result is the dramatic reduction in antibiotic use. Since the 1980s, antibiotic use in Norwegian salmon farming has fallen by more than 95% through vaccination and tighter management.
Canada has delivered similar outcomes. Both Norway and Canada have reduced antibiotic use, tightened sea lice thresholds, strengthened escape reporting, and improved feed efficiency — all while increasing production.
The world’s largest farmed salmon producer and leading innovator, the Norwegian company Mowi, is also the largest operator in Canada — putting the country in an excellent position to capitalize on future advances in the industry, if allowed to do so.
Alternatives Yet To Be Proven at Scale
However, for many environmentalists and the politicians now driving policy, the objective is a full transition to closed-containment and land-based salmon farming systems. The reality on the water is more complicated.
For decades, governments, companies, and universities have invested heavily in the search for scalable alternatives to net-pens, but none have yet proven commercially viable at scale.
In the absence of proven large-scale alternatives, Norway has focused on where there has been success — improving the environmental performance of net-pens rather than replacing them. Institutional research continues through government agencies, industry funds, and university partnerships aimed at reducing sea lice, improving feed efficiency, limiting escapes, and mitigating environmental discharge.
Further certainty was provided to industry and workers when the Norwegian climate and environment minister ruled out banning net-pens.
He acknowledged that wild salmon are facing an existential threat. He went on to say, “It is widely understood that the changing global climate, along with anthropogenic pollution, is largely to blame” — a view supported by scientific assessments, particularly with respect to Atlantic salmon and Pacific coho salmon, which depend heavily on coastal shelf waters and smaller freshwater systems.
In Canada, the current policy direction discourages long-term investment. The Government of Canada has formally adopted a policy to ban open-net pen salmon farming in British Columbia by June 30, 2029, and is amending regulations to allow only marine or land-based closed-containment systems thereafter.
Why Food Production Matters
Many activists have deep concerns about modern food production, particularly the advances that allow us to feed more than eight billion people.
As prosperity spreads, diets have become more animal-protein heavy — a trend unlikely to reverse. Seafood plays a crucial role in meeting that demand because of its low carbon footprint and modest land use.
Data cited by the Marine Stewardship Council estimates CO₂ emissions per unit of protein at roughly 24 for aquaculture, 39.5 for wild fisheries, 43 for poultry, and 238 for beef. Poultry and seafood are among the fastest-growing sources of animal protein globally.
Land use tells the same story: beef requires about fifteen times more land per gram of protein than farmed seafood.
More importantly, capture and farmed fisheries sustain countless coastal communities worldwide — providing stable employment, generational continuity, and meaningful work.
Norway’s climate and environment minister said his role was “not to stop or close down human activity itself,” but to incentivize production while reducing pollution to an acceptable level. Food production is not optional. The goal is to produce it sustainably — not to stop producing it.
Too often in Canada, climate and environmental policy discounts economic and social benefits.
We should be proud of producing better — not less.
The clock is ticking. The Province must step up. It cannot allow Ottawa to dismantle this industry.
Jim Rushton is a 46-year veteran of BC’s resource and transportation sectors, with experience in union representation, economic development, and terminal management. Reach Jim at [email protected].
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