On the coast of British Columbia, coal mining, forestry and commercial fishing became the cornerstone goods-producing industries in the late 1800s.
Coal mining declined steadily through the early twentieth century and effectively ended on Vancouver Island in 1966. Forestry and commercial fisheries remained strong until their serious decline began in the 1970s, culminating in the situation we see today.
In the 1980s, salmon farming emerged as a new coastal industry, expanding rapidly and reaching peak production in the 2010s.
The historic decline of coal, forestry and commercial fisheries can be attributed to a wide range of factors, including changes in public opinion and market challenges.
The current stagnation and decline are due to a failure to establish a collective vision for the future of these industries — one that respects community, workers, investors and the environment.
Yet the dominant public narrative still frames the debate around where industrial activities should not occur, rather than how to do things better, even as a growing number of Indigenous corporations, organizations and lobbyists — along with their Nations — now have a voice at the tables where these decisions are made.
Public opinion is trending toward doing things better. Support for new pipelines is rising, along with a growing consensus around LNG exports and port infrastructure.
Yet coastal industries — forestry, wild fisheries and farmed salmon — continue to be saddled with a persistent “don’t do it” mindset.
The struggle continues today
Environmental organizations such as the Ancient Forest Alliance and the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance criticized the PFAC Final Report for failing to provide “clear policy incentives to rapidly transition BC away from its economic dependence on old-growth logging,” even though the report promotes a more localized, area-based approach that provides room for compromise in managing old-growth forests.
This reaction signals that there is still no easy path to ending British Columbia’s long-running “War in the Woods.”
The wild fishery faces the same absolutism. Despite quotas that pace many fisheries, fewer vessels overall, and techniques used by salmon seiners and other vessels to release non-target by-catch, there are still campaigns for complete area closures — even when run assessments on the fishing grounds do not call for it.
The attack on salmon farming has gone further. Ocean net-pen farming in British Columbia is scheduled to end on June 30, 2029. The federal government has decided that only closed-containment operations, either in the ocean or on land, will be allowed.
There is little incentive to invest in innovation, even as the Department of Fisheries and Oceans acknowledges measurable improvements are being made.
Replacement, not growth
On the North Coast, many displaced workers moved into marine terminals and related logistics. On the South Coast, salmon farming provided limited opportunities for fishers and loggers. Overall, industrial employment on the coast has declined.
There are opportunities for improvement
First Nations, communities, workers and companies involved in forestry recognize that compromise on old-growth is possible. Direct involvement of First Nations in planning, operations and stewardship is showing the way. Sustained collaboration will produce even more progress.
Commercial fishers are already prioritizing habitat protection and adapting to a changing climate. Efforts to manage bycatch in salmon fisheries and prevent overfishing of other stocks are being strengthened.
Salmon farming has made meaningful regulatory and operational changes in recent years under the federal Pacific Aquaculture Regulations, including strengthened monitoring, reporting and mitigation requirements. More can be done, as experience in Norway demonstrates — including identifying preferred farm sites rather than relying on cutbacks and bans.
The way forward
Coastal forestry workers, salmon fishers and salmon farmers all need to know that governments have a vision for their industries. There will be no progress without the confidence to invest in innovation.
Historically, fishers, loggers and salmon farmers have often been at odds. That division is a significant reason why none of the three industries has an assured future based on economic and environmental viability.
Industrial activity on the coast will never return to the past — and it shouldn’t. Long gone are the days when extraction could proceed without concern for the environment.
Governments, workers, businesses large and small, and environmental stewards need to develop a vision of the future before the public will be won over.
The political challenges
In the early 1950s, roughly half of British Columbians lived in towns and cities. Today, nearly nine out of ten do. At that time, resource extraction often occurred adjacent to towns and cities, while manufacturing and processing took place within them. The connection is broken.
The political power of resource unions has weakened since the 1970s.
Not a priority — coastal logging, fisheries and salmon farming are barely mentioned in the Look West strategic plan. All eyes are focused elsewhere.
There is a path forming
To break out of the isolation many organizations now find themselves in, alliance-building is an effective way to amplify their voices.
The Alliance of Resource Communities (ARC) is a recent example. On their own, resource communities carry little weight in the halls of the legislature, the boardrooms of industry organizations, or when NGOs advocate against their interests.
Industrial unions and other organizations representing workers in coastal industries have struggled for decades to work together — sometimes because of narrow self-interest, other times because they have been pitted against each other by external forces.
It is in the interests of communities and worker organizations to work together. They are already isolated on the coast. Isolation from one another only weakens them further.
Is tourism enough?
Tourism is a significant part of the coastal economy and should be supported, not underestimated. That said, more shelter still needs to be built and more protein grown and harvested. The goal should be to do it all better.
When I moved to British Columbia from southern Ontario in the early 1970s, my family was not pleased.
In 1976, my father and younger brother came to visit me in Campbell River.
A friend took them fishing near Seymour Narrows, outside Campbell River. My brother was thrilled when he caught a big coho.
I was logging at Menzies Bay, just outside of town, and my foreman offered to take my father out in his truck for the day. My father loved seeing what others did for work.
As they were getting into their rental car to return to the Nanaimo ferry and then head on to the Okanagan, my father’s parting words were:
“You have it all here, in British Columbia”
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 him at [email protected].
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