Over eight quarters of public reporting by the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans on grants and contributions, members of the BC Salmon Farmers’ Association accounted for just 0.25 per cent of the funding given to fisheries in Canada. Of over C$225-million reported, about C$555,000 went to BCSFA-related projects.
“Our farmers continue to succeed in a challenging international market without relying on subsidies,” said Mary Ellen Walling, Executive Director of the BC Salmon Farmers Association. “We’re an example of a healthy sector that is contributing to our provincial and national success.”
Members of the association are sometimes asked about subsidization of their farming operations, and are committed to providing information to the public about any public funding they receive.
To be clear, BC’s salmon farmers receive no money to assist with their basic operations. This grant information is posted here and will be updated as further quarterly reports are released.
All of the funding relating to the BCSFA was from the Aquaculture Innovation and Market Access Program and went toward the development of new technology, improved environmental reporting systems and certification standards.
For people interested in this topic, the Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance also recently released a review comparing subsidies of the aquaculture industry across Canada with that of other resource sectors in the country.
That comparison, based on Statistics Canada data, can be found here. Based on Statistics Canada data, in 2009, the national aquaculture industry received less government support per dollar output (0.17 per cent) than the average Canadian industry (0.67 per cent).
The BCSFA represents salmon farm companies and those who supply services and supplies to the industry.
Salmon-farming provides for 6,000 direct and indirect jobs while contributing C$800-million to the provincial economy each year.
