Canadian Atlantic provinces overtake BC in salmon production

Higher aquaculture sales in Newfoundland and Labrador which were up by 41.9% and New Brunswick up by 11.2% accounted for most of the national increase.

The report says Canadian production of farmed finfish increased 11.6% year over year to 122,280 tonnes last year.

The total value of farmed finfish (mostly salmon and trout) was up 8.4% to $1.2 billion, despite a 2.9% decline in the average farmed finfish price.

Over the same period, Canadian farmed shellfish production declined by 2.2% to 37,904 tonnes.

The value of farmed shellfish increased to $134.6m (+6.2%), due to an 8.5% increase in the average price of this sector.

Statistics Canada says farmed finfish production in the Atlantic provinces rose 18.5% year over year in 2024, with the biggest increases in Newfoundland and Labrador (+48.0%) and New Brunswick (+9.1%).

For the first time since reporting began in 1991, the Atlantic provinces combined produced more farmed finfish than British Columbia.

However, farmed finfish production in British Columbia in 2024 increased 6.3% compared with the previous year.

Given the increased finfish production in Atlantic Canada, British Columbia accounted for 44.7% of the national farmed finfish production in 2024, the lowest proportion since the beginning of the series.

Export quantities for farmed Atlantic salmon, including fillets, increased 15.9% to 74,719 tonnes in 2024.

Export prices edged up 0.5% to $12.64 per kilogram, yielding a 16.5% increase in export value to $944.5m.

The United States accounted for 93.5% of total exports of Canadian farmed Atlantic salmon by quantity in 2024.