Seafood Processing is carried out in more than 240 fish processing facilities throughout the province.
Processors handle fish from both the wild harvest and the aquaculture sectors, producing fresh, frozen, canned and smoked products primarily for export markets. Fish processing generates $82 million a year in GDP.
Seafood products derived from species other than salmon and herring are becoming increasingly important.
In addition to the fish obtained from B.C. commercial fisheries and aquaculture operations, fish processors source sockeye and pink salmon, Atlantic salmon, halibut, herring and trout from outside of the province and Canada for value-added processing.
New fisheries such as squid, sardines and tanner crab, along with added-value processing in existing fisheries such as spiny dogfish, arrowtooth flounder, sea cucumbers, red sea urchins, and pink and chum salmon have presented valuable opportunities.
