Seafood Processing is carried out in more than 230 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.
2010 Quick Facts
Choose a year:
219 companies
238 facilities
B.C. Seafood Production Quantity and Values
2010
Species
Production
Landed & Farmgate Value
Wholesale Value
('000 tonnes)
($millions)
($millions)
Wild Salmon
23.1
69.3
237.8
Herring
10.1
11.8
35.8
Groundfish
97.6
111.9
275.1
Wild Shellfish
14.0
108.9
188.0
Tuna and Other
29.0
28.1
74.9
Capture Fisheries Total
173.8
330.0
811.6
Cultured Salmon
78.7
499.6
559.9
Cultured Shellfish
10.0
21.7
32.5
Cultured Other
1.9
12.5
13.8
Aquaculture Total
90.6
533.8
606.2
Seafood Production Total
264.4
863.8
1,417.8
In 2010, British Columbia produced 472 distinct species-product seafood combinations ranging from sole fillets to canned salmon and live geoducks.
Salmon products generated 57 per cent of the total wholesale value of B.C. seafood.
B.C. canneries produced 295,499 cases of canned salmon in 2010.
In addition to the fish obtained from B.C. commercial fisheries and aquaculture operations, fish processors source sockeye and pink salmon, Atlantic salmon, halibut, and trout from outside of the province and Canada for value-added processing.
Added-value processing in fisheries such as spiny dogfish, arrowtooth flounder, hake and chum salmon have presented valuable opportunities.
B.C. seafood products were exported to more than 74 countries and generated a total export value of $957 million.
