Fishery Industry in Canada

Fishery Industry in Canada

Resources in Canada

Economic Importance Canada's commercial fishing and aquaculture sectors provide more than 80,000 direct jobs to Canadians. Canada was the world's eighth largest fish and seafood exporter in 2015, with exports to more than 130 countries. In 2015, Canada's fish and seafood exports were valued at $6.0 billion. The United States is Canada's largest export market (representing roughly 64% of seafood trade) followed by China (11%), the European Union (10%), Japan (4%) and Hong Kong (2%). Canada's fish and seafood imports were $3.5 billion in 2015, resulting in a significant annual trade surplus.

Economic Importance In 2014, Atlantic Canada and Quebec commercial fishing landings were valued at $2.4 billion. (lobster, snow crab, shrimp, scallops and Greenland turbot). In 2014, Pacific commercial fishing landings were valued at $391 million. (wild salmon, halibut, Dungeness crab, geoduck clams, and spot prawns). In 2014 Freshwater fish commercial landings were valued at $63 million. (yellow pickerel, perch, whitefish, white bass and pike). Canada's aquaculture production was valued at $733 million in 2014. (salmon (Atlantic, Coho and Chinook), mussels, rainbow trout, oysters, and clams).

Total landed value, commercial marine species, Canada

Total landed value, commercial marine fisheries, by province

Management in Canada The Government of Canada, through Fisheries and Oceans Canada, works to secure the future of Canada's wild fisheries for Commercial Fishery and Aquaculture. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) sets the policies, requirements and inspection standards for fish products, federally registered fish and seafood processing establishments, importers, fishing vessels, and equipment used for handling, transporting and storing fish (Seafood Processing).

Fisheries Industry of B.C The fishery industry of B.C. is a complex industry, and it s composed of numerous sectors and subdivisions: Composed of four sectors: 1) Commercial fishing 2) Aquaculture 3) Sport fishing 4) Seafood processing (Source: B.C. Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, 2007).

Commercial Fishing

Commercial Fishing Commercial fishing is the capture of a particular fish species or other marine species for profit. Commercial fisheries exist throughout the world. This is a form of direct resource extraction. Managed by the Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO).

Bottom Trawler

Midwater Trawling

Seine Fishing

Purse Seine Nets

Gillnetting

Bottom Set GillNetting

Commercial Fishing Cont: Fish Factories Factory ships are fishing vessels designed to catch tremendous amounts of fish. These ships stay at sea for long periods of time, and are equipped with technology that fillets and freezes the fish immediately after they are caught. According to NOAA, one factory ship can process a hundred tons of cod in a single hour.

A usual haul of Red Fish on a factory ship

Aquaculture

Aquaculture Aquaculture is the farming of fish, crustaceans, molluscs, aquatic plants, algae, and other aquatic organisms. Aquaculture involves cultivating freshwater and saltwater populations under controlled conditions. Managed by the Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO)

Open Water Atlantic Salmon Farm on B.C. Coast

Pro Fish Farm Clip 2 mins Quasi Neutral Fish Farm Clip 2 mins Can B.C. fish farms convince critics their practices are safe? Fish Farming Oppositions 4 mins Blood Water: BC s Dirty Salmon Farming Secret

Open Water Pen

Land based Fish Farms

Namgis Peoples Land Based Fish Farming Clip 10 mins

Seafood Processing

Seafood Processing Seafood processing refers to the processes associated with fish and fish products between the time fish are caught or harvested, and the time the final product is delivered to the customer. The products of the fish industry are usually sold to grocery chains or to intermediaries. Managed by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA)

Sardine Canning/Processing Atlantic Lobster Processing Rick Mercer: Lobster Fishing Link

Recreational Fishing in B.C.

Sport Fishing Sport fishing is the fishing done by those in the pursuit of leisure and/or recreation. Sport fishing occurs both in tidal and non-tidal (fresh) waters throughout the province of British Columbia. Fisheries and Oceans Canada is responsible for managing tidal recreational fishing. Non-tidal (freshwater) recreational fishing is managed by the B.C. Government's Fish, Wildlife and Habitat Management Branch.

Fishery Industry Advantages & Disadvantages

Commercial Fisheries - Advantages & Disadvantages As fish stocks decrease, fishing methods become increasingly extreme. These methods have positive and negative impacts on our plant and society. They provide huge benefits to the Canadian economy and job market, but destructive fishing practices devastate the marine environment. Four key methods are: 1) Bottom trawling 2) Over-fishing 3) Bycatch 4) Ghost fishing

Bottom Trawling Bottom trawling, also known as "dragging", is an industrial way of fishing. Large nets, called "drag nets", are tossed into the ocean and they sink to the bottom. As the ship sails, the net drags across the bottom of the ocean, collecting cod and haddock.

Advantages of Bottom Trawling Very Efficient! Super Trawlers can catch large amounts of fish at once. They have the ability to process over 250 tonnes of fish a day, and a cargo capacity of 6,200 tonnes. They catch and process fish efficiently and quickly. This type of trawl fishing saves time, fuel and labour costs. Bottom trawling is responsible for thousands jobs worldwide.

Advantages of Bottom Trawling On-board Processing: Factories on board mean that fish can be processed while at sea. The fish caught in the net are sucked on board with a large pump and into an onboard factory that automatically sorts, packs and freezes them. This means that the fish can be used for human consumption instead of fishing bait and fish feed in aquaculture.

Advantages of Bottom Trawling A new study conducted by Dutch scientists in the North Sea suggests there may actually be some unexpected benefits from bottom trawling. They concluded that it may actually "increase the availability of food and promote growth, and even increase yield of target fish species. The sort of selective removal of certain types of bottom life makes the system more productive in terms of food for the fish that fishermen target,"

Bottom Trawling - Disadvantages One of the most harmful techniques. Industrial method which uses enormous nets weighed down with heavy ballast which are dragged along the sea floor, raking up or crushing everything in their way, from fish to ancient coral. This type of fishing obliterates the natural environmental features where marine animals would normally live, rest and hide. The biggest nets used have a mouth the size of a rugby pitch and leave scars on the seabed more than 4 kilometers long. Bottom trawling also churns up sediment (sometimes toxic), creating turbid water inhospitable to life.

Bottom Trawling - Disadvantages Living in extreme conditions, deep-water fish grow very slowly and have a long life expectancy and a late reproductive age. As a result, they are particularly vulnerable to disturbances in their environment and is not sustainable. trawling results in high levels of bycatch because the nets scoop up everything in its path, not just the targeted species.

Bycatch Bycatch refers to all the forms of marine life caught unintentionally while catching other fish. Bycatch can include: the wrong size of the target species, other species that are not eaten or for which there is no market banned or endangered species such as certain birds, turtles and marine mammals.

Bycatch - Disadvantages A recent WWF report estimates that bycatch represents 40% of global marine catches, and that in many cases the fish discarded are juveniles. Results in dramatic consequences on the ability of a species to reproduce and regenerate stocks. Also, represents a monstrous waste of food, for both humans and marine predators.

Over-fishing - Advantages Produces high yields despite small volume of water. Contains Essential nutrients, with a high protein value and low to moderate fat in comparison to terrestrial animals. Easily-maintained, requires much less attention than cattle and other farm animals Part of an aquatic food chain, therefore it is not taking prey from omnivorous and carnivorous predators.

Over-fishing - Negative Impacts Fishing costs (most of modern fishing utilizes technology such as weights, nets, seine nets (e.g. beach seine), trawls (e.g. bottom trawl), dredges, hooks and line (e.g. long line and hand line), lift nets, gillnets, entangling nets and traps Aquatic contamination and pollution:(e.g. Oil spills, human material thrown in water often harms fish) High density to volume ratio, fish often clustered together thus causing high stress level which increases susceptibility to disease and transfers disease at an accelerated Mercury: Fish and shell-fish are able to concentrate mercury in their bodies, due to this being a toxin it can show negative effects if it is consumed.

Ghost Fishing - Disadvantages Ghost fishing is the result of nets and other fishing materials that are accidentally or intentionally abandoned in the sea. These nets continue to senselessly trap fish and shellfish and even large marine mammals, which die of exhaustion or suffocation after struggling to get to the surface to breathe. The problem of abandoned or lost equipment has been amplified by increased fishing activity and the introduction of nets and line made from long-lasting synthetic material.

Impacts of Marine Debris

Ghost Fishing: Economic Impacts Besides the killing off of aquatic life, Ghost Fishing also: interferes with fishing and damage fishing boats and gear. blocks cooling water intakes in power stations. interferes with ships, causing accidents at sea. damages local economies by contaminating fish catches and driving away tourists. costs a significant amount to clean up.

Ghost Fishing - Benefits Nada Nothing Zippo Squat Zero

Aquaculture Advantages & Disadvantages

Aquaculture - Advantages Arguments in favor of aquaculture: 1. Creates jobs in community and increases local investment. 2. Provides a reliable protein source locally, provincially, nationally. 3. Increases food security. 4. Can be small-scale, local, & sustainable. 5. Can increase scientific knowledge and technology. 6. Can place more emphasis on protecting coastal waters from pollution, especially in the case of mollusk and seaweed culture. 7. May reduce fishing pressure on certain wild stocks if that species can be produced through aquaculture rather than fished. 8. No bycatch.

Arguments against aquaculture: 1. Can conflict with other users of water bodies such as lobstermen, fishermen or migrating fish 2. Can put excess pressure on wild stocks that are used to create high protein feed pellets 3. Can amplify and transfer disease and parasites to wild fish populations 4. Can pollute water systems with excess nutrients (fish feed & wastes), chemicals and antibiotics 5. Can compromise native gene pools if farmed fish and native species interbreed 6. Can threaten livelihood of fishermen 7. Can be an unpredictable enterprise for small local communities due to its susceptibility to severe weather, predators, disease, and global competition 8. Can compromise the aesthetic beauty of coastline

Seafood Processing Advantages & Disadvantages

Seafood Processing - Advantages Stimulates development of fishing industry / port facilities Reduced cost of transport/less greenhouse gases More fresh / no delay / no need for storage Infrastructure development, e.g. roads, power, telecommunications Adds value to fish Maddi is the best

Processing Plant in Breton Harbour, Nfld.

Seafood Processing - Disadvantages Undeveloped infrastructure -Lack of infrastructure, e.g. roads, power, water, ports, etc. Long way from major centres of population, remote locations Lack of interest from investors or government due to high cost of any development Inhospitable climate/coastal Climate pollution linked to processing (see next slide) Effects of increase in urban population Some canned fish banned in certain countries (due to certain chemicals used as preservatives)

Bloody Discharge/effluent from a aquaculture plant near Discovery Passage off Vancouver Island effluent that tests have shown contains a highly contagious fish virus.

Sport Fishing - Advantages & Disadvantages

Sport Fishing - Advantages Huge Economic Benefits (See sidebar ) i.e. Canadian freshwater fishing generates almost a billion dollars annually in direct, indirect and induced impacts. Less impact on aquatic ecosystem than commercial fishing. i.e. practice catch-and-release tactics, catch limits. Individual fishers are able to quickly react and correct any practices that harm the environmental Low levels of bycatch and impact on habitat.

Angler in Northern B.C.

Painters Lodge, Campbell River

Sport Fishing - Disadvantages Gas and oil leaks from boats pollute waterways. Wake from passing boats cause shoreline erosion. Negligent anchoring can harm the shorelines and lead to habitat destruction. Various forms of Pollution (i.e. noise, sewage, garbage) Leaching of chemicals into water from toxic anti-fouling paint that stops barnacle growth on boat hulls. lead contained in sinkers harm wildlife in and out of the water. (i.e. Fishers in the USA buy about 4,382 tons of lead/year.)