Commercial Fisheries and Aquaculture

2.1 Commercial Marine Fisheries

After the decline of Atlantic cod stocks in 1992, the commercial fishing industry on Canada's east coast underwent a period of significant change. In the early 1990s, groundfish played a major role in the fish harvesting and processing sectors in Atlantic Canada, representing almost one-half of all landings in terms of quantity. Over time the predominance of groundfish was reduced to a level whereby in 2011, the catch of groundfish amounted to 13% of the total quantity of landings in Atlantic Canada, and just under 10% of total landings based on value.

While global aquaculture production has continued to increase, fish landings remained static in 2008 as compared to 2007.

¹Totals may not add up due to rounding.
Source: DFO, Economic Analysis and Statistics.

On the Pacific coast, the quantity of landings of salmon and, to a lesser extent, herring have consistently declined since the early 1990s. Salmon and herring landings have declined from almost one-half of the total catch in 1990 to about one-fifth in 2011. Landings of Pacific salmon and herring - based on dock price – have also dropped. Meanwhile, the groundfish catches rose from almost one-half of the total quantity of landings in 1990 to about two-thirds in 2011. In terms of value, groundfish landings doubled from 18% of the total catch in 1990 to 36% in 2011.

¹Totals may not add up due to rounding.
Source: DFO, Economic Analysis and Statistics.

In recent years, shellfish on both coasts have replaced other species as the main species harvested. The most important crustaceans harvested in Canada are lobster, snow crab and shrimp. Collectively, these species accounted for two-thirds of the total value of landings of marine species in Canada in 2011.

Due to their relatively high value, shellfish landings have remained stable despite declining quantities of overall landings (Table 2.3). In 2011, shellfish represented over three-quarters of total landings in Canada in terms of value and almost one-half in terms of volume.

¹Totals may not add up due to rounding.
Source: DFO, Economic Analysis and Statistics.

Snow crab landings rose to $459.1 million in 2011, up 63% from $281.4 million in 2010. Lobster landings continued to be Canada's primary commercial species in 2011. Despite a marginal decline in landings in terms of volume, lobster catches were valued at $619.7 million in 2011, up 8% from 2010.

Most other commercial marine species in Canada saw only modest increases in fish landings in terms of value, between 2010 and 2011. This included tuna (+$8.1 million), halibut (+$5.4 million) and whelks (+$2.9 million). Conversely, noticeable reductions in landings were observed among some species such as herring (-$9.7 million), mackerel (-$7.6 million) and haddock (-$3.9 million) over the same period. ^{Footnote 2}

2.1.1 Provincial Highlights

Marine commercial fishing occurs in six of ten Canadian provinces and one territory - Nunavut. Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador and British Columbia are among the three provinces where fishing has the greatest value, followed by New Brunswick, Quebec and Prince Edward Island and Quebec. British Columbia and New Brunswick also benefit from major aquaculture production (Table 2.4).

In 2011, almost one-third (254,600t) of the commercial marine catch was landed in Nova Scotia, valued at $750.1 million. The main species caught in this province were lobster (50%), snow crab (14%) and scallops (11%) as well as shrimp, haddock, and halibut, that accounted for another 13% of fish landings, in terms of value, in that province.

Source: DFO, Economic Analysis and Statistics.

Newfoundland and Labrador recorded the second largest commercial landings in 2011, with catches reaching 283,826t, valued at $643.9 million. Between 2010 and 2011, total landed values of lobster, seals and mackerel decreased, while increases were reported for snow crab, shrimp and turbot, leading to an overall increase of 26% in landed values for Newfoundland and Labrador commercial landings in 2011. The main species caught in 2011 were snow crab ($251.0 million) and shrimp ($219.2 million).

British Columbia ranked third, contributing $278.7 million to the total commercial landings in Canada. New Brunswick ($175.6 million) and Quebec ($149.3 million) were in fourth and fifth place respectively. Landings in these two provinces represented 15% of total commercial landings in Canada. Finally, Prince Edward Island was in sixth place with $109.8 million in commercial landings in 2011.

2.1.2 NAFO Fishing Areas in Atlantic Canada

Fisheries in the Atlantic coast are the largest contributors to Canada's fish production, accounting for over three-quarters of the total Canadian catch in 2011. The Southern Scotian Shelf had the highest recorded value of landings during the year (Table 2.5). The Southern part of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the North-Eastern part Newfoundland also reported significant landings in 2011.

¹ The NAFO Convention Area encompasses a very large portion of the Atlantic Ocean and includes the 200-mile zones of Coastal States jurisdiction (USA, Canada, St. Pierre et Miquelon and Greenland).
Source: DFO, Economic Analysis and Statistics.

2.1.3 Months of Activity in Atlantic Canada

A large part of the catch (74%) on the Atlantic Coast of Canada was landed between April and October in 2011. However, it was in May and June that landings had the greatest value principally due to lobster, shrimp and snow crab. In 2011, landings during these two months were valued at approximately $757.0 million, or 41% of the total catch.

Source: DFO, Economic Analysis and Statistics.

Landings are relatively high in terms of volume between December and March in most provinces, except New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Quebec where most landings occur mainly during the months of April to June. In Newfoundland and Labrador, relatively higher fish landings occur from April through August, with higher landed values from May to July. The volume of landings in Nova Scotia is high from May through September whereas the value of fish landings is the highest from November to January (Table 2.6).

2.1.4 Fishing Gear

In 2011, almost two-thirds of the landings from commercial fisheries on the Atlantic coast were captured with pots and traps (Table 2.7). Pots and traps were also the primary fishing gear in the Pacific coast. Species caught using trawling gear, was the second largest contributor to landings in 2011, accounting for 22% and 14% of total value of catches in the Atlantic and Pacific regions, respectively.

¹1 Based On International Standard Statistical Classification Of Fishing Gear (ISSCFG)
Source: DFO, Economic Analysis and Statistics (March, 2013)

2.1.5 Vessels

In 2011, there were 14,670 active vessels in Canada's marine commercial fisheries (Table 2.8). A fishing vessel is considered active if at least one instance of fish landings is recorded during the year.

In 2011, the majority (35%) of the total active fishing vessels in Canada were in Newfoundland and Labrador (5,163 vessels). Nova Scotia was second with 3,522 vessels, or 24% of the Canadian total. The majority (91%) of active vessels were inshore fishing vessels less than 45' in length. Midshore and offshore fishing vessels (more than 45' in length) represented 9% of all active fishing vessels in Canada. However, they recorded 46% of the total landed value in Canada in 2011. The average landed value per active fishing vessel was $141,558 in Canada in 2011, which was 18% higher than the average in 2010

¹ The four DFO regions in Atlantic Canada are: Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec, Gulf (Northeast Nova Scotia, Eastern New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island), and Maritimes (Southern New Brunswick, Southwest Nova Scotia, Eastern Nova Scotia).
Source: DFO, Economic Analysis and Statistics
Note: The sum of active vessels by province/region may not add up to the Atlantic or Canada total due to vessels landing in more than one province.

2.2 Commercial Freshwater Fisheries

In Canada, freshwater or inland commercial fishing take place primarily in Lake Erie, Lake Huron, Lake Ontario and Lake Superior in Ontario, in lakes Winnipeg, Cedar, Manitoba and Winnipegosis in the province of Manitoba, and in Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories.

In 2011, total freshwater harvest was 25,744t, or about for 3% of the total commercial catch in terms of value and volume (Table 2.9). The total production of freshwater species was valued at $58.2 million in 2011, a decrease of $1.9 million from 2010.

The top species fished commercially in Canada are yellow pickerel, whitefish and perch. Landings of these three species represented close to 66% of the total quantity of freshwater species caught in Canada in 2011.

Source: DFO, Economic Analysis and Statistics

In 2011, freshwater commercial fishing activities were predominantly in Ontario and Manitoba. Fish landings in these two provinces were valued at $33.8 million and $18.9 million respectively and collectively represented 91% of the total landings of freshwater commercial fisheries in Canada in 2011.

2.3 Aquaculture

Overall aquaculture production dropped by 9% from $926.0 million in 2010 to $845.6 million in 2011 (Table 2.10). Most of the decrease can be attributed to a drop in salmon production. However, the overall decline was partly offset by production gains in farmed trout and mussels.

¹ Provinces with data not available are not included in the Canada totals
Source: Statistics Canada, 2012, Aquaculture Statistics 2011, Catalogue no. 23-222-X.

The value of farmed salmon decreased by 13% in 2011, despite slightly higher production volumes. In 2011, farmed salmon accounted for 72% of all aquaculture production in Canada, down 3 percentage points from 2010. Meanwhile, farmed mussels increased at an annual rate of growth of 3% in terms of value. Oysters decreased by -1%, over the same period.

British Columbia continues to be the largest aquaculture producer in Canada, accounting for $465.0 million or over one-half of Canada's total output from aquaculture activities (Table 2.11). In 2011, New Brunswick was the second largest producer of farmed seafood, harvesting 22,274t of seafood valued at $143.3 million from aquaculture activities. Newfoundland and Labrador ranked third in terms of production value. The production estimate for Newfoundland and Labrador was primarily based on finfish, although further details are unavailable due to the limited number of producers in that province. Nova Scotia ranked fourth in 2011, in terms of value, producing 8,017t of farmed seafood, valued at $42.3 million. It is estimated that finfish accounted for 77% of total production catch in terms of value.

¹ Provinces with supressed data are included in the Canada total
Source: Statistics Canada, 2012, Aquaculture Statistics 2011, Catalogue no. 23-222-X