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Commercial salmon fishing economic contribution and profile in 2024 (updated)

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Commercial value of the wild salmon in British Columbia (2021 to 2024)

Commercial value of the wild salmon in British Columbia (2021 to 2024)
Long text version

Overview

Current commercial analyses of wild fisheries focus mainly on the wholesale stage, using wholesale value to calculate GDP and other indicators. This approach overlooks domestic consumer use value and downstream activities such as retail sales and exports. To understand the total commercial value, we need to examine economic activity beyond the wholesale level, to final consumer use.

Economic metrics by value chain stage

All values are 2021–2024 averages in 2025 dollars, unless otherwise specified.

Retail / domestic consumer use / export category comprises:

See the full definition in the notes and methodology page.

Commercial harvest

Wholesaling / processing / handling

Retail / Domestic consumer use / Exports

The total GDP contribution is $49M, of which 34% comes from final demand use.

Overall, the commercial sector supports 1,318 jobs and provides more than $31M in income to households, of which 32% comes from final demand use.

Total value of the wild salmon fishery in British Columbia

Total value of the wild salmon fishery in British Columbia
Long text version

In British Columbia, salmon fishery is a cornerstone of the provincial coastal economy, supporting commercial harvesting, processing, recreational fishing, and Indigenous food, social, and ceremonial fisheries.

The salmon commercial harvest contributes $22M (GDP) to the provincial economy, with a total employment and income contribution of 994 and $15M, respectively, on an annual average basis from 2021 to 2024.

However, this is only part of the impact. The product moves on to other businesses, where it is prepared, sold to consumers, or exported.

All values are in 2024 dollars, unless otherwise specified.

Other includes First Nations commercial harvest in fisheries other than communal commercial fisheries, specifically Five Nations, economic opportunity (EO), demonstration (DEMO), excess salmon to spawning requirement (ESSR), and Harvest Agreement (HA) fisheries.

Commercial fishery

Average piece count all species by gear type in 2021-2024

Average piece count by species and gear type in 2021-2024

Chinook

Chum

Coho

Pink

Sockeye

Average landed value all species by gear type in 2021-2024

Average landed value by species and gear type in 2021-2024

Chinook

Chum

Coho

Pink

Sockeye

Average net wholesale value (WSV) all species by gear type in 2021-2024

Average net wholesale value (WSV) by species and gear type in 2021-2024

Chinook

Chum

Coho

Pink

Pink salmon has the highest wholesale margin.

Sockeye

Harvest allocated to final consumption

Nearly 45% of the commercial salmon harvest is allocated to international exports.

Shares allocated to each sectors:

Value chain of the wild salmon fishery in British Columbia

Value chain of the wild salmon fishery in British Columbia
Long text version

The value chain process

  1. Fishing: catching fish
  2. Handling: handling fish (e.g., packer to dock, offload fish at dock, and transport to plant)
  3. Processing: processing fish at plant (e.g., fresh, frozen or canned products, roe products, by-products or others (i.e., smoked))
  4. Wholesaling: distribution to wholesale
  5. Retailing: distribution to consumers (e.g., restaurants, retail stores)
  6. Exporting: distribution to international / interprovincial markets

Gross domestic product (GDP) is a measure of economic activity within a specific region over a defined period. It is a measure of value added by an industry or market value of final goods and services. GDP avoids double counting of economic activity, which allows fair comparisons across industries.

GDP impact by value chain stage

Harvest

Processing / Wholesaling / Handling

Accommodation and food services

Household food expenditure (HFE)

60% of the simulated GDP from the final use of commercial harvest is attributable to HFE.

Interprovincial export

International export

Multipliers translate changes in an industry output (direct) to subsequent changes in the output of industries that supply goods and services used in production (indirect) and the change in output due to spending by workers (induced) who are employed directly or indirectly. The total impact will be the sum of direct, indirect, and induced. See notes and methodology section for multipliers used in the calculation.

Commercial salmon sector links across local communities in British Columbia

Commercial salmon sector links across local communities in British Columbia
Long text version

Salmon harvests play a vital role in the economic fabric of British Columbia, supporting both coastal communities and the broader provincial economy. By connecting harvesting areas to processing hubs, this network not only ensures the value of the province’s salmon resources is maximized locally but also reinforces the cultural and economic well-being of many Indigenous and rural communities across BC.

All values are 2024 landings in 2024 dollars, unless otherwise specified.

Locations of processors, licence holders and landed value

Processors in 2024. These companies are referred to as “known processors and wholesalers.” They are wholesalers; some may also be processors, while others may not. Locations with:

Salmon licence holders residing in the area in 2024. Locations with:

Marine salmon total landed value in 2024 (2024$). Locations with:

North coast

8% of processors and 20% of salmon licence holders are located in the North Coast.

Landings by gear type:

Vancouver island

Just over a quarter (27%) of processors and 15% of salmon licence holders are located on Vancouver Island.

Landings by gear type:

Lower mainland

More than half of processors (61%) and 42% of salmon licence holders are concentrated in the Lower Mainland.

Landings by gear type:

Unknown area

Landings by gear type:

Other salmon landings in the North Coast: $1.8M

Other salmon landings in the South Coast: $4.5M

Commercial marine landed value and volume by gear type and licence area

Commercial marine landed value and volume by gear type and licence area
Long text version

All values are 2021–2024 averages in 2024 dollars, unless otherwise specified.

The number of non-communal commercial licences held by individuals from First Nations is unknown.

BC salmon seine

Area A

Area B

BC salmon gillnet

Area C

Area D

Area E

BC salmon troll

Area F

Area H

Area G

Economic profile of the wild salmon fishery in British Columbia

Economic profile of the wild salmon fishery in British Columbia
Long text version

Total effect on gross domestic product (GDP)

Total GDP contribution of wild salmon harvest: $48.8M

Total GDP contribution by sector

Total GDP contribution by species

GDP contribution by species and sector

Chinook
Chum
Coho
Pink
Sockeye

Total GDP contribution by gear type

Effect on GDP by gear type and sector

Gillnet
Seine
Troll
Other

Total effect on household income

Total household income contribution of wild salmon harvest: $30.8M

Household income contribution by sector

Effect on household income by species

Effect on household income by species and sector

Chinook
Chum
Coho
Pink
Sockeye

Effect on household income by gear type

Effect on household income by gear and sector

Gillnet
Seine
Troll
Other

Total effect on employment

Total employment supported by wild salmon harvest: 1,318

Employment by sector

FTE estimates are used for processing, AFS, HFE and EX. For harvest, employment is calculated as the product of average crew count and active vessel count to better reflect the actual employment.

Notes and methodology

Methodology

This research estimates the full domestic commercial value of BC’s wild harvested salmon by extending analysis beyond wholesale value (WSV) to capture additional value added within British Columbia. A species-specific wholesale value is estimated by applying a wholesale value margin to the estimated landed value, which is derived from logbooks, sales slips, and the DFO price survey. Wholesale value margins for each species are estimated by dividing the total provincial WSV from the BC annual fish production schedule (AFPS) by the sum of domestic landed value and unprocessed imports. From there, the method allocates WSV to final-use sectors—household food expenditures, accommodation and food services, international exports, and interprovincial exports. WSV is assigned to domestic sectors using relative shares from provincial supply use tables.

For each final-use sector, value added margins from the supply use tables are applied to estimate economic activity occurring beyond the wholesale stage. Once each sector’s purchaser value is estimated, the results are aggregated to determine the total domestic value added from BC’s salmon harvest, including domestic consumption and the BC based components of export activity. The incremental value above WSV is then paired with appropriate economic multipliers to estimate resulting GDP, labour income, and employment contributions. When applying the multipliers for seafood processing, a wholesale value net of landed value is used to avoid double counting the value of commercial harvest. While the framework provides a repeatable approach for estimating domestic final use value, it relies on BC wide margins, simplified sector shares, and imperfect export classifications. Future iterations will benefit from improved species-specific data, updated supply use tables, and more detailed treatment of direct to consumer and interprovincial flows.

Assumptions and limitations/caveats

The results presented in this document are preliminary and will be refined as additional information becomes available. There are several places where uncertainty is introduced into the estimates. Two potentially important sources of uncertainty relate to differences in the definitions used in different data sources and the use of multipliers to estimate economic contribution metrics.

The analysis relies on multiple data sources, each of which gathers data and defines common terms somewhat differently. For example, the “wholesale value” identified by the BC AFPS appears to differ from that used by Statistics Canada. Additional investigation is required to determine if further adjustments are needed to fully reconcile and account for the true flow of values through the simulated value chain. The interpretation used within this document may have resulted in an over- or under-estimate of the value of BC salmon beyond wild harvest. However, the degree to which revisions will result in materially different estimates of value is not clear.

Additional uncertainty in the estimates results from the use of multipliers for the parts of the value chain. Regular multipliers, such as those published by Statistics Canada or as part of the BC fisheries and aquaculture sector reports, include the economic activity generated from demand for inputs downstream from an industry. These available multipliers are each counting some of the same underlying downstream economic activity in their estimates, and it is not possible to disentangle how much double counting there may be with available data. This is of particular concern for vertically integrated industries such as some businesses within the wild capture fisheries and seafood processing sectors, meaning the economic contribution generated with regular multipliers can not be added together. This can be addressed with decoupled multipliers; however, these were not available at the time of this analysis and a “net wholesale value” approach does not fully address the issue. Double counting is also present when multipliers are used for sectors upstream in the value chain, when the intention is to add the results to those of fishing and processing. For example, part of the economic activity generated by seafood restaurants is a result of their demand for fish. Since the economic activity associated with fisheries and seafood processing are already captured, this introduces additional double counting. While it is clear the current multipliers and adjustment methods still result in some double counting, the scale is unclear, and direction of changes may be unexpected with revised multipliers.

Definitions

Accommodation and food services (AFS)
Comprises establishments primarily engaged in providing short-term lodging and complementary services to travelers, vacationers and others, in facilities such as hotels, motor hotels, resorts, motels, casino hotels, bed and breakfast accommodations. This sector also comprises establishments primarily engaged in preparing meals, snacks and beverages, to customer orders, for immediate consumption on and off the premises.
Household food expenditure (HFE)
Purchases of food consumed at home, such as groceries bought from retail outlets.
Interprovincial export (IPEX)
The goods and services produced in one Canadian province or territory and sold to buyers in other provinces or territories.
International export (INEX)
The goods and services produced in one Canadian province or territory and sold to buyers in other countries.
Other
Includes First Nations commercial harvest in fisheries other than communal commercial fisheries, specifically Five Nations, economic opportunity (EO), demonstration (DEMO), excess salmon to spawning requirement (ESSR), and Harvest Agreement (HA) fisheries.

Data sources

B.C. Ministry of Agriculture and Food (2021-2024), Annual Fisheries Production Schedule. https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/e591a756-6b99-4986-b8ce-f341bd47228f

DFO Commercial Logbooks and fish slips (2021-2024)

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (2024), EXIM [database], Ottawa. Adapted from Statistics Canada, International Trade Data. No endorsement of this product by Statistics Canada is implied.

Lillian Hallin Consulting (2024). British Columbia’s fisheries and aquaculture sector: 2022 edition.

Pacific Salmon Commission (2021-2024). Pacific Salmon Commission Annual Report. https://www.psc.org/publications/annual-reports/commission/

Statistics Canada (2022). Table 36-10-0478-01. Supply and use tables, detail level. https://doi.org/10.25318/3610047801-eng

Statistics Canada (2022). Table 36-10-0594-01. Input-output multipliers, detail level. https://doi.org/10.25318/3610059401-eng

References

Statistics Canada (2024). Definition: Accommodation and food services (NAICS 72), in North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Canada 2022 Version 1.0. https://www23.statcan.gc.ca/imdb/p3VD.pl?CLV=1&CPV=72&CST=27012022&CVD=1369826&Function=getVD&MLV=5&TVD=1369825 (accessed January 5, 2026)

Additional information

Sector margin table (Statistics Canada, 2022)
Sector Margins
AFS 18.5%
HFE 49.3%
IPEX and INEX 18.2%
Input-output multipliers table
Sector GDP Household income Employment
Capture fishery1 0.7245 0.4753 NA*
Fish and seafood processing1 0.5131 0.3331 5.4991
AFS2 1.111 0.695 17.749
HFE2 1.286 0.831 20.573
IPEX and INEX2 1.078 0.514 7.986

Sources: 1 Lillian Hallin Consulting, 2022; 2 Statistics Canada, 2022.

*Direct employment is calculated as the product of average crew count and active vessel count to better reflect the actual employment for the harvesting sector.

Data

Average landed value for 2021-2024
(CSV, 1 KB)

Average wholesale value for 2021-2024
(CSV, 1 KB)

Piece count for 2021-2024
(CSV, 1 KB)

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