Canadian Salmon Shortage
January 12, 2023
Current Status of Farmed Atlantic Salmon on Western Canadian Seaboard
There is no farmed Atlantic salmon available for purchase from the primary 3 salmon farms on the west coast until further notice.
As a supplier of fresh Atlantic Salmon fillets and our Fresh never frozen cold smoked Atlantic salmon lox, and other fine salmon products we are left with three choices for purchasing Atlantic Salmon.
- Buying Norwegian Atlantic salmon
- Buying Atlantic salmon from Eastern Canada
- Buying Atlantic salmon from Chile
As we provide quality products our first choice is to buy Norwegian Atlantic Salmon.
Canadian Salmon from the east coast takes too long to get here in my opinion, but this choice remains open and to be determined once we receive a sample.
Chilian farmed Atlantic salmon is not an option for Sgambaro’s. The conditions and Standards that these salmon are raised in, is very poor compared to Canadian and Norwegian Standards and the quality of this salmon is not suitable for our process and I believe not very suitable for your purposes as well.
THIS IS THE ROOT CAUSE OF THE PROBLEM…
CBC NEWS – British Columbia
Discovery Islands salmon farms to be phased out of existence over next 18 months. Decision made in consultation with local First Nations, minister says Karin Larsen – CBC News (Posted: December 17, 2020)
The Okisollo fish farm near Campbell River, B.C. Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan said Thursday all fish farms in the Discovery Islands near Campbell River will be phased out by June 2022.
First Nations in the area have long said the farms contribute to the collapse of wild Fraser River salmon stocks because sea lice and other pathogens transfer from them to migrating juvenile wild salmon. (Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press)
The controversial open-net salmon farms in the Discovery Islands near Campbell River, B.C., will be phased out over the next 18 months.
In making the announcement, Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan said all 19 farms have to be free of fish by June 30, 2022, when their renewed 18-month licences expire, and that no new fish can be brought in.
Pens permanently closed
There are roughly 98 caged pens in the Canadian pacific ocean’s shores & 19 HAVE BEEN PERMENATLY CLOSED. That is 20% less production overall and all 3 salmon farms would normally been pulling salmon from the Discovery Islands area right now and they are not.
This is my understanding of the current situation and it seems the salmon farms either did not plan properly for this shortage, or it was not possible to react as it takes 2 to 3 years to grow a salmon, depending on the size.
Unfortunately, this is a supply and demand issue and the price of salmon is out of control, fresh salmon is a commodity and we adjust our price weekly according to what we pay. As you can see, if you buy fresh salmon fillets from us, it has been going up in price in anticipation of the salmon farms in Canadian waters not having any salmon to sell.
For our smoked salmon lox and other salmon related products we are forced to increase our pricing immediately and it can fluctuate moving forward totally dependent on the price we pay. We will monitor this situation very closely and work with you on an individual basis to create the best possible scenario and price for our mutual customers under these circumstances. Feel free to call me to discuss further.
Regards.
Roberto Sgambaro CCC
Director and Founder