Find Fisheries expertise in Canada

Surrounded by the Arctic, Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, Canada boasts the world’s longest coastline (244,000 km), representing a quarter of the entire coastline in the world. Being home to the Great Lakes with more than 755,000 km2 of fresh water, Canada also has 16% of the world’s fresh water surface area. These extensive water resources are the economic mainstay of approximately 1,500 communities in rural and coastal Canada and account for over 130,000 jobs. However, even though Canada’s fisheries industry is large compared to other countries, it only contributes 0.3% to the GDP (2008). This is because Canada has one of the largest economies (11th) in the world based largely on the service sector which overshadows the size and contribution of fisheries.

Canada is the world’s seventh-largest exporter of fish and seafood products, with exports to more than 130 countries. In 2008, Canada’s fish and seafood exports were valued at $3.9 billion. Canada exports an estimated 80% of its fish and seafood production, with the United States Canada’s largest export market, representing roughly 62% of seafood trade, followed by The European Union (15%), Japan (8%) and China (6%).

The fishing industry is highly mechanised and is dominated by commercial fisheries which can be further sub-divided into the marine, inland and aquaculture sub-sectors.

The Atlantic marine fishery accounts for 80% of total landings from the marine sector of which the catch profile include lobster, crab, shrimp and scallops. The Pacific fishery on the other hand accounts for about 16% of total landings, of which the catch profile includes salmon, clams, groundfish, and herring roe.

The inland commercial fishery sub-sector remains small, accounting for only 4% of total Canadian landings (2008). The catch profile for inland commercial fisheries includes pickerel, yellow perch, whitefish, northern pike and lake trout.

The aquaculture sub-sector is also fairly small, contributing 14% of total fish production in 2007, though this sub-sector is increasing in importance. The catch profile includes salmon (Atlantic, coho and chinook), trout, steelhead, Arctic char, blue mussels, oysters and manila clams. The marine fishery is by far the largest sector with highly specialised, mobile, capital-intensive units and a few vertically-integrated firms.

Fisheries organisations in Canada
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
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