British Columbia leads all of Canada in seafood exports, with seafood making up nearly 35 per cent of the value of the province's total agri-food exports in 2011. British Columbia exported over $900 million of seafood — nearly a quarter of the value of all seafood exported from Canada that year — to 66 countries in 2011.
Sustainability
It is becoming increasingly important for the seafood industry to employ sustainable practices in its harvest. In 2004, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations reported that 52 per cent of the ocean's wild fish stocks were fully exploited, 16 per cent were overexploited, seven per cent were depleted, and one per cent was recovering. Growing consumer awareness that the ocean's fish supply is not inexhaustible has helped push fisheries to identify more sustainable practices.
Fisheries in British Columbia adhere to the Fisheries Act — which is one of the strongest pieces of environmental legislation in Canada, according to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO). Using peer-reviewed scientific information, DFO creates management plans outlining everything from the total amount of a species that can be caught to which types of gear can be used and enforces regulations using some of the most advanced monitoring programs in the world.
In addition to abiding by the regulations outlined in the Act, many fisheries in B.C. seek sustainable certification from private third-party organizations, including the internationally-recognized Marine Stewardship Council (MSC).
