Our National Salmon Farming Performance Commitments to Canadians

Canada's salmon farmers are committed to remaining global leaders in the sustainable production of farm-raised salmon to provide a safe, reliable, healthy and low-carbon food for Canadians and the world.

  • Fish Health

    The health and welfare of farm- raised and wild salmon is a top priority. We are committed to using best management practices and technologies that support the well-being of farm- raised salmon. We will also pursue a variety of partnerships, measures and initiatives that support wild salmon recovery, habitat restoration, and enhancement efforts.

  • Climate Change

    Farm-raised salmon has the lowest carbon footprints of any large-scale farmed animal protein, and we know we can do more. We are committed to continuing to reduce our carbon emissions and are equally committed to becoming more resilient in the midst of a changing environment.

  • Sustainable Feed

    We support innovation in aquaculture feeds and are committed to the sourcing of environmentally sustainable ingredients that provide high- quality nutrition for our fish.

  • Food Security

    Farm-raised salmon have a key role in helping to feed Canada and the world as capture fisheries reach their limits. Global population growth and demand for seafood continue to accelerate creating pressure on wild stocks of all finfish. We are committed to providing a reliable and healthy source of farm-raised salmon to Canadians to help navigate future uncertainty to communities and boosting food security throughout Canada.

  • Food Traceability

    Canadian farm-raised salmon is fully traceable from egg to plate. We understand the importance of having systems in place to make it easier for consumers to know where their food comes from and to provide greater assurance around our sustainability credentials. We will work to ensure consumers can more easily access the information they want about their salmon meals.

  • Ocean Health

    Healthy oceans are essential to healthy salmon farming. We are committed to continuous improvements to farm practices that further protect the marine ecosystem, including the ocean floor (benthic) ecosystem health beneath our farms, and to the prevention of plastic waste and debris from entering the oceans from our operations.

  • Public Reporting

    Transparency builds trust, strengthens accountability, and improves performance. We are committed to working with government bodies and other key stakeholders and rightsholders to provide information about our salmon farming operations to Canadians in a way that is easily accessible and understandable.

Canada's salmon farmers began discussions in 2021 to develop a set of national performance commitments.

We have come a long way since raising the first salmon in Canada. Today, the salmon farming sector supports 14,500 jobs, mainly in rural, coastal and Indigenous communities on Canada's west and east coasts. It is a sector now led by science, featuring state-of- the-art technology, and producing a low-carbon footprint and healthy protein product that is the favourite seafood choice of Canadians. Our commitments today outline the priority areas for continuous improvement in our operations on both coasts and will be followed by more detailed actions in the coming months.

Salmon farming practices will continue to improve to meet the increasing demand for environmentally-responsible, nourishing food. We are committed to being the very best producers of farm-raised salmon in the world.

The performance commitments we are making today support the strong values that all Canadians share. All major salmon producers in Canada, as members of the Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance (CAIA), have embraced these commitments and we will continue to work together over the coming months to develop specific actions and targets.

  • Download Our Sustainability
    Commitments Brochure

Funding for this project has been provided through the AgriAssurance Program under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, a federal-provincial-territorial initiative.