In 2007, the combined harvest from capture fisheries and aquaculture operations was 269,700 tonnes — down 12 per cent from the 307,900 tonnes harvested in 2006. The landed value of the harvest was also lower, generating a total value of $708.9 million, down from the $786.2 million recorded the previous year.

The total wholesale value of finished products showed a slight increase rising from $1,281.1 million to $1,296.6 million. In 2007, British Columbia seafood was shipped to 82 countries. Export volumes remained stable for most species and products, while the total export value showed an eight per cent decrease from $987 million to $904.2 million as the strengthened Canadian dollar brought export prices down.

Commercial Capture Fisheries
Sixty-seven per cent of all seafood produced in British Columbia is harvested in the commercial capture fisheries. Salmon, herring, groundfish and shellfish all contributed to the total catch of 180,800 tonnes (down 17 per cent from 2006) which generated a total landed value of $321 million (a 10 per cent drop from 2006).

Wild Salmon
Wild salmon has been the mainstay of the British Columbia commercial capture fishery for over a century. In the capture fisheries, five species of Pacific salmon are commercially harvested in British Columbia — sockeye, pink, chum, chinook and coho.

In 2007, wild salmon contributed 11 per cent of the total capture fisheries harvest and 13 per cent of the landed value. The total wild salmon harvest was down 17 per cent to 20,100 tonnes while the landed value fell 33 per cent to $40.7 million from $60.9 million the year before.

Pink salmon made up over half of the total wild salmon harvest in 2007 at 11,200 tonnes. This species generally garners lower prices in the marketplace, however, and the landed value of $5.1 million represented only 13 per cent of the landed value of B.C. wild salmon.

At 4,900 tonnes, chum salmon had the second highest harvest volume of all wild salmon in 2007. This species generated $6.7 million in landed value and contributed a 16 per cent share of the total value of wild salmon.

The sockeye harvest, at 1,800 tonnes, was one-fifth the size of the 2006 harvest as conservation concerns for weak stocks curtailed harvest opportunities. Sockeye contributed 9 per cent of the wild salmon harvest and garnered the highest prices in the marketplace. In 2007 the total landed value of sockeye ($16.1 million) represented a 40 per cent share of the total value of all wild salmon.

Chinook and coho were harvested in small quantities in 2007 with a combined volume of 2,200 tonnes worth $12.8 million. The chinook harvest of 1,400 tonnes generated $10.2 million in landed value (25 per cent), with coho landings of 800 tonnes bringing in $2.6 million (six per cent).

Herring
The combined harvest for the 2007 herring fisheries declined 50 per cent to 11,790 tonnes (almost seven per cent of the total commercial fisheries catch) and the total landed value increased nine per cent to $20.1 million (a six per cent share of the total landed value of British Columbia’s commercial capture harvest).

The largest herring fishery is for roe herring and in 2007 the 10,500 tonne harvest (although down 53 per cent from 2006) represented 89 per cent of the total herring harvest. Food and bait (at 1,100 tonnes) contributed nine per cent, followed by spawn-on-kelp at 190 tonnes (a two per cent share).

In terms of landed value, however, roe herring contributed $12.3 million (61 per cent), followed by spawn-on-kelp at $6.9 million (34 per cent) with the remaining $900,000 (five per cent) generated by the food and bait fishery.

Groundfish
British Columbia’s groundfish harvest fell 17 per cent in 2007 to 123,000 tonnes while continuing to contribute a 68 per cent share to the provincial commercial capture harvest total. The harvest for most groundfish species showed declines except in the cases of dogfish, pollock and rockfish.

The most notable decline occurred in the hake fishery which experienced a 23 per cent drop in the total harvest. Annual

Wild Shellfish
British Columbia’s wild shellfisheries realized an 11 per cent increase in harvest levels in 2007, to 16,800 tonnes and contributing a nine per cent share of the commercial capture fishery. Crabs, with a harvest of 6,700 tonnes, contributed 40 per cent of the wild shellfish harvest total with prawns at 16 per cent (2,700 tonnes), red urchins at 13 per cent (2,200 tonnes) and geoducks at 10 per cent (1,600 tonnes).

Crabs generated the most in landed value of any shellfish species in 2007 at $37.8 million — this also represented a 58 per cent increase over 2006 levels as both harvest and prices were higher for crabs in 2007. Geoducks generated $33.5 million (a 30 per cent share of the B.C. wild shellfishery value) and prawns — although experiencing a severe price drop —brought in $27.4 million for a 25 per cent share.

Cultured Seafood
One third of all seafood harvested in British Columbia in 2007 was produced in fresh and saltwater aquaculture facilities. Production levels among species fluctuated, but overall the harvest remained the same as in 2006, at 88,900 tonnes. The farmgate value of cultured seafood reached $387.9 million — down 10 per cent from the $430.2 million recorded in 2006 — and contributed 55 per cent of the total landed value of all British Columbia seafood.

Cultured salmon (Atlantic, chinook and coho) represented 89 per cent of the cultured harvest at 79,300 tonnes and 94 per cent of the value at $364.4 million. Cultured shellfish operations (oysters, clams, mussels and scallops) harvested 8,700 tonnes (10 per cent of all cultured seafood) worth $18.5 million (5 per cent).

Developing species including tilapia, sablefish and microalgae showed a 13 per cent increase in harvest levels, rising from 800 tonnes in 2006 to 900 tonnes in 2007. The corresponding farmgate value rose an impressive 31 per cent to $5.0 million in 2007.