Here you go Steve - read this and tell me again about the 6000 jobs (and growing, much like that stories nose) and the wonderful economic engines the feedlots are, spewing cash all over the province. All rearng is done organically and they change those Depends every 2 hours. Jobs, jobs and more jobs. ::)Wanna revise that theory? Oh wait a minute. This is the Canadian arm. Although they do it everywhere else, they wouldn't do it here......would they?
https://www.georgiastrait.org/files/share/PDF/CCPA_fish_farms.pdf
Did you happen to check the date on that article you posted? You found some old data (Bummer, eh?). It might be beneficial to have more recent statistics. As for most of those 6000 jobs being part time and on call in the processing end that is not exactly what I found; however, it is conceivable that fish and seafood processors handle fish and seafood products harvested by the capture fishery as well as those produced by the aquaculture sector (i.e. Walcan). If you are also going to talk about part-time employment you will definitely find it in the capture fisheries which you didn’t mention. In fairness, I found out that measuring employment figures with industries like aquaculture is difficult and that employment in the industry has decreased by 10% between 2000 and 2011 (not sure if that includes all aquaculture – not just farmed salmon). Nevertheless, there is no doubt that with the declines in forestry and commercial fisheries that aquaculture has become more prominent in a variety of communities on Vancouver Island like Campbell River. It is not just the fish farm companies themselves, but the many companies that supply goods and services to the aquaculture industry (i.e. nets, fish processing, transportation, diving services, machinery, etc.).
Overall, the economic importance of salmon aquaculture to the province is fairly small when compared to other marine-based industries. Sports fishing, commercial fishing, salmon processing, and marine tourism all surpass salmon farming in GDP, employment, and export revenue. – Fishy Business: The Economics of Salmon Farming in BC (
2003).
If you look over the long term (2000 to 2011) and compare real GDP increases between capture fisheries, sport fisheries, fish processing and aquaculture you will notice that the BC aquaculture industry has experience the most dramatic growth, increasing 47.7% since 2000.
http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/aquaculture/ref/aqua-es2009-eng.htm#ch3http://www.salmonfarmers.org/sites/default/files/research-resources/2008_industryprofile_pwc.pdfhttp://www.salmonfarmers.org/sites/default/files/british_columbias_fisheries_and_aquaculture_sector_2012_edition.pdfhttp://www.env.gov.bc.ca/omfd/fishstats/proc/index.html