Grant Warkington, Communication Officer, Mainstream Canada corrects Anti Salmon Farming Activist Alexandra Morton attempt to mislead the public about BC Salmon Farming Jobs.
Grant Warkentin Comment:
These numbers deserve a better explanation. Here it is.
The BC Stats calculation for Sport Fishing Jobs (8,400) includes guide jobs as well as a host of support and supply jobs. According to the report, it includes hotel jobs, fishing resort jobs, restaurant jobs, fishing store jobs, air and water transportation jobs in that total.
Clearly, sport fishing is an important part of the BC economy and creates many jobs as well as contributing $326 million to BC's GDP in 2011.
However, it is the only sector in the report that gets jobs calculated that way. Job calculations for other fisheries and aquaculture sectors are done directly: direct employment only.
Aquaculture directly employs 1,700 people and contributes $62 million to BC's GDP.
Capture fisheries directly employ 1,400 people and contribute $102.3 million to BC's GDP.
Fish processing (which handles both farmed and wild fish) directly employs 2,400 people and contributes $178 million to BC's GDP.
Given that fish processing handles both farmed and wild fish, it is perfectly fair for Nick Facey to say that aquaculture employs thousands of people.
These numbers do not take into consideration the support and supply service jobs which exist because of aquaculture. Welding services, divers, machine shops, boat repair, water transportation, netlofts and more. An industry snapshot prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers shows that salmon farming in B.C. directly and indirectly creates more than 6,000 jobs.
All of these jobs in all of these sectors are important to BC and all of these sectors can and do co-exist side by side. Pitting one sector against another is a false dichotomy.
Here's the full BC Stats report:
