MANDATE

The BC Salmon Marketing Council is a provincial marketing council formed in 1991 under the BC Farming & Fishing Industries Development Act. We are an industry representation organization funded primarily through a levy on salmon harvesters and government programs. Our mandate is to benefit and promote the wild salmon industry and to communicate to national and international markets the quality, availability and value of wild BC salmon.

If you’ve determined that climate change is real, you ought to be thinking about how food production figures in the future. While climate change is negatively impacting food production, food production is also among the leading contributors to global warming and has more influence on climate change than global electricity and heat generation. The production of livestock and poultry alone account for more greenhouse gas emissions than ships, planes, trucks and cars put together. Agriculture and livestock production also accounts for the bulk of freshwater use and, as a consequence of the clearing of forests and grasslands, is the largest contributor to habitat and biodiversity loss on the planet. 

By comparison, deriving food from the ocean generally has a lower impact on climate than land-based agriculture, and is not limited by the same land and water constraints. Wild capture fishing like that which we do in the BC commercial salmon fishery, also doesn’t require feeding, antibiotics or agrichemicals. As a consequence, researchers are increasingly proposing policies to promote seafood diets as a substitute for other animal proteins to improve food security, help address climate change, and maintain or increase nutritive value. 

We made this point in a recent meeting with the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, and she seems to share our view that the ocean is a critical source of low-carbon food and key in our fight against climate change. By working with nature (rather than against it) and transitioning to more sustainable practices, our commercial salmon fishery is positioned to be a leading solution for climate-resilient food production.

Like the rest of the BC commercial salmon fishing industry, the BC Salmon Marketing Council has to chart a course in the face of this opportunity and the challenges placed on the resource by weather extremes and habitat degradation. Although we may face challenging times ahead, there is a promising future on the horizon. This optimism arises from our increasing understanding of the enhanced returns resulting from investments in salmon resource rehabilitation and management. We need only look to the Somass fishery on the south coast and the Skeena sockeye returns on the north coast as evidence of the possibility of stock health and recovery.

Our team, led by Steven Richards, have become very adept at doing a lot with little. We thank them for their perseverance and look forward to a future where our salmon runs are so abundant that they are more than adequately resourced to do that all important work of advocating for our fishery and marketing our fish.

Dane Chauvel, Chair
BC Salmon Marketing Council

Welcome to the BC Salmon Marketing Council’s annual report.

2022 should have been a banner year for the commercial wild salmon fishing industry as it was the 4-year cycle year for sockeye. However, limited opportunities, especially on the south coast, surprised and disappointed many in the industry.

There were however, sufficient openings (primarily Seine and Gillnet) elsewhere to catch over 1 million sockeye with a total estimated landed value of approximately $17m.

Although the season didn’t generate the revenue we had hoped, it did allow us to explore some great collaborations and an opportunity to work cooperatively with other fisheries, retailers and interested industry players.  

For example, we participated in YOUR NATION’S TABLE, a series of television shows initiated by Zoomer Media/JOY TV and sponsored by ourselves and five other fisheries (Sablefish, Crab, Halibut, Prawn and Geoduck). This series profiled the fish and fishery with video of the actual fishing and commentary on sustainability, health, economics and a Chef demonstrating appetizing dishes. 

Collaborations provide a broader audience, consistent messaging and a distributed cost structure that allows limited resources to go further. This year it  clearly demonstrated the potential value of all BC wild caught fisheries coming together as a BC SEAFOOD MARKETING COUNCIL as fisheries do in eastern Canada, Alaska and New Zealand.

Throughout the year, we ‘stayed the course’ by ensuring a stable and consistent brand presence for Wild BC Salmon and by profiling our fishermen sharing their stories of resilience and innovation. We secured government (BUY BC) funding to support our collaborations. We shared our amazing content, through strategic social media and advertising campaigns, including our marketing resource website with free, high-quality imagery, video, recipes and other unique marketing content.  We supported retailers with merchandising and promotional materials and again hosted the annual WILD SALMON CELEBRATION, an event that has become a highlight of the season for restaurants and consumers alike.  

Putting faces on fishermen, telling their stories, and understanding where your food comes from was a key part of our social media messaging. As you look through our report, you will see the value of our work and how it resonates with consumers. Through a government mandated levy on harvesters, a very small investment from salmon fishermen benefits the entire industry and all its participants.

I want to thank and acknowledge our marketing, social media and administrative team of Lisa Simonsen, Christine Nielsen and Leslie Budden without whose creativity and energy, this would not have been possible. I would also like to thank Council and Management Committee for their continued support of me.

I hope you find the Annual Report informative and useful in better understanding what we do. As always, we welcome your feedback on how to make things even better.

Steven Richards
Managing Director 

The Council delivers on its mandate through brand development and promotion, industry engagement, advocacy, consumer awareness and education and financial stability. Explore our interactive website and visit us on social media to get a closer look! 

The Council’s Strategic Plan provides our Mission and Purpose and identifies 6 key objectives.

Objective 1: Brand Development & Promotion
Our trademarked Go Wild! BC Salmon brand is the foundation of how we add value to wild BC salmon products. Through powerful images and messaging, our brand captures the story of BC’s hard-working commercial salmon fishermen, a vibrant and sustainable fishery, and the highest quality salmon products in the world. Through a variety of vehicles including retail promotions, celebrity chef partnerships, web and social media and even our own signature event, we deliver the brand with passion domestically and internationally 12 months a year. 

Objective 2: Industry Engagement
Through targeted emails and newsletters, we aim to keep fishermen and processors informed on what the Council is doing on their behalf to enhance the economic value of the fishery. Constructive feedback is always welcomed as we try to meet the needs of a complex fishery in a highly competitive market.

Objective 3: Consumer Awareness & Education
We provide consumers with new ideas, recipes, stories, product and education - all designed to build brand awareness and loyalty to the Go Wild! BC Salmon brand. We do this through our updated and interactive website, targeted email, event promotion and collaborations.

Objective 4: Advocacy
We protect and defend the sustainability and quality pillars of the Go Wild! BC Salmon brand and support fair access to the resource for our fishermen through active participation in industry issues and campaigns.

Objective 5: Financial Stability
We ensure the ongoing financial health of the Council through prudent financial management and policy development.

Objective 6: Effective Governance
All of our efforts are enhanced with the active participation of Council members who create and review the foundational structures and processes that allow the Council to fulfill its mandate and mission.

BUDGET PERFORMANCE
Actual revenues for the year ending March 31, 2023 were $56k less than budgeted, primarily due to very disappointing net levy revenues. This reflects the ongoing trend of fewer commercial opportunities. Total expenditures for the year were $11k under budget reflecting $10k in reduced administrative expenditures.

COMPARED TO PREVIOUS YEAR
While levy revenues were higher than prior year, they were not as high as budgeted and disappointing given that it was 4 year cycle high for sockeye. Total expenditures were $22k higher than prior year reflecting increased spending of government funding. Administrative expenditures were managed carefully and finished the year approximately $3k higher than prior year.

BUY BC FUNDING
The Council was successful in its application to the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC and received a grant of almost $48k. IAFBC is an industry led, not for profit that delivers government funded programs to the agriculture and agri-food sector of BC. The provincial support was instrumental in our ability to provide continuing and responsible marketing support to the commercial salmon fishermen of BC. All reporting has been satisfactorily completed.

SPECIAL PROJECTS
There were no expenditures from the special projects residual funds and there continues to be a liability balance of approximately $18k

As 2022 was the 4 year cycle high for sockeye, we had great hope for solid returns and reasonable revenues. Limited opportunities yielded limited revenues. The Council’s ongoing challenges with respect to low revenue is expected to continue in the 2023 season but offset to some extent with the hope of BUY BC funding. 

In February 2023, we met with the BC Minister of Agriculture, the Honourable Pam Alexis. We presented our vision for a consolidated BC seafood marketing presence. We highlighted examples from the international, national and even local marketing worlds where marketing is delivered using a multi-species model. We provided the benefits of such a scenario and we look forward to working with department officials to explore the concept of a broader mandate in greater detail.

For the 2023 – 2024 fiscal year, administration is recommending to Council that we continue our marketing efforts with a focus on collaborations and maintaining a strong social media presence to ensure Wild BC Salmon continues to be seen as the premium product of choice. Priorities are set out in the table below.

MARKETING PRIORITIES

• Continue collaborations with retailers and provide useful support to empower the brand.

• Continue our collaboration with the Chefs’ Table Society and sponsor an in-person event.

• Deliver exciting and dynamic social media that informs and engages.

• Selectively support events that profile our brand and build sustainability.

• Be proactive and responsive to topical advocacy issues.

MANAGEMENT PRIORITIES

• Ensure accountable use of accumulated surplus to support operations on an ongoing basis.

• Maintain management stability and effective governance.

• Ensure responsible program delivery.

• Work with government and other fisheries in a more fulsome discussion about the benefits of a BC Seafood Marketing Council.

• Continue to engage industry in program delivery.

Download a PDF of this annual report