A Cross‐Sectional Analysis of Costs of Farming Atlantic Salmon (Salmo Salar)

Abstract

Commercial aquaculture, the cultivation of fish in managed systems, has received increasing attention in recent years as an alternative source of fish, employment and income. High value species particularly offer a better prospect of profitable farming. For example, Atlantic salmon, which is one of the more expensive species on the market, is now being farmed in Norway, Scotland, Canada, the United States, and several other countries. Norway has made rapid progress in Atlantic salmon aquaculture; farmed salmon have now replaced cod as her principal export species. In the opinion of some observers, Norway' s success in farming the Atlantic salmon is the most significant event in the history of European aquaculture (United States Department of Commerce, 1984).Commercial aquaculture in Canada is still in its initial stage of development, but recently there has been increased interest in aquaculture as a means of generating incomes and jobs, and of acquiring technological expertise. The Science Council of Canada has urged a commitment towards commercial aquaculture; it cites Norwegian aquaculture that by the year 2000 could be producing fish worth U.S. $3 billion and be employing 50.000 people (Science Council of Canada 1985). In Canada, farming of Atlantic salmon is expanding rapidly on both east and west coasts. Canada' s output of farmed Atlantic salmon reached 174t in 1984 and is forecast to reach 1,200t by 1987, with a further immediate potential on the east coast of 2.000–3,000t. On the west coast, more than a million Atlantic salmon eggs have been imported for hatching and for cultivation in sea pens. The number of Atlantic salmon farms on the west coast is projected to more than double by the end of 1986.