December 17, 2013 — Few countries have as solid a national brand recognition in China as that enjoyed by Canada, yet the country may not be able to capitalize on demand in the country.
Cyr Couturier, director at the Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance told SeafoodSource that while his members are “getting a lot of interest” from Chinese buyers “a big problem is we can’t produce enough” to meet the demand. Canada’s aquaculture industry has “plateaued” at CAD 900 million (USD 848 million, EUR 616 million) per year. He blames an “antiquated regulatory regime” and said “this has meant we can’t grow the industry.”
Crucially, it remains difficult to get new sites for aquaculture. In British Colombia, opposition from the wild salmon lobby and anti-farming groups have stalled aquaculture growth. “The big challenge with salmon is we have to grow it…demand is there, salmon has gone from a top ten to a top three most consumed seafood product in a remarkably short space of time.”
As Couturier explains it, the Canadian seafood industry was valued at CAD 1 billion (USD 942 million, EUR 684 million) in 2001 and 2002 “but now we lost 40 percent of the salmon market because production has remained the same.” Rising Chinese demand for seafood is timely given the seafood market in North America has dipped in the past years, said Couturier, explaining that 2012 numbers were down a few years in a row. “Overall seafood consumption is down.” Marketing efforts by Canadian authorities in China means the Maple Leaf brand logo is instantly recognizable in China. But while China is proving a big customer but supplying the quantities required can be a challenge. “You can never supply what they want…it’s a volume challenge, particularly as we have existing customers also to supply.”