October 18, 2005

USDA: Canada fishery products annual 2005

Canada's total commercial catch of fish and seafood during 2004, excluding marine plants and roe, was 1,102,109 metric tons live weight, up 3.2% from the 2003 level of 1,068,345 metric tons.  All of the increase was reflected in the groundfish catch while the pelagic and other finfish catch declined 4 percent.  Canadian shellfish production was virtually unchanged from the year earlier level. 

After ten consecutive years of production increases, total Canadian aquaculture production in 2003 (most recent data) fell to 155,634 metric tons, down almost 10% from 171,796 metric tons a year earlier.  

Among single country markets, U.S. exports of fish and seafood to Canada in 2004 at $647 million ranked second to Japan ($1.0 billion) and accounted for 18% of the total value of U.S. worldwide fish and seafood exports of $3.5 billion.

The U.S. share of the Canadian import market for fish and seafood remained steady at 43% during 2004 but during the first seven months of 2005, the Canadian import market for fish and seafood has shown weakness with reduced imports from most countries including the United States. Of major supplying countries, only China increased exports to Canada during the January to July period of 2005.

Canadian processors are significant importers of U.S. fish and seafood.  Many Canadian processors source raw product in the United States for further processing into value-added products for both the domestic and export market.

For the full USDA report, click here.