Nova Scotia’s new aquaculture development strategy, released by the provincial government on Tuesday, may give closed-containment aquaculture a lift in the region.
Currently, the province’s CAD 45 million finfish- and shellfish-farming industry occurs predominately in pens along the coast, with salmon accounting for more than 80 percent of the industry’s annual revenues.
But the new strategy calls on the government to study the feasibility of closed-containment aquaculture, and CAD 60,000 is being put aside to do so. Currently, there are 20 land-based aquaculture facilities in Nova Scotia.
But moving the region’s aquaculture industry onshore is prohibitively expensive, costing farmers CAD 1.5 billion, in addition to the price of the land, reported the Chronicle Herald on Wednesday. That includes New Brunswick’s aquaculture industry, which is four times larger than Nova Scotia’s.
Thought the closed-containment study was met with some skepticism, overall the new strategy was supported by the region’s finfish and shellfish farmers, which they say will provide them with a framework to grow their businesses.
“We just have to look to New Brunswick and Newfoundland to see the kind of results that strategic planning can bring. Salmon farming has created 1,870 jobs in Charlotte County, New Brunswick, alone. An area once considered one of the poorest areas of the province is now one of the most dynamic. Newfoundland has seen the value of its industry rise by 50 percent in one year from CAD 60 million in 2009 to CAD 90 million in 2010,” said Pamela Parker, executive director of the Atlantic Canada Fish Farmers Association.
