Aquaculture is the fastest growing agri-food industry in Canada.
The earliest attempts to manipulate fish stocks by transferring salmonids between rivers and streams date back to Aboriginal peoples. However, the first detailed aquaculture records in Canada come from 1857.
Oyster farming began in 1865, when the first statute for the lease of specific areas for this purpose was approved and it was not until 1970 that mussel farming began in the Atlantic region.
Currently aquaculture is developed in rural and coastal areas and this has contributed to strengthening the local economy. Fish production accounts for 75% of aquaculture activity in Canada, 87% of farmed fish being salmon. Regarding the aquaculture of crustaceans and molluscs in Canada, it is concentrated in mussels, oysters and clams, with mussels representing 50% of the production.
Prince Edward Island is the main producer of farmed mussels and the rest are located in three Atlantic provinces.
Canadians themselves control 98% of aquaculture companies. However, Canada’s competitive position in recent years has been deteriorated by a weak regulatory system of incentives and the arrival of new regulations to reduce plastic pollution.
In 2018 Canada spearheaded the Ocean Plastics Charter under the chairmanship of the G7.
The motto was: “The health of our oceans is critical to reducing climate change, growing economies, supporting coastal communities, and protecting ocean biodiversity and ecosystems. Plastic pollution knows no borders and requires global action ”.
To achieve its international commitments under the Ocean Plastics Charter, Canada is implementing ambitious national measures to achieve 0 plastic waste by 2030.
Canada continues to this day its fight to curb the pollution caused by the use of plastic and has currently declared it a toxic element under Canada’s primary environmental law, the Environmental Protection Act.
According to Max Liboiron, an expert on plastic waste, recycling has never worked. Only 9% of waste is recycled and therefore it is time to find other sustainable solutions to this problem.
In this sense, Ecoplas, thanks to its strong commitment to the environment, is facing an excellent opportunity to publicize our different sustainable alternatives, our wide variety of meshes and other products designed to meet the needs of aquaculture in Canada in all its extension.
Today, the aquaculture industry in Canada is still comparatively new and with the emergence of sustainable solutions it has great potential for future growth.