Aquaculture alliance rebrands to emphasise farming credentials

The Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance (CAIA) has rebranded as Canadian Seafood Farmers / Producteurs Aquacoles Canadiens.

The association said the name change reflects its alignment with all farming sectors across Canada and was unanimously approved by members at the annual general meeting earlier this week.

The new name comes as Canadian government makes economic resilience a central priority, and as food producers face a challenging trade environment. In British Columbia, that challenge is exacerbated by a vote-chasing decision by the Liberal-led federal government of Justin Trudeau to remove open-net pen salmon farms from the water by mid-2029. Hopes that the decision would be reversed by business-focused Prime Minister Mark Carney, who replaced Trudeau, have not yet been fulfilled.

'We're farmers, too'

“Aquaculture is agriculture, and our members are focused on responsibly growing, harvesting and processing Product of Canada seafood for grocery stores,” said association president and chief executive Timothy Kennedy.

“As Prime Minister Carney implements the new National Food Security Strategy, our farmers can grow more here, process more here, and put more Canadian seafood on Canadian plates.”

Globally, aquaculture farming now makes up 60% of the world’s total seafood consumption. Canadian Seafood Farmers said that given its expansive coastline, Canada has a window of opportunity to secure billions of dollars of ocean economy investment in aquaculture production and create thousands more full-time year-round jobs.

Economic benefits

“Generations of Canadians have been farming seafood, and they want to grow more of it here at home, which provides huge social and economic benefits to rural and urban communities given our massive supply chain depth into towns and cities,” said Joel Richardson, who is Canadian Seafood Farmers board chair and public relations chief at family-owned global fish farmer Cooke Aquaculture Inc., based in New Brunswick.

Canadian Seafood Farmers is seeking a positive path for BC salmon farming that’s based on science-based policy.

It also wants recognition of seafood farming as farming, and modern management of the shellfish sector.