Newfoundland aquaculture doing fine
With strong support from most government agencies, the eastern provinces in Canada have enjoyed a favourable environment for the growth of the aquaculture industry. This growth scenario has been particularly demonstrated in Newfoundland, despite some setbacks due to the isolation at some salmon farms of the Infectious Salmon Anemia (ISA) virus, and the subsequent government-ordered destruction of stocks.
The NAIA Executive Director was recently quoted by VOCM Local News Now about this year’s results:
The Aquaculture Industry employs about 1-thousand workers full time and another 1-thousand workers part-time in about a dozen communities in rural Newfoundland, which is their main source of employment. The production value this year is about 200-million dollars (~€ 136.7 million), up from about 120-million in 2012 for salmon, trout and mussels. Executive Director, Cyr Couturier, says the salmon sector is worth about 187-million dollars (~€ 127.8 million) this year compared to 120-million last year, and the mussel industry is worth about 20-million dollars. He says the industry can't keep up with the demand for mussels and 2014 should be even better.
Couturier says some of the main challenges in growing the industry is the demand for more infrastructure like wharves, roads, processing and the need for more service in the supply sector. He stated, the Aquaculture Association is looking at increased production for the next 4 or 5 years, but at a somewhat slower pace.
