St John's will host Canada's biggest aquaculture event in 20 years in August.

Salmon Scotland chief to open Canada's big aquaculture event

Tavish Scott, chief executive of Scottish salmon industry body Salmon Scotland, has been named as one of two plenary speakers at what will be Canada’s largest aquaculture conference and trade show in 20 years.

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The WAS North America & Aquaculture Canada 2022 event is the first joint World Aquaculture Society (WAS), Aquaculture Association of Canada (AAC) and Newfoundland Aquaculture Industry Association (NAIA) meeting, and combines science, business and technology.

The event will be held in St John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador (NL), from August 15-18, 2022, and the theme of the conference is Aquaculture: The Leading Edge of Food Production.

135 exhibitors

“This meeting will celebrate the progress and cutting-edge innovations that have led to the successes of the industry to date and that will propel it into the future – but also recognise the important challenges faced in many areas,” said John Cooksey, WAS conference manager.

“An excellent social programme is planned, and the meeting will include a trade show with over 135 exhibitors featuring the most up to date and state-of-the-art products and services that can be applied to aquaculture-related operations, services or research.

“The conference organisers and partners are looking forward to welcoming the aquaculture world to the ‘City of Legends’ this August.”

Salmon Scotland chief executive Tavish Scott and Dr Stefanie Colombo of Dalhousie University will be the speakers at the plenary session of WAS North America & Aquaculture Canada.

Species research

As well as Scott, Dr Stefanie Colombo, assistant professor at Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia, and Canada Research Chair (Tier II) in Aquaculture Nutrition, will speak at the plenary session that officially opens the conference.

Her work has included demonstrating that the nutritional content of a salmon is determined by what species it is, and not whether it is farmed or wild.

Deadline for abstracts

The programme sessions for the conference will be broad and topical, including those traditionally offered at WAS and AAC conferences, along with 36 special topics that are relevant, and timely, organisers said in a press release.

The conference will feature hundreds of world-class speakers and delegates. Those wishing to present at the conference must submit an abstract by June 1.  

St John’s is located on the most eastern edge of North America, is Canada’s oldest European settlement, and the region is home to some of the most ecologically interesting areas in the world. It is also home to internationally recognised centres in aquaculture and fisheries science, including Memorial University’s Fisheries and Marine Institute and Faculty of Science.