In-feed lice treatment developer joins aquaculture accelerator programme
Innovation Studio is first to be held in Atlantic Canada
A company that is developing an in-feed treatment for farmed salmon is one of 10 taking part in the first-ever Innovation Aquaculture Studio to be launched in Atlantic Canada.
Prince Edward Island-based EVAH Atlantic is a subsidiary of Montreal-headquartered biotechnology company EVAH, which secured a US patent for the treatment last year. According to an article on EVAH’s website, the novel solution has demonstrated consistently high efficacy of more than 99% on all stages of lice in tank trials.
The treatment is now undergoing field trials.
From ideas to investment
The Atlantic Canada Aquaculture Studio, which launched in St John’s, Newfoundland, this week, brings together 10 early-stage aquaculture, aquatech, and marine biotechnology companies from across the region to help transform promising technologies into investable, market-ready businesses.
Run by Hatch Blue with Oceans Advance, the nine-month programme has support from the Government of Canada through the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and Canada’s Ocean Supercluster, together with the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. The programme begins with a two-week intensive in St John’s before continuing with structured support throughout the year. Participation is free, and no equity is taken.
The companies taking part are:
● Smallfood (Nova Scotia) – precision-fermentation company producing protein- and DHA-rich microalgae biomass as an aquaculture feed ingredient, offering a replacement for fishmeal and fish oil.
● Atlantic BioCorp (Newfoundland and Labrador) – developing a pigmented protein feed additive from Northern shrimp biomass as a natural alternative to synthetic astaxanthin, the pigment behind farmed salmon’s colour.
● EVAH Atlantic (Prince Edward Island) – developing in-feed treatment for sea lice in farmed Atlantic salmon, now in field trials.
● Acuicy (Nova Scotia) – a climate-fintech software platform that turns aquaculture operators’ asset-level emissions data into costed decarbonisation pathways, modelling CAPEX, payback and savings.
● Clean Valley (Nova Scotia) – an algae biofilter that treats wastewater from land-based aquaculture, absorbing nutrients from farm effluent while producing algae that can be reused, including as oyster feed.
● Mekapisk EnviroBlu Solutions (Newfoundland and Labrador) developing a water-based, biodegradable, non-corrosive industrial cleaner and degreaser for marine, energy and industrial sectors, with aquaculture as an emerging application.
● FinLeaf Technologies (Nova Scotia) – converts solid waste from land-based aquaculture into phosphorus-rich biostimulant fertilisers for crop growers
● NL Marine Organics (Newfoundland and Labrador) – biorefines liquid fish-hydrolysate fertiliser from aquaculture mortality and wild fish processing waste, stabilised close to source by dockside ensiling.
● HoldfastNL (Newfoundland and Labrador) – produces kelp-based liquid agricultural biostimulants from cultivated sugar kelp.
● BioLabMate (Newfoundland and Labrador) – converts seaweed into thermoplastic bio-resins that replace petroleum-based plastics in laboratory and medical consumables such as weigh boats and tube racks.
Forum for business
The studio closes with Innovate Aquaculture: the solutions shaping the future - an invitation-only forum on July 23 in St John’s.
It is intended to bring the people driving the sector’s future into the same room: producers across salmon, shellfish, and the wider value chain, the feed and technology companies supplying them, the investors backing the sector, and the early-stage ventures shaping what’s next.
The morning features keynote speakers, a panel on Atlantic Canadian aquaculture innovation, and a showcase where the 2026 Studio companies present what they're building.
Those who wish to attend can register their interest here.
