From its base in Halifax, the Aquaculture Association of Nova Scotia (AANS) operates across the province “from Yarmouth to Cape North, Cape Breton, and all points in between,” according to association Executive Director Tom Smith. The not-for-profit, membership-based industry trade group was founded in 1977 by a volunteer group of sea farmers. Today, it represents over 95 percent of all aquaculture farming in Nova Scotia across three sectors: finfish such as salmon, trout, and striped bass; shellfish such as oysters, mussels, clams, quahogs, scallops; and sea plants such as sugar kelp.