As businesses around the world struggle to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, Badinotti finds itself positioned for growth. Over the last two years, the company was forced to redirect its effort toward building and implementing new processes and technologies to accommodate the challenges of pandemic life. As a result, Badinotti Canada has come out of it ready to grow and is already looking to expand its East Coast presence.

In these challenging couple of years, the company has learned to be adaptable and has developed a plan to be proactive going forward. “Adaptability is the biggest key strategy here as far as the amount of challenges we’ve faced during COVID and being able to pivot quickly and find ways around them,” says Director of Sales and Marketing Marc Halverson.

Although still headquartered in Campbell River, British Columbia, the company’s expansion to the East Coast is now underway, and it expects to establish a physical presence to grow there.

At well over one hundred employees, Badinotti has continued to expand its skilled team and there are no plans to slow down. “We’re looking at expanding not only our services, but our product lines and our overall strategies, and it is only going to become realized and possible with a bigger team,” says Halverson.

A common trend in organizations is to have employees wear many hats, which can be beneficial because it allows people to fill in for others or provide quality assistance as needed. However, the Badinotti leaders find that it can also prevent people from further developing their primary strengths. The solution to this problem is simply to have more people on staff and allow them to do what they are best at, rather than attempting to spread their talent too thinly across multiple specialties. This is part of the company culture at Badinotti, and it has resulted in more efficiency and better performance overall.

Many other factors help make Badinotti a great place to work for eager, young professionals. Halverson has had the experience of working with several manufacturers, ranging from multi-billion dollar companies to smaller privately-owned businesses. This well-rounded knowledge made it very clear to him that Badinotti was the right fit for him.

“From the moment I started with Badinotti, it’s been very apparent. It’s a great working environment; the people are listeners, and everybody’s open-minded. We’re not afraid to give our own two cents to an issue or a subject, but we also take in everyone else’s perspectives, helping us to get the best possible action or decision.”

When people are in a position to complete work they are passionate about, it keeps their morale and motivation high. It is a successful strategy because happy employees tend to stick around.

As the company has dealt with a particularly taxing last couple of years, Badinotti became even more firm in its commitment to be a considerate and supportive employer. “We’re very accommodating, completely understanding of people’s personal needs and how that translates into their work efforts and their performance,” explains Halverson. “Open lines of communication are important. I have always said to my team that there’s literally no subject that you can’t bring up to me.” The leaders have successfully created a positive and enjoyable workplace environment through transparency with their people.

Working at Badinotti is particularly exciting due to the innovative nature of its work in aquaculture. The company is looking forward to new and upcoming projects currently under development, and it is hoping to have a more formal announcement on these later this year.

There are two major challenges in the aquaculture industry: finding sustainable options to help cut costs in net washing services and sea lice mitigation. Dealing with sea lice is a new area for Badinotti, and the team is discovering innovative technology and strategies to help alleviate the problem. The issue is particularly troublesome on the East Coast, where these small but intrusive crustaceans are responsible for killing off millions of dollars of fish for Badinotti’s customers.

As far as net washing, Badinotti is looking at alternatives to reduce the costs of its services and finding new products to help increase the efficiency and longevity of its nets. The company is also focused on improving the reputation of the industry through more sustainable efforts.

“What the industry needs and what we’re trying to spearhead is an effort in being more sustainable in our materials and transparent with the public too. Among some groups there can be a negative connotation to fish farming and aquaculture in general. It may be perceived by these people as irresponsible action or environmental damage,” says Halverson. “So we’re trying to get in front of that and promote our industry as new and sustainable through the use of current efforts such as bio-based recycled fibres, systems that are easier to track and relocate if something happens on a site, eliminating debris, and also clear end-of-life strategies for equipment,” says Halverson.

The end-of-life strategy refers to how the materials and nets are handled when they need to be taken out of service and disposed of. Once the product’s usefulness has been reached, Badinotti offers to take back the material so that the customer does not have the burden of disposal. To improve sustainability in the industry, Badinotti then finds ways to recycle that material, rather than sending it to a landfill, which is the worst-case scenario for such a large product.

“Whatever we’re putting in the water, we want to make sure it comes out and doesn’t leave any sort of negative impact when it is in there. That means eliminating chemicals and degradation of any sort, so bio-based recyclable fibres are important, and then also being able to have a strategy to take the burden of that product off the hands of our clients when it’s done,” says Halverson.

Committing to the ongoing effort to improve the aquaculture industry’s environmental impact is an everyday endeavour at Badinotti. People are more impassioned than previous generations and are more willing to participate in helping to improve environmental behaviours than ever before.

“I think that if you have stereotypes or false perspectives on what it is that we do, it’s up to us to correct that misinformation, and the only way to do that is to be more transparent in what we are doing. So we’re meeting literally daily, on some level, regarding our sustainability efforts, and being more environmentally friendly,” explains Halverson.

Another reason that aquaculture is an exciting industry to be a part of, is that fish farming is one of the only scalable protein sources. The negative environmental impacts of red meat have been well documented, and one protein source that can be scaled up in production to feed people all over the world is fish. We are on a planet where water makes up almost three-quarters of its surface. There are more suitable locations to find protein in the ocean that will cause much less of an environmental impact, and Badinotti strives to increase awareness about fish as a more viable option as our population on planet Earth grows.

The team is excited to find innovative solutions to the new challenges in the industry such as sea lice. Already standing behind its significant industry improvements, the company will continue to move aquaculture and fish farming into the future as a quality, sustainable protein source. Halverson expects to see an uptick in demand for seafood and a larger presence of fish farming, especially as more of the environmental initiatives continue to show progress.

“We are changing the perception and being more open with what our effort is. We’re doing things that we believe are the best way to not only provide a source of food for the world, but we’re also doing it in the most environmentally responsible manner,” concludes Halverson. “One of our biggest focuses is getting some of these new developments and exciting new technologies out in the open, and we are convinced it will change what people think.”

The post Raising the Bar on Sustainability in Aquaculture<p class="company">Badinotti Net Services Canada</p> appeared first on Resource In Focus.

The pandemic’s ongoing uncertainty and upheaval has led to an array of issues for both employees and employers. So it’s no surprise that Managing Director, Brian Gooding wants to first address the challenges the company – and industry at large – is currently tackling.

“Right now, it’s dealing with employees and making sure they’re safe, making sure mentally they’re in a good spot,” he says.

“I’ve never seen this number of folks in EAP [Employee Assistance Program],” says Gooding. “And for a variety of reasons. Some people have shared with me that they’re in EAP and I say good for you. You’re brave, you’re a better person for using it. You need to talk to someone that’s a third party, so you have an objective view on things.”

The number of mental health-related issues popping up in the workplace is at a record high, he adds. People are extremely stressed for many reasons, whether from COVID, hyperinflation, or uncertainty about the future, and that now includes the long-term implications of the war in Ukraine.

“We’re having to deal with this in the workplace,” he says. “It’s great we have an EAP program to help us, but certainly one of the biggest challenges we’ve had is helping people going through some extremely stressful times.”

The direct impact of supply-chain issues and trying to obtain product of any sort right now is another stress for the industry at large.

“The number of hours I spend during the course of the week talking to vendors, whether it’s about prime raw materials or even tertiary products – that can have a direct impact on your productivity level,” Gooding says. “I’ve never seen anything like this in almost 40 years in the workplace, where every day you have a new twist coming at you. You simply have to deal with it. Then the general inflation we’ve seen, all costs have skyrocketed.”

Saeplast’s main raw material is polyethylene resin, the same material used to produce garbage bags, the price of which is up 150 percent from two years ago to levels Gooding has never seen before.

“We’re trying to keep people calm and focused,” Gooding says. “That’s a full-time job in itself. These are unique challenges in what the business world has had to endure.”

Despite the issues, the company – and its employees – have done an outstanding job at not being distracted by things they can’t control. He says his team’s resilience and how they’ve handled the ongoing adversity is admirable.

“I’m extremely proud of their creativity in finding other vendors and other ways of doing things. Whether it’s raw materials, a process, or when something has gone sideways on us, the team has done an excellent job at figuring out how to get things done.”

The sales team has also learned how to sell value-added products virtually, while still conveying Saeplast’s value proposition. “We’re not about price, we’re about value,” he emphasizes. “Our product is kind of a ‘show me’ product. Our containers are big, they’re bulky, they have to be shown to folks, which is how we did it prior to COVID.”

Early on, the company sought out and adopted certain best practices as it grappled with the constraints of the pandemic, practices which have included virtual sales calls instead of driving or flying for hours to visit a customer.

Saeplast’s frontline production workers have also done an outstanding job dealing with disruption to family lives, while still helping other teammates where possible. “We’re really proud of our people,” says Gooding. “What we’ve had to do to keep the business running has been nothing less than exemplary.”

This includes a readiness to pivot when a raw material that used to have a one- to two-week lead time is now out 12 weeks. Previously, Saeplast had only one source for one of its key raw materials; now it has four sourced globally.

“There’s been a lot of hard work, research, and negotiations to find other supply channels,” says Gooding, but adds that the company hasn’t once had to shut down due to material shortage, which Gooding attributes to Saeplast’s employees.

“They’ve done an outstanding job at finding unique places in the world for substitute products so we can continue to make the best products in the world. Creativity has been first and foremost.”

Despite ongoing challenges, Saeplast hasn’t changed the two key elements of its core strategy: volume growth and diversifying business across the food segment.

“Our legacy business has been around fish and seafood,” says Gooding. “Those markets are quite strong right now, but fish and seafood based on quotas in the trading areas we deal with in the Americas can expand and shrink.”

While the quotas have been strong, pricing for Saeplast customers has also been strong, and most of them have been in investment mode for the last couple of years. That, together with Saeplast’s efforts to bring new solutions to the marketplace, has meant good growth over that time. “We want to continue that and actually take it one or two levels beyond where we’re at today.”

Beyond growth and diversification, the company is looking at expansion as well. It’s running its plant 24/7 and has done so almost since the beginning of COVID.

“Business remains strong and will continue to be strong moving forward,” says Gooding, and he’s quick to add that what sets Saeplast apart from other companies in the industry is its ability to provide solutions. Where other companies provide a “show and tell” of their product, Saeplast has moved in a different direction.

“We’re not about products,” Gooding says. “We’re about solutions, trying to understand what keeps our customers up at night. And sometimes our customers don’t know what should be keeping them up at night. It’s our job to educate them on best practices and better ways of doing things.”

In that respect, he says, Saeplast has shown tremendous market leadership setting itself apart.

“We want to lead, and it’s about creating solutions in the market around food safety and sanitization,” he says. “How do we take cost out of the equation, and not by just simply cutting a price, but how do we do things better and smarter? How do we reduce business risk or food safety risk for customers? That’s what we’re about, and that’s the biggest difference between us and our competition.”

Because of that mindset, Saeplast gets to market faster, often defining what a market wants to look like and the sorts of products that define the market, he says. While you never want to take your competition for granted, Gooding stresses that Saeplast offers a far more collaborative approach as opposed to simply providing product quotes.

Saeplast also makes the most impact-resistant product that’s still inherently sustainable available on the market.

“Why do we know this? Because we test all our competitor’s containers and we see the imperfections in what they’re doing,” says Gooding. “We spend 100 percent of our time in the space we deal with. We aren’t making insulated tubs and containers one day and something unrelated the next. This dedication to continuously improving our products is a differentiator.”

To that end, Saeplast focuses solely on what it does, and does it well.

“We have competitors who one day might be making septic tanks and the next making insulated containers. We don’t delve into unrelated business. We focus on what we do and what our customers are doing. We are laser focussed on material handling solutions for the food industry.”

That focus on sustainability and durability means products that last a minimum of eight to ten years. “We have bins in use out there that are well over 20 years old,” Gooding says. “So inherently they’re sustainable. But is that good enough? No.”

Saeplast is now embarking on a program with a resin vendor to bring out a new generation of polyethylene resin with opportunities for even more sustainability, using less heat to form containers and thinner, lighter materials with less plastic.

“We’re doing a number of those things in our products now to have less of a carbon footprint,” Gooding says. “Smooth walls and the lack of indentations and nice radiuses in the corners allows our customers to use less water, sanitizer, and soaps. The trickle-down effect of that going down sewers supports the sustainability initiatives we’re trying to do.”

Whether customers request it or not, Gooding feels a strong responsibility to continually improve product stewardship. “We’re going down this road anyway because it’s the right thing to do,” he says. “People view our containers differently because they last so long, but that doesn’t absolve us from looking at better technologies and improved raw materials to make them lighter and stronger and last longer.”

That attention to eco-awareness extends to the plant itself, from insulating its walls to a recent LED-lighting upgrade that’s brought a significant drop in electricity consumption. The company’s also doing a major heat recovery project with the University of PEI’s fifth-year engineering students.

Whatever the company can do to reduce its carbon footprint and operating costs is an ongoing priority, says Gooding.

“We’ll always be focused on this,” he adds. “We want to do the right thing. If you think this business is about products, you’re so wrong. It’s not product focused. It’s solution based and it sets us apart from everyone in this space.”

The post The Polyethylene Pivot – Leading the Way to Sustainable Solutions<p class="company">Saeplast Americas</p> appeared first on Resource In Focus.

Far from being an ‘old school’ industry, the fish farming sector is innovative and forward-looking, says Atlantic Canada Fish Farmers Association (ACFFA) Executive Director Susan Farquharson. Cutting-edge technology is used to feed, monitor, and measure the growth of fish in underwater pens, and sustainability is a key focus for fish farms, which are less harmful to the environment than terrestrial (land-based) farms, she adds.

Headquartered in Letang, New Brunswick and industry-funded, the ACFFA was profiled in the June 2021 issue of Resource in Focus. The association operates a marine facility in Letang called the Limekiln Wharf Service Centre, advocates for members, and educates the public about the benefits of raising aquatic species for food in underwater farms (aquaculture).

The association currently has 81 members, whose ranks include “farmers, feed companies, pharmaceutical companies, a range of service providers, First Nations, and research organizations,” according to Farquharson.

Many member companies offer innovative products or services that can enhance revenue and the marine environment. With a touch of pride, she cites just a few member companies with futuristic solutions.

Among these is Innovasea, a Bedford, New Brunswick firm with 250 employees around the world. Innovasea specializes in advanced fish monitoring systems that incorporate sensors, artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, and high-resolution cameras. “Our integrated solutions deliver unprecedented insights into how your farm is operating—from measuring oxygen levels to ensure fish remain healthy to accurately estimating biomass to reduce feeding costs,” says Innovasea.

Another is Aquabyte. Based in San Francisco, Aquabyte has developed a “holistic software platform,” in its own words, that fish farmers can use to count sea lice, estimate biomass, and detect fish appetite, among other functions.

Skretting is another member company. This self-described “global leader in providing innovative and sustainable nutritional solutions for the aquaculture industry” boasts production operations in nearly twenty countries around the world. It produces over 2.5 million tonnes of fish food a year, made from aquatic and poultry meal, plants, and fish oil.

The ACFFA is eager to dispel myths and misconceptions about fish farming. Some critics claim, for example, that fish farms are overcrowded and unsanitary, filled with penned-in salmon that are stuffed with chemicals. In truth, salmon farming is highly regulated, sustainable, and eco-friendly, says Farquharson.

“Site assessments are conducted before any farm is established. There is environmental monitoring that is conducted as per regulations all the time. Cameras and computers are used when feeding the fish and to minimize feed waste,” she states. “We have the lowest antibiotic use of any protein producer. It is never used proactively and when needed it is overseen by a veterinarian.”

Government regulations stipulate that fish farms are subject to regular inspections. Also, “we fallow, just like terrestrial farmers.”

The ACFFA posts detailed information about fish farming on its website and social media platforms. The association also spreads the word about fish farming via media interviews, fish farm tours, and its annual fall forum. This event typically features lectures, seminars, networking, and presentations by industry experts, government officials, academics, and business leaders.

Due to COVID restrictions, the 2020 fall forum was conducted virtually. Last October, the association opted for a hybrid model, featuring online and in-person events, the latter taking place at the Huntsman Marine Science Centre in St. Andrews, New Brunswick. People who attended in-person events adhered to COVID health precautions, including social distancing. This blended forum drew 155 people, 88 of whom participated virtually.

“Health precautions dictated that we had to limit the number of people attending, so we went ahead with our first hybrid conference. It was good. Lots of different people attended; there was lots of new information, new technologies, innovation,” reports Farquharson.

Conference highlights included a presentation about the Inner Bay of Fundy salmon recovery project. This is a massive initiative involving the ACFFA, federal and provincial officials, First Nations, academics, and Parks Canada. The goal is to replenish depleted wild salmon stocks by raising wild smolts—salmon of intermediate age that can survive in saltwater—in customized ocean pens, then releasing them back to home waters.

“In 2021, the project released 1,500 salmon in the inner Bay of Fundy rivers. We saw over 110 salmon from previous releases return to the Fundy National Park and over 30 on the Petitcodiac River system from previous releases. The project is now being looked at in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland,” she says.

An online discussion by Dr. Martin Jaffa, a UK academic and conference guest speaker, was another highlight of the 2021 fall forum. Dr. Jaffa offered insights from an investigation he conducted regarding the decline of wild salmon catches in Western Scottish rivers. There has been speculation that fish farms on the western coast were to blame for the decline.

After reviewing data going back centuries, Dr. Jaffa noted that wild salmon numbers had also dropped on the east coast of Scotland, despite a lack of fish farms in the region. The doctor concluded that changing sea temperatures, predators, recurring natural events, and other factors were responsible for the wild salmon decline, not fish farms. His findings were published in the peer-viewed independent journal Aquaculture and Fisheries Studies.

The ACFFA is discussing what a 2022 fall forum will look like with an expected draft agenda available later this year.

“I think we’ll do a hybrid forum for the foreseeable future. We liked it. We learned that it allows many more people to participate from around the world. There were reduced costs for participants, and of course, we continue to do our part for climate change when you don’t have to put people on a plane or make them drive,” notes Farquharson.

The ACFFA will also be participating in the Aquaculture Canada and WAS America conference in St. John’s Newfoundland this August. WAS is the World Aquaculture Society.

“We plan to be there to support the conference and our members that are there. As with all conferences, it’s all about networking and exchanging information, and they always have a trade show which is different than our annual conference. We really focus on science and research and technology, so [the WAS conference] trade show component allows our supply sector to highlight their technologies and innovations,” she states.

The ACFFA shares valuable independent research in the salmon fishing industry. This includes a December 2020 study by Dr. Stefanie Colombo, assistant professor of Aquaculture at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, regarding the nutritional value of salmon.

“Six types of salmon were analyzed: farmed Atlantic, farmed organic Atlantic, farmed organic Chinook, wild Chinook, wild Pacific (pink) and wild Sockeye. Protein, fat, fatty acids, amino acids, potassium, iron, cholesterol, and mercury were analyzed,” Colombo wrote in a report published 2020 in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Research.

While wild salmon is often perceived to be healthier to eat than farmed salmon, Colombo discovered this simply is not the case.

“It’s really the species of salmon that makes the biggest difference in nutritional quality—not whether it was farm-raised or wild-caught, or whether it’s certified organic or environmentally certified,” said Colombo in a July 9, 2020, Dalhousie News story.

In her report, Colombo also observed that “for frequent consumption, farmed Atlantic salmon is an excellent option due to nutrient density, low mercury, affordability, and availability.”

Such positive conclusions, arrived at by an objective academic conducting an independent review, help bolster the credibility of the fish farming sector, says Farquharson. Similarly, each year the ACFFA commissions a polling company to query Atlantic based consumers about fish farming.

“We have consistently had an eighty percent approval rate for those polled in all four provinces. That’s a pretty good approval rate for any industry. So, I tend to believe that those people out there with misinformation and negative information are a very small group. Vocal, but small,” she says.

Into the future, Farquharson anticipates that the Atlantic salmon farming industry will “continue to innovate and grow,” with a need for “more employees in the area of science—computer, electrical, biology, chemistry.”

As for other benefits of fish farming, she highlights one final study, commissioned by the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy. Founded in 2018, the High Level Panel is a fourteen-country initiative that aims to manage the ocean sustainably.

The panel published its findings in a September 2019 report titled The Ocean as a Solution to Climate Change. According to the report, clean coastal and marine ecosystems, aquaculture, and ocean-based energy generation through wind, tidal, and wave-power all contribute to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

Aquaculture, fisheries, and a trend towards fish-based meals represent a shift “away from emission-intensive, land-based protein sources (e.g. red meat) towards low-carbon, ocean-based protein and other sources of nutrition,” reads the document.

So, in addition to jobs, revenue, and sustainable protein, fish farms contribute to improving the environment for everyone, says Farquharson.

The post High-Tech Tools and Innovative Strategies Guide the Fish Farming Sector<p class="company">Atlantic Canada Fish Farmers Association</p> appeared first on Resource In Focus.

Smith explains that there are key differences between aquaculture and fisheries. Whereas fishing is a large industry represented by ocean-caught fish and other seafood, aquaculture has to do with the practice of sea farming. This involves the raising of fish crops from egg to plate, much like a terrestrial farmer. Most farms in the province are family-run businesses and based in rural and coastal communities, to which the association strives to provide assistance in as many ways as possible.

The association provides industry support and advocacy, mostly through working with local and provincial governments as well as the aquaculture sector on regulations and a regulatory framework that serve to move the industry forward. As an example of this, he recounts that this includes attending community meetings about new farms being established throughout Nova Scotia. The association will regularly help with these types of meetings as well as getting out into communities and building public trust and social license around the province.

The AANS also runs many programs on behalf of both the industry and its members. The association has worked with the Atlantic Fisheries Fund to manage a financial assistance program for shellfish farmers. Using this, sea farmers can look to the AANS for funding support for expanding their businesses, infrastructure needs, and new technology developments.

The association also works with outreach projects like the recently completed, third annual Atlantic Canadian Oyster Export Café in New York City. Events like this help to introduce Atlantic oyster farmers to buyers, distributors, and restaurateurs on the eastern seaboard, a highly profitable market for sea farmers.

The aquaculture industry is no stranger to sweeping changes. In Nova Scotia, 2016 to 2017 was a time of major development, according to Smith, as a new regulatory framework for responsible and sustainable development of the province’s agriculture industry was introduced. The association works with its members to understand how these regulations impact aquaculture in Nova Scotia. The AANS also looks to provide advice on improvements that can be suggested to make the regulatory framework more efficient.

One way it supports this is through involved training programs that help farmers establish a farm management plan, which is a regulatory requirement in Nova Scotia. Nova Scotia farms now also require security bonds to protect against any business that shuts down and leaves behind ‘ghost gear,’ as unused farming equipment is known. The AANS has developed a program to support this requirement.

The association now offers a fund to clean up this gear. “We don’t want aquaculture to be the cause of any problems related to debris on coastal communities,” Smith says. These ongoing projects are of great importance, and work is continuing with both government and association members to work with local communities on this program as well as develop community beach clean-ups.

He notes that getting applications through the new regulatory framework is a time-consuming and detailed process, with work still being done to process applications more quickly. Resource-based industries such as aquaculture are experiencing challenges in access to labour, which concerns the association. Association members want to get the aquaculture message out to a wider population with attention paid to young people, visible minorities, and women. Aquaculture “is no longer low-paying manual labour jobs,” Smith assures. “These are good, high-paying jobs for farm managers and workers, researchers, biologists, and technicians.”

To aid this, the association launched a program in 2021 with the Nova Scotia Department of Labour, Skills, and Immigration to encourage new entrants to the industry and to have them stay in the province. The pandemic has also had a significant effect on the aquaculture sector due to restaurants and retail stores scaling back and decreased sales of seafood products outside of Nova Scotia. Smith reports that the industry seems to be coming out the other side with incredibly strong business; in fact, there is now a pent-up demand for good quality seafood farmed in the province. “We need more product in the water and access to new leases and expansions,” which is a key driver of recent initiatives within the sector, he says.

Those within the association are excited about where the aquaculture industry is headed, as it has grown from a roughly $55 million industry circa 2017 to an over $100 million industry some five years later. Smith notes that there are 146 active aquaculture leases active in the province currently, with more than 57 applications for new leases and expansion in development. There is a great deal of interest in investing in Nova Scotia and expanding the aquaculture industry. He mentions an exciting research project in Cape Breton that is examining growing sugar kelp on shellfish lines, a move that will look to increase biomass on these lines. The cultivated seaweed industry is still emerging, and he feels it will be important for aquaculture developments.

The association’s plans illustrate the kind of work the aquaculture industry is most focused on in 2022. First, further efforts will be made in devising a plan to engage Nova Scotians in what aquaculture means from the standpoint of attracting and retaining labour. Smith cites a recently conducted public opinion poll in December 2021 which indicates that residents of the province strongly favour both the aquaculture industry and the provincial government supporting the industry, recognizing the economic and social impact of the industry, especially for rural and coastal communities.

The association is developing strategies to highlight farmed seafood in the marketplace, as polling shows that not all people understand the different products farmed in the province. To change this, the association will be launching a campaign to identify the products and companies that farm seafood products in the province.

The AANS will also be working with the Nova Scotia Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture to produce the 2022 Nova Scotia Minister of Fisheries/Sea Farmers Conference this coming October 12 and 13, which will be held in person this year in Halifax. Speakers will be invited to speak about aquaculture and fishery development around the world, highlighting the importance that the seafood sector has for Nova Scotia’s future.

Smith sees nothing but growth on the horizon for an industry that has come to be recognized as a vital part of the region. “The opportunity for sea farming in Nova Scotia and Atlantic Canada is extremely strong. The opportunities going forward… will yield continued sector growth.” The Aquaculture Association of Nova Scotia will continue to help sea farmers in Nova Scotia through strong program development and mentor initiatives to support the growth they believe is building in Nova Scotia.

The post Helping Sea Farmers Meet Their Business Goals<p class="company">Aquaculture Association of Nova Scotia </p> appeared first on Resource In Focus.