How long has aquaculture been practiced in Canada?
Aquaculture is not a recent undertaking in Canada. Finfish aquaculture can be traced back to the 1850s when governments engaged in the incubation and hatching of different species of finfish and shellfish. By 1950, a network of federal and provincial hatcheries was producing approximately 750 million freshwater trout and salmon annually for wild stock enhancement and recreational fishing. Commercial aquaculture on began in Canada in the 1970s, and grew quickly throughout the 1980s. It is now a significant national contributor as a food product supplier and in economic and employment terms, directly employing approximately 6,000 Canadians, 95 per cent of who live in rural or coastal communities. Commercial marine finfish aquaculture operations in Canada began in the early 1980s. The industry evolved from a series of small local experiments on the east and west coasts, and now thrives with extensive operations in Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador
Aquaculture is not a recent undertaking in Canada. Aquaculture practices trace back to the 1850s when governments engaged in the incubation and hatching of different species of finfish and shellfish. By 1950, a network of federal and provincial hatcheries were producing approximately 750 million freshwater fish and fresh-water spawning fish annually for wild stock enhancement and non-commercial stock expansion. Aquaculture on a commercial basis first began in Canada in the 1970s, and grew quickly throughout the 1980s. It has now become a significant national contributor as a food product supplier and in economic and employment terms, directly employing approximately 6,000 Canadians, 95 per cent of which live in rural or coastal communities. Commercial marine aquaculture operations in Canada began approximately 25 years ago. It evolved from a series of small local experiments on the East and West coasts, and has become a thriving industry with extensive operations in Prince Edward Islan
