What are the origins of shellfish farming?
Today, aquaculture is a major food production industry that occurs throughout the world and includes a wide variety of species, products and culture techniques. However, aquaculture has taken place in Europe and Asia for centuries. Fish and shellfish have been an important part of the European diet for as long as man has been on earth. There are recordings of oyster culture in Prince Edward Island beginning in 1865, when the island government passed a statute providing for the leasing of specific areas for such an activity (Office of the Commissioner for Aquaculture Development). Shellfish growing has been practiced in British Columbia for at least 100 years. The first introduction of oyster seed was introduced in the Ladysmith Harbour , Boundary Bay and Esquimalt in 1903. Commercial shellfish farming in Canada began in the late 1970s. Commercial shellfish aqauculture evolved from a series of small local experiments on the East and West coasts of Canada , and has become a thriving indu
