Canada Names New Aquaculture Leaders as U.S. Races Ahead on Seafood Farming

Canada’s farmed seafood production has fallen to a decade low, even as the United States advances national legislation to expand aquaculture for food security and coastal growth.

By Fabian Dawson
SeaWestNews

Canada has a new aquaculture leadership team at a moment of crisis and opportunity, just as the United States moves aggressively to expand seafood farming while Ottawa remains mired in policy deadlock driven more by activist pressure than marine science.

At the very time global demand for sustainable seafood is rising, and coastal Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities are calling for long-term marine livelihoods, Canada’s aquaculture output has dropped to its lowest level in a decade.

“With over half of the world’s seafood coming from aquaculture farming, Canada needs to get on board and support further responsible development of this food sector to attract investment, create jobs and increase trade,” said Joel Richardson, the re-elected chair of the Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance’s (CAIA) executive committee.

“Science shows that well-regulated marine farms have a small environmental footprint and have the lowest carbon footprint of all animal production in the world. Seafood farms must co-exist and indeed support wild species protection and recovery. We’re committed to this,” Richardson said in a statement.

Others on CAIA’s 2025-2026 Executive Committee are Jennifer Woodland (Vice-Chair), Grieg Seafood BC Ltd., Cyr Couturier (Treasurer), Marine Institute, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Mia Parker (Secretary), Mowi Canada West, Elizabeth Barlow (Member-at-Large), Grieg Seafood Newfoundland, Steve Langley (Member-at-Large), Atlantic Aqua Farms Ltd., Gordon McLellan (Member-at-Large), Mac’s Oysters Ltd., Vicki Savoie (Member-at-Large), Cermaq Canada and Trevor Stanley (Member-at-Large), Skretting North America.

In addition, CAIA’s new Board members include Dave Conley (Aquaculture Communications Group, ON), Terry Drost (Four Links Marketing, NB), Britta Fiander (Genome Atlantic, NS), Jonathan Gagné (Entreprises Shippagan, NB), Savanna Higgins (Ontario Aquaculture Association, ON) and Vicki Savoie (Cermaq Canada, BC).

CAIA, which speaks for the nation’s seafood farmers, said it members generate over $5.3 billion in economic activity, $2 billion in GDP, and employ over 17,550 Canadians delivering a healthy, growing and sustainable seafood farming sector in Canada.

Its latest production and trade data reports that the nation’s farmed seafood production, has plunged to its lowest level in a decade, as a result of “non-science-based and unnecessary federal government actions to reduce salmon production in British Columbia.”

To restore confidence and competitiveness in Canada’s aquaculture sector, CAIA has tabled  five immediate reforms for federal policymakers, as the Mark Carney government plans to release its long-awaited first budget early next month. They include;

• Science-Based Pathway for B.C. Salmon Farming
  CAIA urges Ottawa to replace the planned 2029 shutdown of B.C. salmon farms with a performance-based regulatory model. The group warns that the current ban, deemed scientifically unnecessary, would erase over 6,000 jobs and $1.4 billion in private investment by 2050, while dismantling the province’s largest agri-food export sector.
• Reassessment of Marine Protected Areas in Newfoundland
  The alliance is calling for a redesign or withdrawal of the proposed South Coast Newfoundland NMCA, arguing that marine conservation planning is proceeding without full economic impact analysis. The region supports up to $282 million in seafood exports and thousands of coastal jobs, which CAIA insists must be considered under a multi-use approach rather than exclusionary closures.
• Modernization of the Canadian Shellfish Sanitation Program (CSSP)
  With shellfish now making up nearly one-quarter of national aquaculture output, CAIA says outdated regulatory capacity is stalling growth more than environmental limits. It is requesting that Ottawa double CSSP funding to expand testing, accelerate site approvals and allow accredited third-party labs to support federal agencies.
• Transfer of Aquaculture Development to Agriculture Canada (AAFC)
  CAIA argues that aquaculture must be treated as food production and placed under Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, not managed solely as a fisheries issue under DFO. Generating over $1 billion in annual farm-gate sales and supporting 17,500 jobs, the sector would gain access to innovation programs, farm supports and national agri-food strategy frameworks through AAFC.
• Business Risk Management (BRM) Insurance for Shellfish Farmers
  To protect small and family-run marine farms from climate and environmental shocks, CAIA is proposing a pilot BRM insurance program in Prince Edward Island. Unlike land-based farmers, shellfish producers currently have no federal safety net, placing them at a competitive disadvantage with U.S. growers who gained USDA-backed insurance in 2024.

While Canada’s aquaculture sector is pleading for stability, science-based regulation and recognition as a critical food industry, lawmakers in the United States are moving fast to build a national framework to accelerate seafood production.

On October 14, U.S. Representatives Mike Ezell, Ed Case, Kat Cammack and Jimmy Panetta introduced the bipartisan Marine Aquaculture Research for America (MARA) Act of 2025, legislation designed to unlock commercial-scale open ocean aquaculture in federal waters.

“This bill puts the U.S. on a path to food security, environmental stewardship, and coastal economic development. Offshore aquaculture, when done responsibly, holds enormous potential to feed more people, create jobs, and protect wild fisheries. The MARA Act gives us the tools to lead the world in sustainable seafood production,” Rep. Ezell said.

The United States has already reached the sustainable limit of its wild-capture fisheries and now imports most of its seafood, half of which comes from foreign aquaculture. Without a domestic framework, the U.S. ranks just 18th globally in seafood production. The MARA Act directly addresses this deficit by creating a dedicated Office of Aquaculture within NOAA, streamlining federal permitting, setting clear review timelines and funding workforce training to build a new generation of American aquaculture professionals.

(Main image shows Joel Richardson, the re-elected chair of the Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance’s (CAIA) executive committee)