While the European Union launches a continent-wide campaign to promote sustainable seafood farming, Ottawa continues to sideline Canada’s aquaculture sector, ignoring science, killing jobs, and risking food security.
By Fabian Dawson
SeaWestNews
The European Union has launched a sweeping new campaign to educate, engage, and energize its citizens on the growing role of aquaculture in the continent’s economic and ecological future.
Framing seafood farming as a pillar of food security and environmental resilience, the campaign, launched yesterday in Brussels, is a full-scale communication offensive aimed at changing hearts, minds, and dinner tables across Europe.
The continent-wide initiative, titled “Aquaculture in the EU: We work for you with passion” aims to reconnect citizens with one of Europe’s most promising yet underappreciated food production sectors, said Costas Kadis, EU Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans.
More than just promoting consumption, the campaign provides a deep dive into the many faces of European aquaculture from cutting-edge marine installations and recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) to integrated multi-trophic models and traditional finfish, shellfish and seaweed farms.
Developed in close collaboration with EU Member States and the Aquaculture Advisory Council, the campaign also aims to challenge ongoing misconceptions surrounding seafood farming, its environmental effects, and animal welfare.
The initiative directly addresses these issues with a suite of educational tools: engaging videos, immersive virtual tours, and interactive content that highlight the EU’s high regulatory standards for food safety, traceability, and sustainability.
Beyond information-sharing, the campaign reinforces aquaculture’s strategic importance to the economic vitality of rural and coastal communities. The sector is a key driver of employment, supports local supply chains, and helps breathe new life into regions grappling with population decline, states the EU.
Speakers at the campaign launch also called for aquaculture to be recognized as a central component of the European food system, particularly in light of the EU’s heavy dependence on seafood imports, which account for more than 70% of its consumption.
Over the next three months, the campaign will reach communities directly, with events planned in schools, markets, and community centres, as well as EU-wide industry fairs featuring local producers and stakeholders.
To illustrate the rich biodiversity of EU aquaculture, the species featured will include salmon, carp, gilthead seabream, trout, sea bass, mussels, clams, and oysters, as well as algae.
A dedicated, multilingual website serves as the campaign’s central hub offering an accessible, engaging portal into the world of European aquaculture. Designed with users of all backgrounds in mind, the site features fact sheets on key species, insights into regional production methods, and nutritional information.
A highlight of the site is its interactive map, where users can explore aquaculture hotspots across the EU, seeing firsthand how sustainable techniques are being implemented in various countries. Visitors can also dive into documentary-style videos that spotlight real farmers, showcasing their daily work, challenges, and the passion that fuels their profession.
The site outlines the strict EU rules that govern animal welfare, ecosystem protection, and traceability, ensuring consumers that the seafood on their plate meets the highest standards. A dedicated education section includes downloadable materials and classroom activities for students of all ages, aiming to inspire the next generation of aquaculture professionals.
Finally, the campaign confronts popular myths about aquaculture head-on, offering science-based facts and a clear, user-friendly FAQ to address lingering doubts.
With this robust digital platform and an on-the-ground presence throughout Member States, the European Commission said it is reaffirming its commitment to elevating aquaculture as a pillar of sustainable development, rooted in community, innovation, and a shared vision for a resilient food future.
This level of commitment and proactive support in Europe stands in sharp contrast to
Canada’s neglectful and punitive approach toward its own seafood farmers and aquaculture sector.
According to the Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance (CAIA), farmed seafood production in the country, which generates over $5.3 billion in economic activity and $2 billion in GDP, has plunged to its lowest level in a decade.
Government policies, driven by anti-fish farm activists rather than science, have weakened the nation’s domestic food production and impacted over 17,500 jobs, hitting small coastal communities the hardest, said CAIA.
CAIA said the 2023 Aquaculture Production Data shows Canadian farmed seafood production was 145,985 tonnes in 2023—the lowest level in a decade and 27% less than peak production levels in 2016 (200,804 tonnes).
In 2023, the total value of farmed seafood produced in Canada was $1.26 billion, a 25.3% decrease. Additionally, exports of Canadian farmed seafood have fallen to $882.8 million, the lowest value in real terms since 2015.
Canada’s farmed seafood production now lags behind the U.K. and U.S., while falling even further behind Norway and Chile, smaller nations that have sustained aquaculture growth through thriving farmed salmon industries.
The loss in overall production has deepened as a result of non-science-based and unnecessary federal government actions to reduce salmon production in British Columbia.
For years, the Federal Liberal government has sided with the anti-fish farming lobby, enforcing activist-driven policies that now threaten British Columbia’s economy.
It has dismissed scientific findings from government fisheries experts, which concluded that marine salmon farms in B.C. pose less than a one-percent risk to migrating wild stocks.
The government has now proposed a plan to ban all marine-based salmon farms in British Columbia by 2029.
As a result, B.C. faces the loss of 4,560 jobs, including over 1,000 held by Indigenous workers, while taxpayers could be on the hook for an estimated $9 billion in compensation to salmon farmers, suppliers, and First Nations.
(Main image shows Costas Kadis, EU Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans)