Marine Aquaculture in Canada: Well‐Established Monocultures of Finfish and Shellfish and an Emerging Integrated Multi‐Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) Approach Including Seaweeds, Other Invertebrates, and Microbial Communities

Worldwide aquaculture is among the fastest growing food sectors, accounting for nearly 50% of the total finfish and invertebrate production and 96% of the total seaweed production (Chopin 2014). Few jurisdictions can match Canada’s natural advantages—enormous coastal geography; abundance of cold and clean water; favorable climate; rich marine and fishery tradition; established trade relationships with the United States, Asia, and Europe; and a commitment to sustainable and responsible best practices. However, during the past decade, production has more or less stagnated (12% increase in volume and 4% in value since 2008; AquaStats 2012) and Canada has remained a middleweight contributor, ranking only 21st among aquaculture producing countries (Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance [CAIA] 2014). This overview of the marine aquaculture industry in Canada is based on statistics for the years 2012 and 2013, the most recent years for which complete statistics are available. There is also a developing freshwater aquaculture sector, but it will not be part of this article. In 2012, Canada produced 173,252 tonnes of farmed seafood valued at CAD$826 million. In 2013, 16% of Canada’s total fish production was in aquaculture products and accounted for 35% of its total value. Canada exported more than 65% of its aquaculture production to over 22 countries around the world (more than 90,000 tonnes valued at more than CAD$601 million; CAIA 2014; Fisheries and Oceans Canada [DFO] 2014). Canada’s primary farmed seafood export markets include the United States (more than 88,000 tonnes valued at more than CAD$576 million), Japan (CAD$11.3 million), Taiwan (CAD$3.6 million), Singapore (CAD$1.5 million), China (CAD$1.2 million), and Hong Kong (CAD$0.5 million; DFO 2014). Canada is the main seafood supplier to the United States. Other suppliers include China, Thailand, Indonesia, Chile, and Vietnam (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada 2010). Approximately 50% of these imports come from aquaculture (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 2013, 2014). Marine aquaculture operations in Canada are established in British Columbia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and Québec. The industry can be divided into three sectors: the dominant finfish sector, a strong shellfish sector, and the often ignored, but emerging, seaweed sector, mostly associated with the development of integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA; a combination of finfish, invertebrates, and seaweeds for environmental sustainability, economic diversification, and societal acceptability of aquaculture practices; Chopin et al. 2012).