Seafood sector looks to innovation and new markets amid global trade shifts
While Nova Scotia’s seafood sector remains one of the province’s leading economic drivers, continued support for a number of ongoing and innovative programs will be required to sustain its growth.
In its recent budget, the provincial government announced it will invest $1.6 million this year as part of a $4-million, three-year commitment aimed at expanding market diversification initiatives. The investment includes the launch of a market diversification funding program for seafood and agri-food products.
The province also plans to allocate $1.5 million toward the creation of an innovation hub designed to accelerate growth and improve productivity within Nova Scotia’s seafood sector. The hub is expected to provide industry development services as well as scientific supports tailored to the needs of the sector.
Edison Skinner, spokesperson for the provincial Department of Fisheries and Agriculture, said in an email, “The innovation hub will provide industry driven development services, applied research and science supports for our seafood sector.
“The hub’s strength will be in partnership, bringing industry experience together with scientific and technical expertise to support growth, product development and market diversification.”
He said, “The hub will be administered and delivered by Perennia. Perennia is a provincial development agency with the mission to support growth, transformation and economic development in Nova Scotia’s agriculture, seafood and agrifood sectors. The department will be working closely with Perennia and the Centre for Marine Applied Research, Perennia’s applied research division, to shape the delivery model for the hub. The launch timeline is still being determined and we’ll have more to share as the delivery model is finalized.”
Kris Vascotto, executive director of the Nova Scotia Seafood Alliance, said the organization is still seeking clarity on how the proposed hub will function and how it could affect the shore-based sector.
“We are waiting to understand what is meant by the innovation hub, how it may impact the shore-sector and how the industry can contribute to its success,” Vascotto said in an email.
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In the meantime, he added that the Alliance welcomed the recognition the sector received in the provincial budget.
“We were pleased that the value of the fish and seafood sector to the provincial economy was well recognized in the budget and that it recognized the success of the industry in responding to the changing global economic climate,” he said.
Vascotto emphasized that continued efforts to expand export markets are critical to the long-term stability of the industry.
“Continued support of ongoing efforts to diversify markets for our fish and seafood markets is imperative to making the Nova Scotian economy resilient to the ongoing global turmoil. In short, we need to sell our products to more markets to maintain prosperity of the harvesters and the shore-based industries that support the communities they call home. At the same time, we need to make sure we are servicing global consumers with products they want in the form that they want to consume them. These allocations will help to support that development.”
Despite ongoing political and tariff tensions involving the United States, Vascotto noted the country remains Nova Scotia’s largest seafood customer.
“The U.S. is the largest customer of Nova Scotian seafood and the introduction of tariffs for the short period in March represented a profound disruption of a long-standing and stable trade relationship. Even though those tariffs were lifted in fairly short order, it did force the industry to begin looking abroad at other potential customers. The imposition of the Chinese tariffs a few weeks later magnified this diversification activity,” he said.
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Looking ahead, Vascotto said industry members are preparing for potential changes related to the upcoming renegotiation of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement.
“We realize the uncertainty around the renegotiation of CUSMA (Canada, U.S. Mexico, Trade Agreement) and members are actively trying to identify other markets for our products. Developing new markets takes time and isn’t achieved overnight, but the foundation is in place and members are working to build those markets.”
