Marine fish farming workshop

Description

Presently all Quebec mariculturists produce shellfish. The shellfish growing industry, which is still in a consolidation phase, is expected to become profitable shortly. In a context of increasingly limited resources, SODIM and MAPAQ occasionally receive funding requests for start-up of culture projects for Atlantic halibut, wolffish and even cod. Hence, they decided to convene a workshop to be attended by researchers, Atlantic promoters, shellfish growers and representatives of departments and agencies responsible for resource conservation or economic development in order to discuss the possibility of adopting marine fish farming as a development option for the maritime regions of Quebec. Winter flounder and wolffish are the marine fish species being studied by Quebec researchers. Elsewhere in the Atlantic, cod and halibut farming is in the precommercial stage. However, production of these species has run into such serious funding problems that their commercial future is in question. Elsewhere in the world, Norway, Iceland and Scotland have introduced initiatives aimed at the commercial farming of one or more of the following species: Atlantic wolffish, cod and Atlantic halibut. According to the presentations and discussions, the prevailing conditions in Quebec are difficult for raising marine fish, knowledge is not sufficiently developed to reduce the risk to a level that will attract the private sector, and funding for the development of fish farms of this type will largely have to come from government. However, the interest of the 70 or so participants was obvious. They also called for greater cooperation among stakeholders.

Program Name

Aquaculture Collaborative Research and Development Program (ACRDP)

Year(s)

2004 - 2005

Ecoregion(s)

Atlantic: Gulf of St. Lawrence, St. Lawrence Estuary

Principal Investigator(s)

Charley Cyr
Email: Charley.Cyr@dfo-mpo.gc.ca