Canadian Aquaculture R&D Review 2013

Introduction

Welcome to the fifth edition of the biannual Canadian Aquaculture R&D Review. The review is an ongoing compendium of the aquaculture research and development projects that have been underway over the past two years from all across Canada. The review contains over 220 project descriptions detailing an impressive range of topics, disciplines, species and geography. Projects include marine and freshwater species, and range in topic from fish health, production, husbandry technology, nutrition, integrated multi-trophic aquaculture, environmental interactions, and more.

This is the second issue of the review that has been produced by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) in partnership with the Aquaculture Association of Canada (AAC). This partnership is ideal, highly relevant, and mutually beneficial to our roles in the area of knowledge mobilisation at both the AAC and DFO. This collaboration has allowed us to produce this 2013 edition as an AAC Special Publication.

Since the beginning of the 21^st century, aquaculture has played an increasingly important role in human nutrition, with aquaculture products now heavily involved in the food distribution chain. Development of responsible aquaculture not only presents biological, technological, and environmental challenges, but also requires inter-sectoral approaches where the economy, the legal system and the broad area of social sciences are increasingly called upon to intervene. The AAC wants not only to showcase advances in aquaculture in Canada, but also provides information to its members for an expanded dialogue on present and future challenges for this industry. This publication falls within AAC’s mandate of disseminating knowledge and it should be of interest to a wide audience. Likewise, Fisheries and Oceans Canada has a mandate to enable the sustainable development of Canada’s aquatic resources, including aquaculture, and to provide access to information on its scientific activities underway within the department and elsewhere in Canada. Publication of ongoing research in the AAC Bulletin is one important tool towards achieving our shared mandates and to reach out to interested stakeholders and the public.

We would like to take the opportunity to recognize and thank several people who contributed significantly to the production of this Review. First, Dr. John Martell (DFO) undertook the overall coordination of this project and was singularly instrumental in seeing this project through to completion from beginning to end. Johannie Duhaime provided key support in reviewing and editing all submissions. Tara Donaghy, Patricia Hunter, and Emily Nelson were also actively involved in various aspects of this project including editorial review as well as design, print, and online coordination. We would also like to thank Gail Ryan, the AAC Executive Director, for overseeing AAC’s part in its publication.

Jay Parsons, PhD
Oceans and Science Sector
Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Céline Audet, PhD
President
Aquaculture Association of Canada