Aquaculture - Overview
What is the mission of the Aquaculture Division?
The mission of the Aquaculture Division is to provide quality advice, assistance and information to the aquaculture and estuarial shellfish fisheries with the goal to support the development of the industries in a sustainable manner.
The division acts as an advocate for the Prince Edward Island aquaculture industry and participates on a variety of committees with the federal government and industry associations.
What services do we deliver?
We are responsible for providing high quality advice, assistance and information to the Island's growing aquaculture industry. We deliver technical and biological services to the shellfish and finfish sectors.
We deliver financial programs that compliment technical services and assist in the development of aquaculture.
- Aquaculture Technology Program
- Aquaculture Futures Program
- Quality Oyster Aquaculture Program
What is the Industry Overview?
The aquaculture sector on PEI has a short, but exciting history. In the past 30 years, the sector has grown from a small developmental industry with a landed value of less than $5 million to an industry under full commercial production and a landed value $44 million (2014). The Island industry primarily involves the culture of mussels, oysters and salmonids.
The mussel industry has grown from 100,000 pounds in 1980 to over 44 million pounds in 2014 and represents almost 20 per cent of the total landed value of all species on the Island.
More than 1,000 fishers and aquaculturists are involved in the oyster industry (the total oyster industry consists of both raising oysters on leased grounds and fishing oysters from public fishing grounds).
The finfish aquaculture sector has three freshwater based farms involved in salmonid hatchery production. These serve as an important source of disease free hatchery products to marine sites in other provinces. In addition, there is one grow-out operation for halibut and four research facilities located on PEI.