From left to right: NS Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture Kent Smith, NS Minister of Agriculture Greg Morrow, and CEO and founder of Oberland Agriscience Greg Wanger, during a tour of the company's facility in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Photo: Government of Nova Scotia.
The Government of Nova Scotia (NS) announced this week the launch of a new CAD 4.71 million fund to support "big, bold projects in the agriculture and seafood sectors." The so-called 'Nova Scotia Seafood and Agriculture Strategic Investment Fund' will support companies in both sectors with large-scale projects designed to boost productivity and help expand their businesses.
Jointly announced by the Minister of Agriculture and the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture of the Canadian province, the release issued by Nova Scotia's Government explained that these projects - to be completed by January 2027 - could involve anything from adopting new technologies to changing its business model, including finding new markets for its products.
"This fund is about supporting the people who bring new ideas to grow our economy and help businesses," said Greg Morrow, NS Minister of Agriculture. "Agriculture and seafood are important traditional industries in our province. But we can't keep doing things the same old way – we need to support fresh thinking and innovation," he added.
"We are looking for creative ideas that can take businesses to the next level," said, for his part, Kent Smith, NS Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture. "This isn't just about helping individual companies, this is an all-hands-on-deck effort to build stronger industries and a stronger province."
To launch the 'Nova Scotia Seafood and Agriculture Strategic Investment Fund', the two ministers took advantage of their visit to insect protein producer Oberland Agriscience's plant in Halifax.
The company raises black soldier fly larvae for pet food, feed for agriculture and aquaculture - it has produced, for example, an experimental aquafeed for Canadian land-based salmon producer Sustainable Blue - but also the so-called BSFL frass, a natural fertilizer and soil amendment.
"Innovation truly thrives when industry and government actively join forces, combining expertise to drive meaningful progress and accelerate impactful change. Oberland welcomes opportunities to partner with the Government of Nova Scotia to advance sustainable solutions that turn local challenges into global leadership," said its founder and CEO, Greg Wanger, during the fund's presentation.
"We're pleased to see this investment as a positive step forward for Nova Scotia's agriculture industry," stated, for her part, the President of Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture, Alicia King. "Strategic support like this helps strengthen our competitiveness, drives innovation and creates opportunities for sustainable growth in the sector."
From the seafood sector, Allan MacLean, President of Nova Scotia Seafood Alliance, spoke. "The members of the Nova Scotia Seafood Alliance are experiencing first-hand the challenges of tariffs and the changing expectations of our global seafood customers," he said. "We need an industry that is innovative, resilient and adaptive to meet the needs of more diverse markets and customers so that we can maximize the economic value of the seafood sector for for Nova Scotia's seafood producers and for Nova Scotians."
"The alliance is pleased that with the launch of the new 'Nova Scotia Seafood and Agriculture Strategic Investment Fund', the Province is showing its continued commitment to supporting the innovation and diversification efforts of the seafood sector as we continue to evolve to provide the highest quality seafood to the world," he added.
Deliberately or not, this joint announcement by Agriculture and Fisheries and Aquaculture ministers on the fund for agriculture and seafood coincides in time with CAIA's "Aquaculture is Agriculture" campaign, whose ultimate goal is to call for federal government leadership in the growth and development of aquaculture as part of the fabric of a competitive, innovative, and sustainable Canadian agriculture and agri-food sector.
The fund will be managed by Perennia - NS development agency to support growth, transformation, and economic development in the province's agriculture, seafood, and food and beverage sectors -, which has also recently collaborated on the development of a new mapping tool to support aquaculture growth. The initiative joins others like the one launched last year to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from aquaculture, which earlier this month had a second round of funding recipients.
