More than 20 Canadian companies and numerous representatives of regional and fishery authorities will be in Trondheim in August for Aqua Nor.
“As Organiser of Aqua Nor we appreciate tremendously that Canada has chosen to follow up the Aqua Nor 2005 success,” says Odd Berg, Director of the Nor-Fishing Foundation.
The Canadian joint-venture stand will present a wide range of activities. Among many, the high-tech company Microtec will be presenting its new system for monitoring fish health in fish farming facilities.
Canadian companies will also be participating in the Aqua Nor corporate matchmaking event, and aquaculture experts will attend the very first Aqua Nor Forum conference.
The Canadian aquaculture industry has enjoyed a considerable boom over the last decade, and 2005 saw a production of 154 million tonnes of farmed fish representing a good NOK4.3 billion. The salmon industry is still in the lead, but the shellfish industry is definitely on the move.
As supplies of wild fish are diminishing, the aquaculture industry is in the process of acquiring a significant position as the major supplier of fresh seafood. The demand for seafood is still on the increase. In North America alone, the seafood market is expected to increase by 40 per cent by 2010.
Canadian authorities consider aquaculture to be an important and necessary industry in remote districts. The authorities support university managed research and development programmes, and they are also involved in separate co-operation programmes with the industry. As a result of these measures, aquaculture facilities are present from Yukon in the west to Newfoundland and Labrador in the east. The industry provides full-time jobs for 14,000 people.
