CITYnews haliax: Nova Scotia launches three-year plan to expand its $2.2-billion seafood industry

CITYnews haliax / By Michael MacDonald, The Canadian Press

HALIFAX — The Nova Scotia government has announced a three-year strategy aimed at growing the province’s $2.2-billion seafood industry as it tries to cope with with rising costs, labour shortages and global trade challenges.

Provincial Fisheries Minister Kent Smith said Wednesday that $1.5 million will be set aside this year to establish an innovation hub for applied research.

As well, the strategy calls for expanding the aquaculture sector, providing support for product diversification and offering up to $4 million over three years to diversify markets, among other initiatives.

The strategy was developed with input from industry representatives, said Smith, who made the announcement at Sea Star Seafoods Ltd. in Clark’s Harbour, N.S., a lobster fishing community near the province’s southwestern tip.

Kerry Cunningham, a spokesperson for Sea Star, said the plan is focused on the future.

“This strategy recognizes that Nova Scotia’s seafood sector can’t rely on doing things the way we did 20 years ago,” Cunningham said in a statement.

“Investments in automation, innovation, market diversification and workforce development are essential if we’re going to remain globally competitive.”

The industry employed about 19,000 people in 2025 and it remains the province’s top exporter, generating $2.2 billion in revenue last year, the provincial government says.

Kris Vascotto, executive director of the Nova Scotia Seafood Alliance, issued a statement saying the strategy offers a clear path for an industry that has seen its share of setbacks.

In June 2024, the Fisheries Council of Canada produced a report saying the Canadian seafood industry was finding it increasingly difficult to find sufficient labour for harvesting and processing. The report said the sector would require more than 7,300 new hires to fill vacancies caused by retirements and deaths between 2023 and 2030.

As well, the sector was rocked by a 25 per cent tariff that China imposed on dozens of aquatic products in the spring of 2025. After the levy was applied to many staples including lobster, crab and shrimp, export volumes plunged. The tariff, however, was suspended on March 1 when a bilateral trade deal was reached.

On Monday, the province announced the creation of a $4.7-million fund to support large-scale projects in the seafood and agriculture sectors. The fund is for projects that must be completed by January 2027. It will be managed by Perennia, a provincial development agency.

The Nova Scotia Seafood and Agriculture Strategic Investment Fund is aimed at companies adopting new technology, changing how they do business or finding new markets for their products.

Smith described the fund as “an all-hands-on-deck effort to build stronger industries.”

Industry leaders say seafood businesses have been challenged by tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump and changing expectations from seafood customers around the world.

Still, the Nova Scotia government says the province remains Canada’s top seafood exporter with customers in more than 60 countries. Half of Nova Scotia’s seafood sector is based in southwestern Nova Scotia, where the country’s most lucrative lobster fishing grounds can be found.

According to government figures for 2024, 52 per cent of the province’s seafood exports – worth about $1.2 billion – went to the United States. Another 26 per cent – worth about $614 million – went to China.

Lobster alone accounted for $541.8 million in exports to the United States and $458.7 million to China. Crab is also significant, with $158 million worth shipped to the United States in 2024 and another $16 million to China.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 24, 2026.

Michael MacDonald, The Canadian Press