Minister’s Statement on Canadian Council of Fisheries and Aquaculture Ministers Meeting

NOTE: The following is a statement from Kent Smith, Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.

At today’s meeting of Canadian Fisheries and Aquaculture Ministers in Iqaluit with federal Department of Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson, I once again pressed the federal government to address illegal fishing through better enforcement on the water. Our communities and commercial harvesters have reported increasing illegal activities over the past years, which also has raised public safety issues. I thanked the Minister for increased efforts over the past weeks and encourage her department to step up this work to keep our communities safe and to protect the sustainability of our fishery.

With the impact of tariffs being felt throughout our industry, I also called on the federal government to support Nova Scotia's increased market diversification activities to help get our high-quality seafood products to new customers across the world. My Atlantic colleagues and I also repeated our call for a rapid renewal of the Atlantic Fisheries Fund (AFF), which has been a key partnership program to help our industry modernize and adapt to new opportunities.

Aquaculture plays an important role in supplying Canada and the world with a sustainable and healthy source of seafood, and I was happy that this topic featured prominently in the council’s agenda. Nova Scotia reiterated that the provinces are best placed for the continued regulation of the sector.

Nova Scotian communities are built on a fishing tradition that spans generations and understand the value of conservation and a sustainable fishery that protects our ocean resource. Marine conservation areas are an important tool in this effort; however, our waters have already contributed enough to the federal objectives on this front, a fact which I highlighted at the meeting.

Finally, I reiterated the importance of Nova Scotia's work to advance offshore wind through our Wind West initiative. This is a provincial priority and a significant nation-building opportunity and one that requires us to ensure our seafood industry is meaningfully engaged in identifying mutually beneficial solutions.

Seafood is Nova Scotia’s largest industry and No. 1 export. It’s an important economic driver, supporting jobs in our rural coastal communities.

I continue to be cautiously optimistic with the direction that the new Minister is articulating for our seafood industry, and I look forward to ongoing engagement with her department on Nova Scotia’s priorities.