Rosy outlook: Ontario’s freshwater aquaculture industry
August 22, 2018
By
Liza Mayer
Things are falling into place for Ontario, allowing the province’s freshwater aquaculture to grow in recent years.
Rich Moccia, professor and director, Aquaculture Centre, at The University of Guelph said the province has easy access to very large and affluent markets and has a diversified population base, among them large groups of new Canadians that arrived in the last generation. These create demand for new and different types of aquaculture products, he told the audience at Aquaculture Canada 2018.
"We’re at a tipping point where we’re having enough production to be able to go after some of the larger marketplaces, like Costco and Wal-Mart," says Moccia.
He also noted Ontario’s very strong infrastructure capacity, making it very well positioned to support aquaculture development. Processing infrastructure has also benefitted from industry consolidation in recent years with new private sector investors purchasing some existing farms and upgrading them, he said.
More on Ontario’s robust aquaculture industry in Aquaculture North America’s September/October 2018 issue.
Rich Moccia 
