Top 5 Canadian-grown Seafood Products

Fresh and local are hot, hot trends in food and reflect the way many Canadians shop and cook.

To help in your discovery of seafood produced by local growers, here’s a list of the top 5 seafood products farmed in Canada based on volume.

Available fresh, year-round, pick one for your next meal and feel good knowing it was produced in pristine Canadian waters, to high standards and by passionate Canadian farmers.

No. 5 – Clams

Eat them steamed, baked, deep fried or in a chowder. The Manila clam is the primary clam species farmed in Canada. Others include: softshell clams, hard clams or quahaugs, savory or varnish clams and geoducks. Most are grown in British Columbia but Nova Scotians can also find them local.

No. 4 – Oysters

Shucks! Canada produced nearly 11 tonnes of oysters in 2010. Experiment with different varieties – Pacific, Eastern and Malpeque oysters are the primary sorts farmed in Canada. Find them local in British Columbia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

No. 3 – Trout

Canadian farmed trout has a mild, nut-like flavour, delicate taste and silky texture Canadian farmed trout. Even better – it’s naturally low in sodium and calories and is an excellent source of complete protein and omega-3 fatty acids. While 60% of Canadian trout is produced in Ontario, it’s also farmed in the freshwaters of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec and British Columbia.

No. 2 – Mussels

Flex your mussels Canada! These versatile morsels are the most produced shellfish in Canada. We produced over 24,000 tonnes in 2010 – and can credit Prince Edward Island farmers for most of that – 77 per cent of Canadian mussels are grown there. Cultured mussels, besides being an excellent source of protein, have more iron and Vitamin B12 than beef. In addition to PEI, look for them local in Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec and in British Columbia.

No. 1 – Salmon

The heavy-hitter and the number one farmed seafood product in Canada…Salmon. In fact, Canada is the fourth largest salmon producing country in the world. This seafood superstar is rich, flavourful and healthy. You can find salmon farmers on both Canadian coasts where 70 percent is produced in British Columbia and the rest is produced in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Canadian farmed salmon can be harvested, processed and shipped within 24 to 48 hours – so it’s always fresh when it arrives at the seafood counter.

You don’t have to stop with this shopping list. With more than a dozen varieties of seafood farmed in every province and in Yukon Territory there’s no limit to the variety of fresh and local seafood to explore.

An excerpt from the CAIA 2010-2011 Annual Report

Submitted by John Rose, President, Icy Waters Ltd.

As I enter my tenth year in this industry – a sliver of the experience of many of my colleagues – I am continually astounded as to how Canadian aquaculture continues to be a strong engine of innovation, employment and growth, despite the numerous challenges it faces.

The uncertain economy, unpredictable weather and daunting regulatory environment would crush the soul of many normal business folk. Nonetheless, our farmers – shepherds of sorts – continue to wake up and tend their ‘flocks’ of fins and shells. Notwithstanding attending bankers meetings, discussing qualitative trait loci with PhD’s, and welding things, they do about a thousand tasks, all the while providing the world’s best products every single day.

The industry’s strength shouldn’t be astounding, given their unrelenting passion to succeed, but I am always pleasantly surprised.

This past year has had some great achievements. Ask anyone in the industry about their program and what they are working on. They will tell you about the people that work for or with them, their families, their farms, new products, methods and technology. The success will be palpable. It might not always directly equate to ROI, or some other Bay Street metric, but if you listen closely the achievements will be profound.

Despite these achievements, it would be easy to focus on the negative. Our lack of a legitimate national
Aquaculture Act, providing surety to all stakeholders, is a significant impediment to long-term, sustainable growth. Investment is global, and dollars will flow to the areas where there is less risk. Despite our access to the best water, best markets, and best food safety regulations, we languish behind global competitors because we have no assurances that the rules are clear and won’t change overnight. The industry isn’t asking for direct contribution; we can find the money. But money won’t come here if it has no assurances of stability. Not unlike the animals we tend, we too will grow despite the challenges, but imagine how we could grow and how efficient we could be if we had a stable regulatory environment?

CAIA continues to fight hard for all its members, ranging from those with a single tank on the side of a stream to those with multiple sites stretching across hundreds of miles of rugged coastline. From working to ensure industry stakeholders have regulatory surety, to fighting the plethora of misinformation and misguided sentiment, Ruth Salmon and her team continue to make sure people listen. The need for a strong national association such as CAIA has never been greater. As the business case for an Aquaculture Act hits the desks of government, members need to be united and strong in their resolve to demand changes. Your continual support, both in terms of membership dues and governance, will make change happen.

Regardless of these challenges and the need to get up each day and either tend to the fish, or tend to the stakeholders, the industry will triumph. Over the next ten years a lot will change, some faces, some names, but the passion to succeed will be constant.

Aquaculture industry welcomes international agricultural journalists to Canada

Thank you to Cooke Aquaculture and the Northern Ontario Aquaculture Association for their generous support of this sponsorship initiative.

Canadian farmed seafood will be featured on the reception menu of the “Taste of Canada” dinner that will kick off the 2011 International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) Congress, September 14-18 in Guelph, Ontario.

Over 260 of the world’s leading agriculture journalists will enjoy smoked Atlantic farmed salmon (True North Salmon) and Ontario farm-raised rainbow trout (North Shore Specialties) donated by CAIA as an in-kind sponsor of the event.

This event is a nice fit for CAIA – Aquaculture is the new flavour in the agricultural ‘scoop’ and Canadian seafood farmers have great stories to tell!

Like all farming, aquaculture in Canada helps to supply a growing population with healthy and nutritious food all year round.

Moreover, aquaculture is the world’s fastest-growing animal food-producing sector – and already produces half of all the seafood the world eats.

For more information about Canadian farmed seafood, for story ideas or to arrange interviews, please contact me: Sheri Beaulieu, e-mail: sheri.beaulieu@aquaculture.ca, Tel: 613-239-0612.

Click to watch the new TV ads!

BC Salmon Facts has released some cool new TV ads.

These 15-second animated graphic spots are not only good-looking – they’re straight to the point.

Each ad focuses on one of four key take-away facts about salmon farming, which apply to all Canadian farmed seafood production:

• Economic value: farmed salmon is BCs largest agricultural export.
• Efficient food production: salmon farming requires less land and feed than raising other livestock.
• Food security: aquaculture is key to feeding a growing global population.
• Ease wild stock pressure: the pressure to overfish the oceans would be even greater without aquaculture.

“Canadian salmon farmers, like all aquaculture producers, are committed in providing safe, quality seafood in a sustainable manner, but far too often aren’t given the credit they deserve,” said Ruth Salmon, Executive Director of the Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance. “We’re proud to see the BCSFA and its members standing up for this important industry and raising awareness of the benefits of salmon farming to British Columbians – and to all Canadians.”

The ads will run into the fall on television and online news sources. There are also online banner ads in rotation.

To check them out yourself, visit www.bcsalmonfacts.ca.

Submitted by Prof. Bruce Holub, University Of Guelph , Email:  bholub@uoguelph.ca

I am submitting the following ‘blog’ as a follow-up to my recent radio interview on the CBC Fisheries Broadcast regarding the omega-3 fatty acid contents of farmed versus wild fish. It is generally recognized that higher intakes of fish/seafood than currently consumed in North America can be expected to both improve overall human health (including brain and visual functioning) and reduce the prevalence and severity of various chronic disorders including coronary heart disease. Amongst the several important nutrients in fish, the abundance of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids as DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) plus EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) appear to be particularly important as mediators of these benefits. A thorough reading of the many health benefits of fish/seafood and DHA/EPA omega-3 including regular updates on newly-published findings can be found at www.dhaomega3.org . Because of these expected health outcomes, Canada’s Food Guide advises Canadians in general to eat at least two Food Guide Servings (total of 150 grams) of fish every week such as salmon, trout, mackerel, herring, sardines and others while restricting certain fish during pregnancy and childhood (shark, swordfish, orange roughy, fresh/frozen tuna, others). The American Dietetic Association ( ADA) and the Dietitians of Canada (DC) have specifically advised a daily intake of 500 mg/day of DHA plus EPA in support of optimal health. Based on our published dietary assessments, average Canadian intakes of DHA/EPA are approximately 25 % of this target.

Since the predominant dietary source of DHA/EPA by far is fish , the absolute amounts of DHA and EPA as found in various fish options as available to the consumer is very important. In this regard, numerous influential news reports, popular websites and spokepersons have widely stated that wild fish have much more omega-3 fatty acids than farmed fish. This is a widely-held public perception based on my personal experiences in the classroom, off-campus when guest-lecturing at conferences or public gatherings, or dealing with the media/press. While this perception is occasionally valid (depending on the specific aquaculture practices), the opposite is very often true. Further, some outlets often base their reportings on ‘relative percentages of omega-3 fatty acids’ and not the all important ‘absolute amounts’ (ie, mg of DHA/EPA per given weight of a fish serving).

The enrichment of DHA/EPA in wild fish via the natural food chain begins with the formation of these omega-3 fatty acids in the phytoplankton and bio-accumulation via zooplankton and smaller aquatic organisms including fish fry. In the case of farmed fish, the amount of DHA/EPA (from various fish by-product sources) added to the feed in the aquaculture operation has a major influential impact on the DHA/EPA contents (absolute amounts) in the final product. The omega-3 contents (mg per 100 gm ) of farm-raised Atlantic salmon, trout, etc. can vary dramatically within a species due to different feed compositions. Farmed halibut were found to have total amounts of (DHA plus EPA) per 100 gm muscle in filets which were 13 times that for wild halibut. A published Canadian study from Quebec (Food and Chemical Toxicol., 45: 1343-1348 (2007)) found that both farmed and wild rainbow trout and salmon were rich sources of DHA/EPA. The wild and farmed Atlantic salmon sold in Quebec (via Canadian and Chilean farms) showed no significant differences in DHA/EPA contents. Interestingly, the farmed trout had triple the absolute amounts of DHA plus EPA (mg/100 gm serving) relative to the wild trout and also had one-half the level of mercury.

In a recent interview that I was asked to partake in with the NY Times (May 2, 2011) , the importance of determining the DHA/EPA contents in fish produce was emphasized. Any producers who wish to enquire regarding such analyses within the fatty acid analytical lab at the University of Guelph Research Park can contact the author directly.