Nova Scotia is Canada’s top seafood exporter — but in a province known for its seafood, shellfish production lags behind other maritime provinces. In 2022, Prince Edward Island produced over 21.3 thousand tonnes of shellfish while Nova Scotia produced only 1.3 thousand tonnes.
The province hopes that groups of pre-approved lease sites called Aquaculture Development Areas (ADA) could help increase production and attract new shellfish and sea plant farms. This plan could help speed up the farm licensing process, but will communities embrace more farming in their coastal waters?
Our research examined the social acceptability of shellfish farming in Pictou County, a coastal region of Nova Scotia.
