Nova Scotia seafood sector far exceeds targets set a decade ago
CBC
Federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay was roasted by opponents last week when he posted a photo on X (formerly Twitter) of himself eating a lobster in Malaysia while on a trade mission in the Indo-Pacific.
The P.E.I. politician was denounced as tone deaf and out of touch with average Canadians, but overseas trade missions are one reason Nova Scotia seafood exports have exceeded goals set for the industry 10 years ago in the Ivany report — a blueprint for expanding the province's economy.
Veteran seafood analyst Peter Norsworthy — while not weighing in on the optics of the MacAulay image — said seafood exports from Nova Scotia to China have grown from $25 million in 2007 to $666 million in 2021, with almost all of that growth in lobster.
It was a new market able to absorb huge increases in landings occurring at the time.
"The challenge that we had in the early 2010s was the increasing volume of lobster being available and a lack of market. The Maritime provinces collectively put a push on promoting those products in Asia," Norsworthy said.
Former premier Stephen McNeil and then-fisheries minister Keith Colwell were frequent flyers to Asia.
"Those promotion efforts by the provinces and the governments at the time certainly helped take that excess lobster and increase demand for lobster overall and boosted prices. Market promotion works," he said.
Many other factors outside the control of government or industry contributed to growth in Nova Scotia's seafood exports, especially a favourable exchange rate.
The industry works in Canadian dollars and is paid in U.S. dollars. Both were near par in 2012. Since then, the Canadian dollar weakened to the benefit of the exporters.
Increased consumer demand in North America during COVID-19 also helped, as has a growing Chinese middle class with an appetite for the crustacean that's bright red when cooked and sometimes called a dragon prawn.
A decade after the Ivany report was issued as a call to action, fishery and agriculture exports stand out in an assessment of where Nova Scotia has met, or
Darlene Naugle had difficulties getting around the small community of Port Bickerton on Nova Scotia's Eastern Shore when she moved to area from Alberta three years ago to care for her sick daughter.
Skates and hockey sticks on backyard rinks are the definitive sound of winter for many Canadians.
Progressive Conservative leadership candidate Wally Daudrich doesn't seem to mind that some Tories might think his claim Manitoba schools are promoting acts of bestiality and incest is impossible to believe.
Artificial intelligence has become increasingly present in people's lives, ranging from the ability to create a generative image in a messages with simple prompts, to using data to reduce workplace injuries.
While Trump's tariffs, housing and health care have received plenty of attention during the Ontario election campaign, educators say voters should pay more attention to where the major parties stand on the province's public school system.
As the Canadian Armed Forces continue to try and dig out of a deep recruitment hole, they're starting to give new recruits with medical conditions a shot at joining the military rather than automatically turning them away.
Israel says the release of more than 600 Palestinian prisoners is delayed "until the release of the next hostages is assured, and without the humiliating ceremonies" at handovers of Israeli captives in Gaza.
Crystal Ellingsen and Jennifer Brady thought their battle with the government of Nova Scotia ended last year, but now they're raising their voices once again to continue the fight.
Ryan Evans of Oromocto, N.B., says he knows how lucky he is.
It has been just over 104 years since Jessie Kirk was inaugurated as the first woman on Winnipeg's City Council — but to this day, only 32 other women have been elected to represent a ward in the city's history.
An apartment building in central Edmonton that shut down late last year after a security guard was killed on-site may be allowed to reopen to tenants.
Experts and officials are saying Friday's 4.7 magnitude earthquake, felt across southwest B.C., is a wake-up call that British Columbians need to be prepared for an emergency situation.