Federal and provincial governments are replenishing the Atlantic Fisheries Fund, with a new focus on market diversification in response to the continuing trade war with the U.S.
“It means more opportunities for harvesters, processes, processors and communities to get more of your product on plates around the world,” Federal Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson said Thursday in Moncton.
She was joined by every provincial fisheries minister in the region for a news conference about the renewal of the fund, which started in 2017 with $400 million spread over seven years. The fund was extended for another two years in 2024 and is now being extended again.
More than $300 million will be available from the fund to support projects in the region over the next five years.
Projects eligible for funding will have to fall into one of the four pillars of the fund: market diversification, innovation, infrastructure or science partnerships. Market diversification is a new pillar.
The federal government will provide 60 per cent of the money for the fund, while provincial governments will kick in the remaining 40 per cent.
Thompson said Canada exported $8.5 billion worth of fish and seafood in 2025, and about $6.5 billion of that came from the Atlantic provinces.
Federal Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson said tariffs and the trade war have been a major worry for the sector. (Katelin Belliveau/CBC)
“And it’s even more impressive when you consider the challenges this sector has faced recently and especially in the last year,” Thompson said.
“Tariffs and trade disputes are a big worry. They shake market confidence and they make it harder for companies to plan. I’ve heard that loud and clear on wharfs and in plants across Atlantic Canada.”
Thompson gave examples of projects the fund has helped in the past, such as modernizing a Cooke salmon processing plant in St. George, N.B., and helping the P.E.I. Fishermen’s Association work on maintaining the quality and market value of live lobster catches.
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The fund has also helped Scotia Harvest build a new groundfish processing plant in Digby, N.S., and Icewater Seafoods modernize the Arnold’s Cove, N.L., cod processing plant.
Thompson said the new diversification pillar can help finance going to a trade show or trade mission, branding products for a new market, or hiring a market manager to help a company break into a new market.
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The fund has put $370 million into more than 1,300 projects in the region over the past nine years.
Asked by reporters how much help the federal department will give the industry in diversifying markets, Thompson said some harvests will be facing this for the first time and will need more help. Others have already been working on diversification, so the department will help them build upon that.
“We are in an enviable position of having a product that the world wants,” she said. “That Canadian brand is strong.”
Reporters asked Thompson where the new markets for Atlantic Canadian seafood would be, but she did not directly answer.
Thompson was joined by provincial fisheries ministers, from left, Pat Finnigan of New Brunswick, Kent Smith of Nova Scotia, Ernie Hudson of Prince Edward Island and Loyola O’Driscoll of Newfoundland and Labrador. (Katelin Belliveau/CBC)
All four fisheries ministers from region spoke to the importance of the fund, especially to diversifying trade.
“We do often talk about our regional strength, about breaking down borders, and I am so proud to be part of the initiatives like this one that helps support our regional strengths,” said Ernie Hudson, the Prince Edward Island minister.
He said it’s hard to believe there are people in the world who haven’t had the pleasure of tasting what the region has to offer.
Hudson said that he will be “making sure that as we look around the world, that, yes, as many as possible are going to be able to say ‘Yes, I tasted seafood from Atlantic Canada. And you can’t beat it.’”
Kent Smith, the Nova Scotia fisheries and aquaculture minister, said the fund will help build on what the industry has already achieved while meeting the changing world.
“Companies are facing rising costs, trade uncertainty and growing competition. They need to reach more customers, enter more markets and create more value from the seafood that we all already harvest,” Smith said.
“I’m happy to say that industry is ready,” he said, adding that the Nova Scotia Seafood Alliance has already identified about 20 projects ready for diversification efforts.
Loyola O’Driscoll, the fisheries and aquaculture minister for Newfoundland and Labrador, echoed the need to diversify the market.
He said the industry represents an estimated value of over $2 billion annually in the province, and supports over 16,000 jobs in 400 communities.
“Expanding access to global markets is key to long-term success of our seafood sector and this agreement will help position the industry for continued growth and prosperity,” O’Driscoll said.
A news release from Fisheries and Oceans Canada broke down the four pillars of the fund. Alongside market diversification, the innovation sector will support research and development on the sustainability of the sector. Infrastructure covers adapting new technologies, processes or equipment to improve productivity and sustainability of the sector.
The science partnership pillar covers partnerships with academic institutions to “enhance knowledge and understanding of the impacts of changing oceanographic conditions.”
