VANCOUVER, BC - Improving the environmental sustainability of our seafood sectors while ensuring they remain competitive in the marketplace is a shared goal of British Columbians. The Government of Canada is committed to supporting that goal through targeted investments in new technology. These are solutions that will help the sector become cleaner, greener and more sustainable.
Today, the Member of Parliament for Burnaby North—Seymour and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, Terry Beech, on behalf of the Minister, the Honourable Bernadette Jordan, announced funding of over $5.4 million from the Fisheries and Aquaculture Clean Technology Adoption Program to support 36 projects that are contributing to clean economic growth in British Columbia. The Province of British Columbia also announced a contribution of more than $785,000 in funding towards these projects.
The Fisheries and Aquaculture Clean Technology Adoption program is a $20-million program (2017-21) that provides funding to help businesses incorporate clean technologies into their day-to-day operations. It is intended to accelerate the use of more sustainable and efficient tools, practices and techniques.
By supporting our commercial fisheries and aquaculture sectors' investment in clean technologies, the Government of Canada is ensuring the continued growth of a healthy and sustainable blue economy. These sectors contribute approximately $4.5 billion annually in gross domestic product and provide thousands of jobs across our country — many in Indigenous, rural and coastal communities. During the pandemic, these investments have helped strengthen Canadians' access to fish and shellfish food resources by supporting the small and medium sized-businesses that are the bedrock of the fish and seafood industry.
The 36 projects for which funding is announced today are helping fisheries and aquaculture businesses adopt greener practices that will upgrade waste/wastewater treatment facilities, increase energy efficiency, create more reliance on green energy such as solar, upgrade sonar, decrease reliance on Styrofoam and reduce fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions.
Source : Cision