Jun 20th, 2016 Arichat, NS

The federal government has just presented $800,000 in business funding to support research and development in the seafood industry within two rural Cape Breton communities.

After years of research, NovaCan Live Seafood has developed technological capabilities of storing live snow crab for extended periods of time, allowing the company to export to new markets. This new design represents new technological advancements as there are no live snow crab storage operations currently in existence.

Support for the expansion comes as a $500,000 loan under the business development program to assist with the construction of the storage system. Upon completion, the facility will be capable of holding up to 150,000 pounds of live snow crab.

Many companies that process daily catches struggle to stay competitive and face new challenges such as attracting and maintaining a qualified workforce.

With assistance from the business development program, the University Sainte-Anne marine research centre will establish a mobile seafood processing unit that will serve as both a resource for the fishing industry as well as a training facility to help address demographic, geographic, competitive and resource challenges. The federal government is contributing a $300,000 grant to the pilot program.

The project is intended to alleviate labor shortages in the fishing industry and create a seamless pathway between education and employment.

Nova Scotia is Canada’s largest exporter of fish and seafood, exporting approximately 125,157 tons of produce each year.

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