Atlantic Canada is the country's centre for aquaculture

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Atlantic Canada is the country’s centre for aquaculture and rightfully so. It happens to be home to one of the richest and most varied natural marine environments in the world.

Not surprisingly the region has enjoyed a revitalization of sorts in such key industries as aquaculture, fisheries and marine sciences.

While aquaculture is at the forefront of the region’s biotech activity, the pharmaceutical and biomedical sectors are also steadily increasing in size. A highly developed research and development network backs forestry, agriculture and environmental management as well.

Nova Scotia's life sciences industry has grown significantly since the late 80's but the bulk of its development has occurred in the past decade. Its research community includes both government and academic institutes, along with the National Research Council Institute for Marine Biosciences.
In New Brunswick, the plant sciences sector, which includes forest biosciences and associated disciplines, has seen significant growth. More is expected as former mills transfer their capabilities to bio-products. The industry is backed by The University of New Brunswick that has a forestry program and several centres. As a result, the province is poised to capitalize on the impending global bio-resource crunch where biomass conversion and the creation of products with lower environmental impact will be a necessity.

Prince Edward Island houses a small cluster of biotech companies mainly in the areas of agriculture and aquaculture, along with a number of key institutes such as The Food Research and Development Centre located on the UPEI campus.

Newfoundland and Labrador has strengthened its position as a world leader in marine biotechnology and recently hosted the International Marine Biotechnology Conference. Many companies in this corridor are homegrown, originating as spin offs of the Memorial University of Newfoundland, the largest university in Atlantic Canada.

Operating since 2000, Genome Atlantic represents all four Maritime Provinces. Its research to date surrounds microbial evolution, potato agriculture, fish aquaculture and human genetic disease. Genome Atlantic's high-performance DNA sequencing facility has complemented the research.

There are currently two major Genome projects underway. The Atlantic Cod Genomics and Broodstock Development Project is an $18 million effort to apply genomics to the development of cod broodstock for aquaculture. The second project, the Atlantic Medical Genetic and Genomics Initiative hopes to systematically identify genes and genetic mutations underlying familial, monogenic disorders arising in populations and communities throughout the Atlantic Provinces.

Overall, the provincial governments of all four Atlantic provinces are strong promoters of research and development. Universities are also major infrastructure resources.