Aboriginal Aquaculture Association
664 Head Start Cres. V9H 1P9 Campbell River, BC, Canada

Are you wanting to start a career in Aquaculture, have you lost your job du to COVID or downsizing, do you want to learn the necessary skills and gain employment in the fastest growing sector...? Well now is your chance! There are seats still available from Excel Career College for a fully funded aquaculture program ($10,000 value!). Its a 25 week program with virtual lessons and field training and, if you are receiving CERB or EI, you won't loose your benefits during the course training! Message us or email at [email protected] for more details. Join the blue revolution now, this course program is FREE and only available for a very short time. Please share with anyone looking for a career change.

Working with the A.G. Ford and Deep Search Divers decommissioning an old oyster farm in King's Inlet near the West Coast's Oos Point on a gloriously sunny March day. Most of the time, the AAA helps First Nations to install shellfish farms but, sometimes our work is to help take them out when they've reached the end of their physical usefulness. Taking care of the environment and keeping the water clean; the foundation of sustainable aquaculture!

Beautiful day in Kyuquot working with Philip Harry, Bonnie & Deep Search Diving changing out anchor lines at the Nation's Cachalot Inlet shellfish farm.

Even seen a 7.2 lb geoduck? ;-) photo Dylan Smith

Every once in awhile, a company does something that merits a shout-out. Our Deep Trekker ROV performed brilliantly since we received it in 2017, it enables our team to easily "look" at the ocean substrate and suspended aquaculture grow-out systems to inspect and assess conditions without having to rely on $$$ dive services however, recently we noticed the thrusters were jamming and the unit stopped functioning properly. It was past the warranty and we thought we'd be facing a... pricey bill to fix it. One call to the tech department at Deep Trekker in Ontario and they knew what the issue was and, shipped us replacement magnetic thruster couplers within a week at NO CHARGE! We swapped them out ourselves and our problem is fixed ;-). Our AAA ROV is back in business and, thank you Deep Trekker for responding so quickly and efficiently. Not often that suppliers are this responsive and courteous these days. We highly recommend their ROV products and company. See more

Rob Fletcher from "The FishSite.com writes: "Anyone who’d like to understand the importance of aquaculture both as a means of producing sustainable seafood and of supporting fragile coastal communities should read this excellent article by Robert Jones. Jones, who leads The Nature Conservancy’s aquaculture team, describes his own journey into aquaculture from an angler who assumed that it was an evil industry, to a conservationist who realized that, when practiced well,... it can be one of the best ways of both providing seafood and producing jobs for people who are struggling to earn a living from traditional maritime professions. Jones’s epiphany came at the end of a grueling voyage as a fisheries observer aboard a trawler operating on George’s Bank, off New England. After 11 storm-plagued days most of the fish were discarded, dead, and the crew received a pittance for their time at sea. The trip made Jones realize that commercial fishing might not always be the best means of generating ether sustainable seafood or steady jobs. Since then, he has discovered a host of sustainable aquaculture operations and he now helps to promote these professionally. Unfortunately most of the public will not have the opportunity to have such vivid first-hand experiences at the sharp end of the seafood sector. However, it is the experiences of people such as Jones that are essential in helping to debunk many of the myths surrounding aquaculture and it is encouraging that The Nature Conservancy, unlike many environmental NGOs, are prepared to consider the sector as a means of sustaining the world’s burgeoning population. Here’s hoping that others will, in time, be prepared to follow their lead. See more