Fishing Communities
Did you know Canada has one of the world's most important fishing industries? Canada has the world's longest coastline and is surrounded by the Arctic, Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Canada is also home to the Great Lakes. Many communities in Canada depend on the fishing industry.
Some fishing communities have large ports, with fish processing plants, transport connections, shipyards and fish research facilities. Other fishing communities are very small and have small anchorages where boats are pulled onto the beach.
The fisheries department decides how much fish can be caught so that there will be enough fish in the years to come and prevents over fishing. Over fishing means nature cannot replace all the fish that is caught, quickly enough. The Canadian government also protects the fishing industry by preventing other countries from fishing within 200 nautical miles of Canada's coast.
Aquaculture or fish farming is becoming more popular in rural communities such as in Newfoundland. Fish farmers grow fish in floating sea cages that are anchored to the ocean bottom. Fish farming starts in the hatchery where workers collect fish eggs. Once the eggs hatch, the fish are grown in tanks. Salmon and halibut are two types of fish grown. Farmers sell the fish and seafood they raise to processing plants, grocery stores or restaurants.
Do an Internet search and make a list of the types of fish and seafood found in Canada.