Nova Scotia’s seafood industry is gathering in Halifax this week for two days of meetings focused on trade, global markets, technology and the future of the sector.
The Nova Scotia Seafood Alliance is holding its 2026 annual general meeting at the Halifax Convention Centre on Thursday and Friday, following a golf event Wednesday at Brunello Golf Course co-hosted by Sea Harvest and the Lobster Council of Canada.
The meeting also comes at a particularly volatile moment for Canadian trade. Prime Minister Mark Carney is in Europe today pushing for a much deeper economic relationship with the European Union as Canada looks to reduce its dependence on the United States. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has proposed making Canada the EU’s first “associate member,” while U.S. President Donald Trump responded by threatening new tariffs against the EU if he views the arrangement as hostile.
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Dr. Sylvain Charlebois, known as the Food Professor, is scheduled to speak, followed by a series of presentations that includes Matt Symes discussing how artificial intelligence can be used in the shore-based seafood sector.
That session is expected to include real-world examples from Nova Scotia Seafood Alliance members already using AI in their operations.
The agenda reflects how quickly the industry is changing.
Seafood companies are dealing with shifting international markets, trade uncertainty, labour pressures and the need to improve productivity, while new technology is increasingly being explored as a way to streamline processing and other parts of the business.
For Nova Scotia, where seafood remains one of the province’s most important industries, those changes have implications well beyond fishing communities.
Processors, exporters, transportation companies, suppliers and businesses throughout Halifax and the rest of the province are connected to the sector.
The Nova Scotia Seafood Alliance says the meeting is intended to give members a chance to hear directly about market conditions, learn about new tools and technologies, and discuss issues affecting their operations.
The AGM continues Friday at the Halifax Convention Centre.
