by Marc Laframboise, Communications Services Provider, AICFI/DFO

Nestled along the shores of the beautiful Bras d’Or Lakes on the Island of Cape Breton Nova Scotia is the vibrant Waycobah First Nation. The most recent component of the community’s wide and varied business development strategy is the construction of a trout processing facility that would process and pack all trout raised at the Band-owned aquaculture farms on the Bras d’Or Lakes. The successful Atoqwa’su Farms Limited recently surpassed the milestone production mark of one million pounds of trout per year.

A growing demand for fresh trout in the region is expected to continue over the long term. As a result, the community is projecting to double its trout production at the farms to two million pounds per year over the next 24 months. In order to take full advantage of this business opportunity, the Band has already created two separate and independent businesses: a live fish trucking operation and a net washing business. It wants to complete this vertical integration strategy by constructing a modern trout processing plant.

Waycobah First Nation established a Department of Fisheries and Natural Resources to protect the community’s natural resources and to create sustainable, long-term employment for its more than 900 Band members. The biggest component of this department is the community’s commercial fishery enterprise (CFE). The Department’s Fisheries Director Phil Drinnan believes his community is on the right path: “The Band’s investment ...

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