UPEI students learn about interactions between aquaculture and the environment

Seventeen UPEI students learned firsthand about the aquaculture industry on PEI during a course titled “Aquaculture and the Environment,” offered by the departments of Biology and Environmental Studies from May 26 to June 6, 2025.

During the course, taught by Devon Lynn and Paula Tummon Flynn, the students examined interactions between aquaculture and the environment—from a global overview to the local industry. Topics covered include production systems, water quality, disease and pest management, policy and regulation, and the effect of aquaculture on the environment and human communities.

The course was a combination of lectures, laboratory work, and field trips. The students toured several Island aquaculture-related facilities, including the Brackley Bay Oyster Company, Brackley Bay; the PEI Shellfish Museum, Ellerslie; the Bideford Shellfish Hatchery, Tyne Valley; Getson’s Mussel Farms Inc, Nine Mile Creek; the Abegweit Biodiversity Enhancement Hatchery, Mount Stewart; and the Cascumpec Bay Oyster Company, Coleman.

They also sampled seafood donated by Prince Edward Island Aqua Farms Inc. and prepared by Chef Alan Williams at the Culinary Institute of Canada.

“Aquaculture is an important industry on PEI,” said Lynn, “so it is important that our students develop knowledge about it and its relationship with the province’s environment. I would like to thank those in the industry who contributed to our students’ knowledge and understanding of aquaculture.”