Dr. Jason Cleaversmith, Executive Director, Incubation and Infrastructure at PEI BioAlliance and Bioenterprise Advisor discusses challenges and opportunities within Canadian aquaculture
By Tabitha Caswell for Bioenterprise
Dr. Jason Cleaversmith’s expertise in aquaculture, fermentation, and natural products has evolved through a unique combination of academic and professional career experiences and is shaped by the strong bonds he’s forged within an expanding network. Embracing a journey from geology to marine biotechnology and biologics, interwoven with business leadership, he embodies the entrepreneurial sentiment that with an open mind and the courage to take risks, every new experience is a new opportunity for growth.
As Executive Director, Incubation and Infrastructure at Prince Edward Island BioAlliance (PEI BioAlliance), and member of the Science and Innovation Advisory Committee (SIAC) at Bioenterprise Canada, Dr. Cleaversmith shares valuable insights from his unique perspective at the intersection of science and commerce.
Between Land and Sea
Born in the United Kingdom (UK), Jason grew up with a deep love of the outdoors. Near his hometown in Yorkshire, a school trip took him to the top of the UK’s tallest freestanding structure, the Emley Moor transmitting mast, for a bird’s eye view of the surrounding countryside and beyond. Scanning the waters of the Irish Sea in the west and across to the North Sea in the east, a curiosity took hold that sent him on a search to learn all about the wonders of the natural world.
As a young adult, an initial attraction to glaciology led him to the University of Edinburgh, but after a few rugged, adventurous excursions across Scotland, he discovered a passion for geology, so he switched educational gears and changed his major. This shift in academic focus eventually steered him toward a PhD in marine environmental geochemistry, complemented by hands-on experience through a summer studentship with BP Norge.
After completing his PhD, Dr. Cleaversmith led a fledgling commercialization unit at Scotland’s premier marine institute, the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS), spearheading significant projects, including the world’s first offshore baseline survey of a soon-to-be decommissioned nuclear power plant. After time spent floating around the Baltic and North Seas, studying the residence time of pollutants and the impacts of drill cuttings on the marine environment, he pursued his MBA at the University of Glasgow to build a more complete knowledge base in the basics of business.
The Business of Bioscience
Dr. Cleaversmith’s business education created a foundational space where science and commercialization met, a space he found deeply gratifying. At a marine biotechnology startup, he leveraged his experience in marine science and environmental aquaculture to explore new potential anti-microbial compounds from marine sources. This venture led to an opportunity in Canada where, in 2009, he moved to Prince Edward Island (PEI), blending his passion for life sciences and marine biotechnology with business development at Innovation PEI.
Next, Dr. Cleaversmith made a move to lead the AquaHealth division of Novartis Animal Health in PEI – a multifaced role, managing a team dedicated to researching and producing biologics for the aquaculture industry. Later, following Elanco’s acquisition and integration of the organization, he returned to Scotland to assume a leadership role with the Scottish Aquaculture Innovation Centre, supporting the nation’s aquaculture supply chain and production community. Soon after, he became Managing Director of the AKVA Group, a leading global aquaculture service and supply company, overseeing their UK and Irish operations.
From there he moved to Hatch Blue, the world’s pioneer aquaculture accelerator. This rewarding experience took Dr. Cleaversmith from Hawaii to Norway, and then to Singapore, exposing him to diverse aquaculture practices and species. As a mentor to entrepreneurs, the meaningful connections made during that time remain a cherished part of his professional journey.
While at Hatch Blue, Dr. Cleaversmith was approached by the Centre for Aquaculture Technologies, where he became the General Manager of Canadian Operations and Vice President, Health and Nutrition for Canada and helped the organization to grow its operations. From there, he landed in his current role as Executive Director, Incubation and Infrastructure at PEI BioAlliance.
Dr. Cleaversmith and the team at the PEI BioAlliance are strategically propelling PEI’s bioscience sector toward global competitiveness while nurturing a local ecosystem where innovation, education, and growth flourish synergistically. Their mission is highly beneficial to Atlantic Canada where the seafood industry – aquaculture, fisheries, and processing – are all important contributors to the local economies.
The growth and success of the aquaculture industry are paramount, not only for PEI, but for Canada and the rest of the world. To grasp the significance of the role that aquaculture plays today and in the future of our food system, we must first understand what aquaculture is.
Understanding Aquaculture
Aquaculture, sometimes referred to as aquafarming, is the controlled process of cultivating and growing a whole plethora of aquatic organisms. When most people think about aquaculture, they think of salmon or trout farming, but the practice reaches far beyond this simple picture.
To put aquaculture into perspective, we can compare it with farming on land. We’re all familiar with terrestrial agriculture and how it supports the production of chicken, beef, lamb, and pork. Aquaculture mirrors this model but is set within an aquatic environment, and the species raised in these environments can range from fish, crustaceans, and mollusks to aquatic plants and algae. And many Canadian consumers are still unaware of this rapidly evolving industry.
Dr. Cleaversmith explains, “Whilst aquaculture in Asia has a long and storied history, contributing significantly to their protein supply and their daily diets, it’s a relatively new phenomenon in Western cultures. Here, the traditional fishery sector used to provide our ‘protein from the sea.’ But over the last 60 years, our knowledge base to support a thriving aquaculture industry in Canada has expanded dramatically – with salmon, trout and char being notable successes – providing heart-healthy protein options for North American consumers. Aquaculture has now overtaken fisheries, by way of volume of protein supplied, from the aquatic environment.”
There are several methods and modalities in aquaculture, with some serving different purposes. Hatcheries are employed to replenish endangered or depleted wild populations of aquatic species and to support the production of juveniles for the aquaculture sector. Some plants and seaweeds are farmed for food, for use in bioremediation, and as a raw material for novel products like bioplastics. Aquarium fish and plants are also farmed for commercial sale across the globe. In addition, the marine environment is a valuable source of novel bioactives critical for both animal and human health, leading to the production of nutritional supplements, pharmaceuticals, and supporting ingredients.
North American consumers also reap the benefits of Canada’s vibrant shellfish sector, which provides a continuous supply of mussels and oysters, perhaps the most sustainable of all protein sources produced. Importantly, aquaculture is a leading protein food source. Currently accounting for 17% of all protein production, it contributes significantly to global food security.
As the population rises, so will the demand for seafood. Anticipating future constraints on traditional agriculture, like the availability of productive farmland and the impacts of climate change, aquaculture is an attractive and rapidly growing field. Now a major part of the world’s food industry, farming offers an alternative to wild-caught seafood, which can help alleviate the overfishing of oceans. But like other parts of the agriculture sector, aquaculture also comes with its own set of challenges.
Challenging Views
Whether we’re talking about farming in open pens in the sea or recirculation aquaculture systems on land, visibly, aquaculture faces perceptual obstacles. While our acceptance of natural terrestrial landscapes has evolved over centuries, aquaculture’s relatively recent emergence challenges traditional views and is also impacted by a general lack of understanding of the marine domain and what happens beneath the water’s surface.
Dr. Cleaversmith points out, “We have been conditioned into believing that the agricultural countryside which surrounds us is a ‘natural state.’ However, if we were to travel back in time 100 or 200 years, the landscape would have looked very different than it does today. Our perception of what is ‘natural’ is very different depending upon the point in time from which we view it.”
Public perception is often influenced by a lack of historical context and an incomplete understanding of its relative environmental impact, but Dr. Cleaversmith says, “The data suggests that aquaculture has a far lower environmental impact, kilogram for kilogram, against similar classes of protein production.”
Comparatively, traditional agriculture and aquaculture both require amendments and support for optimal animal growth and welfare – through feed and medicine – and excess in either system can lead to detrimental effects. However, when juxtaposed with land-based livestock farming, Dr. Cleaversmith says, “The aquaculture report card is pretty good: best-in-class feed conversion ratios, sustainable production systems, and a high percentage of edible yield of healthy protein. But as always, there is work to do to reduce mortalities and improve sustainability metrics.”
Beyond perception, criticism of aquaculture often cites concerns over pests and diseases like sea lice and gill disease, which affect the health and welfare of both farmed fish and wild salmon populations. Although valid, it’s important to note that concerns of this nature are shared across all animal protein production sectors. And like all areas of farming, the aquaculture industry is continually adapting to address issues, implementing measures to control diseases within open-pen systems and exploring novel innovations for enhanced biosecurity. Companies like WellFish Tech are working to bring data-driven assessment and monitoring solutions to fish farmers to improve fish health and welfare.
To understand where aquaculture is now and where it’s headed, Dr. Cleaversmith breaks things down simply. “One: culturally, we have this notion of how a natural environment should be defined and how it should look, and aquaculture, being unfamiliar territory for some, challenges that notion; and two: we don’t know what’s happening beneath the water column of an aquaculture farm, so we’re inherently suspicious of it. Yes, there are issues we need to deal with, but the world needs more protein, and, in my opinion, aquaculture is one of the obvious solutions to answer that need.”
Ultimately, as the global demand for protein rises, that role becomes increasingly vital. And the industry is committed to addressing challenges such as parasite management, disease control, and sustainability.
Enhancing Sustainability
Aquatic sources represent about 15 to 20 percent of the edible protein consumed globally, and of that, about 50 percent comes from aquaculture. And for people living in some parts of the world, fish and other aquatic species make up more than 70 percent of the protein in their diets. These numbers illustrate how aquaculture is pivotal in meeting escalating protein demands for Canada and the rest of the world.
Looking ahead, however, the aquaculture industry faces heightened sustainability challenges due to climate change effects, including fluctuating temperatures, ocean acidification, and rising water levels. These environmental changes contribute to the emergence of new pathogens, increased frequency of algal blooms, and a surge in harmful jellyfish populations, all of which the sector must address to maintain its viability. For Canada, investing to address and overcome these challenges makes good sense.
Dr. Cleaversmith says, “Canada is bounded by three oceans and is also home to some of the world’s largest inland seas. Such natural attributes make aquaculture an obvious sector for the Canadian economy, and if Canada can replicate what has been achieved in Norway, then this would bring prosperity, well-paying jobs, and help to sustain rural communities well into the future. The opportunity to export high-quality, healthy protein to our neighbours in the United States has the potential to bring about a huge economic boom.”
Moreover, international policies like the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies aim to reduce unsustainable practices, adding to the uncertainty of aquaculture’s future in the context of climate change and sustainability goals. Addressing these challenges requires enhancing efficiency and reducing reliance on critical marine resources, ensuring aquaculture’s role in a sustainable food production system for a rising global population.
Regarding sustainability, salmon farming is already ahead of the curve. In comparison to other proteins, salmon has a small carbon footprint and produces comparably little waste. In November of 2023, the independent assessment, Coller FAIRR Protein Producer Index, released their latest report on rankings for publicly traded protein producers on critical environmental, governance, and social factors. In this report, seven of the top ten companies are salmon producers. Dominating the top ranks were Mowi ASA and Grieg Seafood, Norwegian companies with farms in British Columbia, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland.
In 2021, Canadian salmon farmers formed an External Advisory Committee to outline a set of national commitments to guide, monitor, and publicly report progress toward sustainable goals by 2032. As members of the Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance (CAIA), all major salmon producers in Canada adopted these commitments and are already working to address fish health, ocean health, sustainable feeding practices, and food security and traceability.
But to reach net zero by 2050 Dr. Cleaversmith says the sector, globally, still has work to do, raising the question, “Does it make sense to fly salmon from Chile to North America or Japan? That’s not environmentally friendly, and it’s costly. So, can we bring production closer to the main markets, and what do those options look like?”
He goes on to say, “The movement towards full, life cycle Recirculation Aquaculture Systems (RAS) has gained momentum over the last decade, seeking to place these infrastructures close to major markets in order to reduce transportation costs. However, many challenges must still be overcome to achieve stable, critical life support systems with sufficient fail-safes to support aquatic life over a two to three-year growth cycle.”
It is expected that climate change will affect different parts of the world disproportionately. People living in tropical climates who rely heavily on marine-sourced proteins will be more severely impacted than those of us living in temperate climates. This means that, as the industry shifts, Canada has the potential to provide critical support to the rest of the world. But how will we provide this support? With obstacles to overcome, the industry’s future hinges on investment into emerging innovation and a regulatory framework that is supportive, politically predictable, and attractive for investors.
Overcoming Obstacles
As an expert in the field, Dr. Cleaversmith illustrates the technological frontiers being charted to tackle challenges such as pests and disease. Strategies range from using lasers, bubble barriers and nets, and other advanced cleaning systems along with the implementation of innovative breeding programs to focus on specific traits of interest. For example, research teams are exploring the incorporation of genetic and behavioural nuances of some “sister” species like coho salmon that have an innate resistance to sea lice.
Beyond battling parasites researchers are looking at ways to cultivate optimal fish health through advanced feed formulations that include sustainable omega-rich crops and soy protein concentrates. Companies like Nova Scotia start-up, GreensSage Prebiotics, have also introduced immune-boosting prebiotics and probiotics to help support fish health and welfare.
The long-term nurturing of fish demands rigorous study, consistent monitoring, and the implementation of innovation at each stage. Dr. Cleaversmith says, “The aquaculture industry is growing in sophistication, whereby routine health monitoring can now support the utilization of immunostimulants and feed additives to bolster fish welfare and robustness, mitigating disease outbreaks and leading to better fish welfare through targeted and timely interventions. Combined with effective vaccination, these strategies help to defend against some of the common bacterial and viral pathogens, and the path to better fish welfare is improving.”
He explains that in certain jurisdictions, the sea lice discussion has led to regulatory oversight which can be detrimental to fish welfare. “Once certain lice thresholds are passed, improper treatments can cause more damage to fish than the lice would ever do. Having a science-led, evidence-based, rational discussion on such issues has the opportunity to help support fish health and welfare, whilst still maintaining control of the primary parasite in salmonid aquaculture.”
Aquaculture farms are quickly becoming high-tech hubs, employing AI-driven feeding systems, sophisticated sensors, and data analytics to ensure optimal growth and health of fish stocks. This intersection of biology and technology is propelling the industry closer to a future where efficiency and sustainability are intertwined, demonstrating that aquaculture is as much about nurturing innovation as it is about nurturing life beneath the waves. And this is where organizations like The PEI BioAlliance step in to support.
The PEI BioAlliance
In the Canadian bioscience sector, The PEI BioAlliance stands as an example of innovation and cluster growth and development. Home to the smallest province of Canada, this not-for-profit, industry-led organization has been instrumental in propelling the province’s bioscience sector from humble beginnings to a formidable industry, now with over $600 million in annual revenues.
What sets the PEI BioAlliance apart is its primary mission to foster and accelerate the growth of PEI-based bioscience companies, ensuring that the cluster blossoms in concert with aligned resources and collective direction. The organization’s success lies in its unique approach to collaboration. Unlike larger jurisdictions, PEI’s modest size enables a harmonious alignment of stakeholders, including academia, industry, and provincial and federal partners, all working in unison to reach a common goal.
This singular focus has allowed PEI to grow into a significant player in the bioscience arena, creating a dynamic where even smaller entities can thrive. “Because PEI is so small, you can ‘be a big fish in a small pond.’ Pooling resources and aligning partners is much easier than in, for example, Montreal or Toronto. It also helps to have aligned goals and priorities, and to stay focused whilst playing to the provincial strengths,” Dr. Cleaversmith says.
With a sharp focus on animal health, thanks in part to the prestigious Atlantic Veterinary College (AVC), the team has cultivated a niche where they can expand without spreading themselves too thin. The crossover with the agriculture and food sectors is strategic and selective, delving into areas like fermentation and natural-based product development where regulatory considerations and bioprocessing expertise are crucial.
Supporting Emerging Innovation
The BioAlliance also champions innovation through its incubator program, Emergence. This initiative extends beyond PEI’s borders, nurturing bioscience ventures across Atlantic Canada. Emergence provides a comprehensive support system, preparing companies for investment, guiding them through regulatory pathways, and helping formulate robust product launch strategies.
Two noteworthy outcomes of the organization’s vision are Natural Products Canada and the Canadian Alliance for Skills and Training in Life Sciences (CASTL), both national programs conceived in PEI but now flourishing as independent entities. These successful initiatives underscore the region’s capability to punch above its weight on the national stage, fostering industry growth through targeted training and support. The governance of the BioAlliance further distinguishes its exceptional model.
Dr. Cleaversmith explains, “Our uniqueness within Canada’s bioscience ecosystem is twofold: an industry-led board of directors enables swift, responsive action to industry pain points, and an ability to align diverse stakeholders towards a common vision is unparalleled. It sets us apart from other organizations that might be more academically or publicly driven.” This coherence ensures that even initiatives like the hiring of new academic chairs or the provincial support programs are finely tuned to bolster the bioscience sector’s targets and aspirations.
Securing the Future
Addressing Canada’s pressing need for skilled professionals, the BioAlliance has tapped into CASTL’s training programs, licensed from the National Institute for Bioprocessing Research & Training (NIBRT) in Ireland, to bridge the skills gap in the biopharmaceutical sector.
Integral to cultivating a workforce that not only meets the current demands but is also poised for the future growth of the bioscience industry, these collaborations are critical for the security of Canada’s rising population as well as its economy. And as we approach an unsteady future, skilled experts like Dr. Cleaversmith are leading the way.
Through his dedication to mentorship and building a strong support network, Dr. Jason Cleaversmith is committed to enhancing health and well-being, strengthening food security, and boosting economic growth in PEI and beyond. As a testament to the power of curiosity and the value of embracing the unexpected, his story, from the moors of Yorkshire to the shores of Canada, serves as an inspiration, a reminder that the most rewarding paths often begin with a single step outside your own front door.
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