Licensing and leasing

The practice of aquaculture in Nova Scotia requires a licence from the Government of Nova Scotia and those wishing to conduct aquaculture in the marine environment, also require a lease from the province for the use of the Crown waterway and bottom. Although the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture is the primary regulator of aquaculture in Nova Scotia, the Aquaculture Division works in concert with a variety of Federal Regulators which include Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), Transport Canada (TC), Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). Numerous other departments and agencies of the Government of Nova Scotia also provide advice to the Aquaculture Division in relation to aquaculture applications.

Aquaculture is conducted in both the marine environment and at land-based operations in Nova Scotia. Land-based operations require a license from the Province while marine based operations require both a license and lease from the Province. Decisions regarding aquaculture licenses and leases are governed by the Aquaculture License and Lease Regulations.

Depending on the nature of the request, the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture follows one of two distinctive processes to make license and/or lease decisions:

Administrative process

Decisions made by the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture

Land-based operations:
  • New land-based licenses;
  • New experimental land-based license;
  • Renewals of existing land-based licenses;
  • Assignments of existing land-based licenses; and
  • Amendments to existing land-based licenses.
Marine operations:
  • New experimental marine license and lease;
  • Renewals of existing marine licenses and leases;
  • Reallocation of existing marine licenses and leases;
  • Assignments of existing marine licenses and leases
  • Boundary amendments that do not result in expansion of the site; and
  • Culture method (gear) amendments for existing sites.

Adjudicative process

Decisions made by the Nova Scotia Aquaculture Review Board

  • New marine licenses and leases;
  • Amendments to expand existing marine licenses and leases; and
  • Amendments to add finfish species to existing marine licenses and leases.

Administrative Process

Outlined below is an overview of the administrative application process from the time an initial request is submitted to the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture until a decision is made by the Administrator.

Download the Administrative Process (PDF)

View the Administrative Process Video

Adjudicative Process

Outlined below is an overview of the entire process from the time an initial request is submitted to the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture until a decision is made by the independent Nova Scotia Aquaculture Review Board.

Download the Adjudicative Process (PDF)

View the Adjudicative Process Video

Rockweed leases

The Fisheries and Coastal Resources Act requires all rockweed lease applicants to post public notice of their application. Notices must be published in a newspaper having a general circulation in the county or counties in which the applied-for area is located and in the Royal Gazette not less than ten days before the date of the application.

The Act also states that any member of the public who objects to the issuance of a lease in the area referred to in the notice shall notify the Minister, in written form, not more than seven days after the date of publication. These letters are then taken into consideration by the Minister when he reviews the application package.

The minister would like to acknowledge and thank the public for their feedback on all rockweed applications.

Pay your aquaculture licence and lease fees

You can pay for your aquaculture licence and lease fees online. The payment will be credited to your account the next business day. When you pay online you need to pay the fee by credit or debit card (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, Visa Debit, Debit Mastercard). You can only pay by debit card online if your bank participates in Interac® Online.

Licensing and Leasing Invoice Payment

To make a payment, you'll need:

  • your licence or lease number
  • the name of the licence holder or leaseholder
  • your invoice number and balance due

If you don't have an account for making online payments, you'll need to create one.