{"id":78499,"date":"2026-05-25T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ccbc.org.br\/?p=78499"},"modified":"2026-05-26T00:26:45","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T03:26:45","slug":"from-ceara-to-nova-scotia-synergies-in-the-blue-economy-between-brazil-and-canada","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ccbc.org.br\/en\/publicacoes\/news-ccbc\/from-ceara-to-nova-scotia-synergies-in-the-blue-economy-between-brazil-and-canada\/","title":{"rendered":"From Cear\u00e1 to Nova Scotia: Synergies in the blue economy between Brazil and Canada"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Igor Gon\u00e7alves, Romulo Soares and Marina Rocha*<\/strong><\/p>

Cear\u00e1 holds a unique position within Brazil\u2019s fisheries sector by combining two strategic assets: relevance in high-value offshore fishing and leadership in marine aquaculture.<\/p>

At the national level, Brazil recorded approximately 479 thousand tons of extractive fishery production in 2024, including both artisanal and industrial fishing. Within this context, Cear\u00e1 stands out particularly in the capture of pelagic species with higher international commercial value, especially through its strong presence in the tuna supply chain.<\/p>

In 2023, the state caught approximately 10.7 thousand tons of tuna (Thunnus<\/em> spp.), in addition to around 11.3 thousand tons of yellowfin tuna (T. albacares<\/em>), making it one of Brazil\u2019s leading hubs for high-value offshore fishing aimed at the international market \u2014 a segment that has attracted growing industrial investment in the region.<\/p>

This export-oriented profile is clearly reflected in foreign trade data. In 2024, Cear\u00e1\u2019s fisheries sector accounted for approximately US$93.8 million in seafood exports, maintaining national leadership and representing around 25% of all Brazilian seafood exports, a share that has remained consistent for more than a decade. The export profile has historically been led by lobster, with significant participation from tuna and red fish species such as pargo, cioba, ariac\u00f3, and guai\u00faba.<\/p>

In marine aquaculture, Cear\u00e1\u2019s leadership is even more evident. The state is the largest producer of farmed shrimp in Northeastern Brazil, with more than 83 thousand tons recorded in 2024, supported by a strong production base and expansion potential in segments such as processed seafood and higher value-added products.<\/p>

Why Canada \u2014 and Especially Nova Scotia \u2014 Makes Sense<\/h2>

Trade relations with Canada are still relatively modest in absolute terms, but they have been growing at a remarkable pace, and this momentum is precisely what draws attention. Export data from the sector between 2023 and 2025 illustrates this potential, both in terms of commercial value and Cear\u00e1\u2019s relative share of national exports.<\/p>

Cear\u00e1\u2019s exports grew from US$525 thousand in 2023 to US$2.05 million in 2025 \u2014 an impressive increase of approximately 291% during the period. This growth also reflected a substantial gain in Cear\u00e1\u2019s share of national exports to the Canadian market, rising from around 19.2% in 2023 to 33.1% in 2024, before stabilizing at 28.2% in 2025.<\/p>

At the national level, Brazilian exports \u2014 driven primarily by pargo and other frozen seafood categories \u2014 increased from US$2.7 million in 2023 to US$7.3 million in 2025, representing growth of approximately 167% during the same period.<\/p>

Cear\u00e1 therefore emerges as one of the main drivers of dynamism in Brazil\u2019s seafood exports to the Canadian market, consistently increasing its participation over time.<\/p>

On the Canadian side, there are important complementarities. Nova Scotia is a global fisheries powerhouse, with the sector contributing more than CAD 1.68 billion to the provincial economy. The region leads Canadian production of products for which Brazil has strong import demand, such as scallops, cold-water lobster, cod, salmon, and premium shellfish.<\/p>

Currently, Brazilian seafood imports from Canada are highly concentrated in a limited number of categories, with frozen scallops accounting for most of the volume. This indicates room for diversification of bilateral trade flows in both directions.<\/p>

The Real Opportunity: Trade, Technology, and Knowledge<\/h2>

The potential of the Cear\u00e1\u2013Nova Scotia relationship extends far beyond seafood trade itself.<\/p>

Nova Scotia has developed advanced ocean technology ecosystems that bring together companies, startups, researchers, and institutions in areas such as marine monitoring, sustainable aquaculture, fisheries traceability, and onboard technology. Centre for Ocean Ventures and Entrepreneurship (COVE) and Dalhousie University are two of the key drivers behind this ecosystem, operating in ocean geomatics, autonomous systems, and marine resource management \u2014 capabilities directly applicable to the challenges faced by Cear\u00e1\u2019s fisheries sector.<\/p>

The Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Canada\u2019s largest ocean science center, employs more than 600 scientists, engineers, and technicians and is part of a network of institutions capable of engaging with Cear\u00e1\u2019s concrete demands, including supply chain traceability, fleet sanitary compliance, international certifications, and market access.<\/p>

For Cear\u00e1, this connection represents an opportunity to accelerate the transition from a model focused primarily on fisheries commodities toward a more sophisticated blue economy based on innovation, value-added production, and international integration.<\/p>

The state already possesses established production scale and export capacity. Nova Scotia offers technological expertise and consolidated access to global markets. Collaboration between both regions could help structure a bilateral blue economy corridor across the Atlantic with significant strategic potential for both sides.<\/p>

There is an ocean between Cear\u00e1 and Canada, but it may function far more as a route of access than as a distance.<\/p>

  • Igor Gon\u00e7alves<\/u><\/strong><\/li><\/ul>

    Coordinator of the Chamber of Commerce Brazil-Canada \u2013 Cear\u00e1 Chapter
    President of the Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment Sector Chamber of the Cear\u00e1 State Development Agency
    Partner at APSV Advogados<\/p>

    • Romulo Soares<\/u><\/strong><\/li><\/ul>

      President of the Blue Economy Sector Chamber of the Cear\u00e1 State Development Agency
      Partner at APSV Advogados<\/p>

      • Marina Rocha<\/u><\/strong><\/li><\/ul>

        Foreign Trade and International Business Professional at APSV Advogados<\/p>

        *This text does not necessarily reflect the views of the CCBC and is the sole responsibility of the author who signed this content.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        By Igor Gon\u00e7alves, Romulo Soares eand Marina Rocha*<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":78495,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"1080","footnotes":""},"categories":[68],"tags":[555,125,229,2206,584,2189],"class_list":["post-78499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-ccbc","tag-brazil-canada","tag-canada-en","tag-ccbc-en","tag-ceara-en","tag-comex-en","tag-negocios-2-en"],"cp_meta_data":{"_wpml_word_count":["{\"total\":919,\"to_translate\":{\"fr\":919,\"pt-br\":919}}"],"_wp_old_date":["2025-04-26","2026-05-26"],"_et_pb_use_builder":["off"],"_et_pb_old_content":[""],"_et_gb_content_width":["1080"],"footnotes":[""],"_et_monarch_override":[""],"sb_djhf_disable":["0"],"_et_post_bg_color":["#ffffff"],"_et_post_bg_layout":["light"],"_et_pb_show_title":["on"],"_et_pb_post_hide_nav":["default"],"_et_pb_page_layout":["et_no_sidebar"],"_et_pb_side_nav":["off"],"_wpml_media_duplicate":["1"],"_wpml_media_featured":["1"],"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":["53"],"_yoast_wpseo_focuskw":["Reforma Tribut\u00e1ria"],"_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":["Evento do Chapter MG reuniu empresas de minera\u00e7\u00e3o e do agroneg\u00f3cio para avaliar impactos nos neg\u00f3cios com o novo sistema em discuss\u00e3o no Congresso"],"_yoast_wpseo_linkdex":["56"],"_yoast_wpseo_content_score":["30"],"_yoast_wpseo_estimated-reading-time-minutes":["5"],"_et_builder_dynamic_assets_loading_attr_threshold":["2"],"_wpml_location_migration_done":["1"],"_wpcp_page_specific_scripts":[""],"_thumbnail_id":["78495"],"_edit_lock":["1779766007:55"],"_edit_last":["55"],"_encloseme":["1"]},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ccbc.org.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78499"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ccbc.org.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ccbc.org.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ccbc.org.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/55"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ccbc.org.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78499"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ccbc.org.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78499\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78500,"href":"https:\/\/www.ccbc.org.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78499\/revisions\/78500"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ccbc.org.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ccbc.org.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ccbc.org.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ccbc.org.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}