University honours Canada salmon farming boss Woodland
Grieg Seafood BC managing director is presented with Alumni Award
Jennifer Woodland, the managing director of salmon farmer Grieg Seafood BC, has been given the Alumni Award presented by the Fisheries and Marine Institute (MI) of Memorial University of Newfoundland. The award, presented annually, recognises the accomplishments of MI alumni, their service to society and their commitment to the MI and Memorial University communities.
Woodland graduated from MI’s Advanced Diploma in Aquaculture programme in 1998 and has since worked from coast to coast across Canada in a variety of roles within the aquaculture industry.
MI said Woodland’s colleagues describe her as “a champion for aquaculture”, praising her strategic thinking and dedication to the industry and communities she works in.
Talks for students
Woodland was the first female chief executive of an indigenous seafood corporation – BC’s Nuu-chah-nulth Seafood Limited Partnership - and is now one of the few women in a leadership role in the seafood farming and harvest sector.
As an alumna, Woodland has remained an active member of the MI community and is regularly invited to speak to undergraduate and graduate students about career possibilities in the sustainable seafood economy.
Woodland said on LinkedIn that she was “beyond grateful” for the honour.
“It was a wonderful ceremony and I was glad to be able to give an address to the graduates,” said Woodland.
Net pen ban
Grieg Seafood is one of three major Atlantic salmon farmers in British Columbia, along with Cermaq and Mowi. The Canadian government recently announced that open net pen salmon farms in BC would be given five-year licences from the beginning of this month until June 30, 2029, but wouldn’t be allowed to operate after that.
The government has said that only land-based or floating closed containment salmon farms will be considered for licences in coastal BC in future.
