An overhaul of rules governing Canada's aquaculture industry is being welcomed by the Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance (CAIA) trade body.

"We are the only major aquaculture producing country that doesn't have its own aquaculture act, so it's time for that," CAIA Executive Director Tim Kennedy told IntraFish.

Kennedy welcomes the new rules that will likely place British Columbia's aquaculture sector operating under a management-based system for the first time. The concept is not new on Canada's eastern Atlantic coast.

One of the Canadian aquaculture sector's main challenges is that it has no legal definition, or a specific department established to support its growth.