Students in Bridgewater and across the South Shore will soon get a firsthand look at careers in Nova Scotia’s seafood industry, thanks to a new classroom program announced June 2, 2026. The Coast to Classroom program, launched by the province’s Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture and Department of Education and Early Childhood Development at Shelburne Regional High School, aims to show kids in grades 7 through 12 that good jobs on the water and beyond are available without leaving home.
The initiative gives teachers ready-made resources they can plug into more than 100 different courses starting this fall. Lessons will cover coastal ecosystems, sustainable fishing, and the wide range of jobs tied to the industry, from boat work and processing to lab technicians, accountants, and even veterinarians. It’s a direct response to a looming worker shortage: a 2024 report said Canada will need 7,300 new hires in the seafood sector between 2023 and 2030 as people retire and the industry grows.
For the South Shore Regional Centre for Education, which runs 26 schools in Lunenburg and Queens counties, the program could open up new opportunities for local students. Nova Scotia’s seafood sector already employs nearly 19,000 people in rural and coastal communities, and it exported about $2.2 billion worth of products last year. Jeff Bishop, executive director of the Aquaculture Association of Nova Scotia, said many young people don’t realize how many different paths exist in the industry.
The Coast to Classroom resources were developed with the Centre for Marine Applied Research, a division of the provincial Crown corporation Perennia Food and Agriculture Corporation. It builds on a pilot project called Local Industries 11, created by teacher Les Goulden and Phoebe Cameron, vice-principal of Barrington Municipal High School. That course drew more than 50 students this year at three Shelburne County high schools and will keep running alongside the new materials. The province plans to roll out Coast to Classroom across all school boards, giving every student a chance to see how seafood careers fit into their future.
