A primary mandate of the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture is to support and promote the development of sustainable and viable fishing and aquaculture industries, which produce high quality and high value products.  This is achieved by providing fishing and aquaculture industry participants, other government organizations, and the general public, with programs and services in areas of fisheries and aquaculture development, quality assurance, processing and aquaculture capacity management, and information services.
  
The fishing industry must work to maximize the benefits available from all Newfoundland and Labrador marine fish resources.  Despite the groundfish moratoria, Newfoundland and Labrador has many fisheries resources available to aid in the development and diversification of the fishing industry.  The worldwide decline in fish stocks, combined with the increasing demand for fish protein, suggest that the market outlook for seafood products will continue to be very strong.
  
The goal of the Department is to maximize the returns to the Newfoundland and Labrador economy from all its available fish resources.  The achievement of this goal will be spurred by the $10 million Fisheries Diversification Agreement.  Initiatives under this Program will focus on emerging fisheries, developing markets, productivity, quality and product enhancement and promoting sustainable fishing practices.
  
The Department's principal focus has been to undertake:

• resource identification surverys
• exploratory fishing initiatives
• fishing gear design
• vessel design re. quality (Refrigerated Seawater Systems) 

Such initiatives are intended to examine commercial viability, as well as to determine fisheries diversification opportunities especially for the less than 35 foot vessel fleet.