The Ontario Aquaculture Association and its members welcomes new board member Nathan Kanasawe for a two-year term.

 

About Nathan Kanasawe

Nathan Kanasawe is a second-generation fish farmer, Indigenous artist and transgender education activist. He manages Buzwah Fisheries, a fish farming operation located in the waters of Wikwemikong Unceded Territory on Manitoulin Island. Opened in 1997, Buzwah Fisheries grows over 2 million pounds of rainbow trout every year. The farm is internationally recognized as sustainable and socially responsible by the Best Aquaculture Practices program. Nathan is a graduate of Fleming College’s Aquaculture program, followed by two years of working alongside ecology researchers at the University of Guelph to better understand the positive impacts of net-pen farms on wild fish populations. Nathan is a recognized artist in traditional portrait art and digital painting, and his works included a commissioned piece for the Greater Sudbury Police Service that intertwines the Seven Grandfather Teachings into their vision statement of respect, inclusivity, courage and honesty. Nathan also runs a program called Morebinders, which provides gender-affirming clothing to trans youth and also acts as an education and support hub for trans youth and their guardians with workshops about chest binding safety and trans health-care. Nathan is passionate about fish farming and providing as many opportunities as possible to the next generation of Indigenous youth.