Louis Deveau was born in the Acadian village of Salmon River, Digby County, NS, in the early years of the Great Depression. He inherited his father’s work ethic and his mother’s entrepreneurial flair, soon pioneering the creation of the commercial crab industry?now the second-largest fishery in Atlantic Canada. That work put him on the front lines of the industry he would transform over a lifetime: the seaweed business.

At forty-nine, Louis incorporated Acadian Seaplants Limited (ASL), and doggedly grew the company by capitalizing on research and development innovations. Today, ASL employs hundreds of people in more than a dozen nations, keeps a research staff of about fifty, and exports a wide range of products to over eighty nations worldwide.

With dozens of black and white photos and two colour inserts, this comprehensive biography tells the story of a visionary whose determination to build a successful business in Nova Scotia, and whose commitment to church, family, community, and Acadian culture transformed ASL into a world-leading, research- and technology-driven juggernaut.