Fear not, light at end of fish farm debate

D.C. Reid, Times Colonist 29 June 2011 Link to article

You might have been startled by Mainstream Canada wanting to expand fish farms in Clayoquot Sound's UNESCO Biosphere Reserve at Plover Point.

This won't make many friends.

And on the East Coast of Canada there are issues, too. Civil action is planned to stop salmon importation into Port Medway, N.S.

That's something we don't want to see, but with declining wild salmon populations in B.C. linked to fish farms, frustration is understandable.

Let me cheer you up with a list of on-land, closed-containment systems that have come my way in the last two years. There is light at the end of the fish-farm debate. It is recognized around the world that open-sea pens are in their sunset phase.

The new systems move farms onto land, easing issues with wild salmon, promising greater contributions to our economy, and, most importantly, securing employee jobs in the process:

1. Agrimarine is a B.C. closed-containment system in Middle Bay, north of Campbell River, that composts fish waste. In future, waste will generate electricity.

2. Swift is a B.C. closed containment system in Agassiz producing high value fish filets.

3. Aquaseed in Washington also produces highvalue coho products.

4. Aquabounty Massachusetts produces genetically modified Atlantic salmon eggs for faster grow-out on land, for example, in Panama.

5. Marine Harvest has a new on-land facility, for fry in Sayward, north of Campbell River, a good first step.

6. Dr. Zohur of the University of Maryland has produced a low-density, insea, multi-product system.

7. DeVine Industries has an on-land system, with fish feed from vegetable protein, in Michigan and Florida.

8. The Technologies for Viable Salmon Aquaculture report details, to the last nut and bolt, several systems for on-land, closed systems that make more money than in-sea facilities because water temperature can be controlled, resulting in faster growth.

9. Ohio State University's on-land system does research into ways such systems can be constantly improved. It supports 200 on-land farms growing perch and bluegill.

10. Culture Hydroponiques of Ste. Agathe des Monts, Quebec. Its neat system produces 5,000 heads of lettuce every week from fish effluent so water can be reused. It is selling franchises that produce 200 pounds of trout fillets per week. And, interestingly, it provides needed jobs for the mentally challenged.

11. The Namgi First Nation has a new commercial-size, re-circulating system beside the Nimpkish River. DFO is a partner.

12. The Conservation Fund, at its Freshwater Institute, Shepherdstown, West Virgina, has a recirculating system, of large scale and is economically viable.

13. Sea Grant, University of Wisconsin, at Growing Power, Milwaukee has a recirculating system for perch and lettuce. It uses abandoned factories close to customers, and exports its technologies to Third World countries to help them feed their populations.

14. Grow Fish Anywhere, in Israel, uses 40 litres of water per kilogram of fish, whereas in-water systems use five-to seventhousand litres per pound of fish. The purpose is to grow fish anywhere in the world on land, close to cities, reducing transportation costs. Bacteria eat fish waste allowing for water recirculation.

The day is coming when wild salmon will be spared and pristine ocean bottoms will remain that way. Google these fascinating systems, and cheer up. Wild fish are on their way - the first pinks have already shown in Sooke.

dcreid@catchsalmonbc.com

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