B.C.'s first closed, floating salmon-farming tank touted as a greener alternative to traditional open-net pens, has been installed off Vancouver Island. The first of four tanks to be used in a commercial-scale salmon-farming operation has been placed in the water of Middle Bay in Campbell River, B.C., Vancouver-based AgriMarine Holdings Inc. and the Middle Bay Sustainable Aquaculture Institute announced Monday.
The research institute, which develops closed-tank technologies for fish farming, is funded by a consortium the includes AgriMarine, Coast Sustainability Trust, the U.S.-based Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (GBMF) and Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC), a federally funded agency. Young Chinook salmon will be grown in the tanks once systems to pump in fresh ocean water and oxygen and remove waste have been installed and tested.
For the first tank, that will be complete in the next two weeks, the company estimates. The operation has a license to produce 1,200 tonnes of salmon a year. Traditional net pens used for salmon farming in B.C. are open to the ocean and have been criticized for damaging the marine environment. Fisheries scientists have found evidence that salmon farms transmit parasites and pathogens such as sea lice to wild salmon, leading researchers and environmental groups to call for closed-pen farming. Read more...
This blog is written by Martin Little The Aquaculturists, published and supported by the International Aquafeed Magazine from Perendale Publishers.
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