Canada: The Atlantic Salmon Federation (ASF) and the Conservation Fund are partnering on a pilot research project to grow farmed Atlantic salmon in a freshwater closed-containment system.
"With concerns growing over the impacts of salmon farming on threatened and endangered wild Atlantic salmon, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the future of salmon farming must lie in closed containment systems," said Bill Taylor, President of ASF. "ASF has decided to put our purse behind our policy and get involved in developing a promising new way to sustainably grow out healthy Atlantic salmon in closed containment facilities."
The Conservation Fund, an American non-profit, has spent 20 years developing closed-containment aquaculture systems to grow trout, perch and now salmon at its Freshwater Institute in Shepherdstown, West Virginia.
"We are refining water re-circulation techniques that continuously filter and recycle the water used to grow the fish," explained Dr Steven Summer felt, director of aquaculture systems research at the Freshwater Institute. "That means we can achieve large-scale fish farming with a small amount of water and releasing little to no pollution. This opens the door to commercial fish production in areas with limited water resources and away from sensitive coastal areas."
By developing and commercialising closed-containment aquaculture, we can grow fish on land as a cleaner, healthier and less polluting alternative to older aquaculture methods, while saving our seas, ASF and the Conservation Fund said.
"As much as 99.8 per cent of the water flowing through our closed-containment system is continuously cleaned and returned to the fish tanks," said Jonathon Carr, ASF's Director of Research and Environment. "By continuously filtering and cleaning the water, closed-containment systems control and capture over 99 percent of fish waste solids and phosphorus during the recycling process."
Advances in closed-containment systems are now allowing fish farmers to cost-competitively produce fresh fish in almost any environment, including those with little water supply and strict wastewater discharge requirements. The fish can be grown out without use of vaccines, pesticides, antibiotics or harsh chemicals.
"It's quite simple," continued Taylor. "Consistently clean water and the exclusion of fish pathogens produce healthy fish at commercial densities. The use of land-based closed-containment systems for farming salmon is the only way to increase domestic fish production in North America without polluting the environment, over-exploiting limited water resources, risking the escape of domesticated fish into the wild, or exposing farmed fish to diseases."
The immediate appeal of closed-containment technologies is for fish farmers who want to market high-value fish raised in a sustainable manner. Farmers who raise Atlantic salmon to sell at a higher premium can better afford the upfront costs of closed-containment systems.
"Moving forward, we hope to make this technology more affordable for all kinds of fish farmers," remarked Summer.
FIS (www.fis.com)
