Sockeye & sea-lice: Coincidence?

[cuttlefish]

X2, Charlie. The problem with disease (and sea lice) on open pen farms is amplification of the problem in the high density pens on migration routes of juvenile salmon. Doesn't really matter what's in the pen so much as where it is located.

As for escapes, at least with Atlantics, which are still considered an invasive species in Alaska, you know when they are around. With escaped Pacifics, you wouldn't even know.

 

[cuttlefish]

I also meant to add, it doesn't matter what species of salmon you are raising, Atlantic or Pacific, as long as the ratio of fish in to fish out remains a net loss, this cannot be considered sustainable. Farmed salmon is sold to middle and upper class folks in the developed world. So, since you are not going to sate world hunger with farmed salmon, we should re-think the whole idea.

 

[sockeyefry]

Charlie,

The only people farming near PA is Mainstream, unless Grieg has something new cooked up.

Farming of Pacific species does present the issues you raise and actually are worse than the Atlantics for those reasons.

The original Fish Health regulations were originally developed by DFO back in the 70's to provide a framework as to where they DFO and other Gov. agencies could and could not transfer salmonids from place to place. Thye have had many revisions since then, but essentially remain the same. You can put fish from an area with the same disease profile into a like area. You can put "clean" fish into a "dirty area", but you cannot put "dirty" into "clean". Problem comes in identifying which are dirty or clean. So DFO adopts the strategy of if you have done the move in the past say from Hatchery A to river B then you can continue. However if Hatchery A has never put fish into River B, then it will be denied until River B is found to contain the same and more fish health issues than Htachery A.

Farms on land are technically feasible nd have been for years. Problem is and has always been with the economics of salmon farming, and the world in general. Everyone wants the Walmart price for everything. This create the whole economy of cutting costs to make the Walmart sale. And it doesn't matter what people say in surveys about willingness to pay more for better, fact is they don't. The expeiment into "eco salmon" farmed Coho from Cedar sold in Thrifty's illutrates this. They are out of business in spite of having surveys that suggest they should be making a fortune. There are a few farms who survive in a very small niche market like the people who supposedly are supplying Overwaitea with coho, although I have yet to see them in stores. They may or may not survive in the long term.

Because people are used to paying low prices for fresh salmon year round, and because this market is supplied from global sources, BC has minimal effect on supply or pricing. For this reason move from sea to land for BC's Salmon farms will result in the closure of the entire industry and associates with only a few niche market farms remaining. This is simply due to the fact that they cannot compete in the global salmon commodity market.

 

[Little Hawk]

Sock:

I haven't been fluttering about Agent's thread for some time and to hear/read of late that there seems to be a more rational & responsible viewpoint flowing from your pen these days is - refreshing.

Good on you!

With respect to the net-pen business as a global commodity, BC will not fall alone as the only un-competitive producer in Norway's arsenal of - 'rented front lawns upon which we crap to grow fish for the American's'. The entire industry is will self-implode thanks to the inherent nature of the process.

Mega-tons of pollution, disease/parasite transfer, escaping fish, unsustainable FCR's approaching 4 or 5 to one, will soon spell the end of the net-pen industry and the evil/crooked politicians' whose palms it greases!

"Some could care less if there's any fish left for our kids!"

 

[sockeyefry]

Hawk,

Salmon farming in BC is one of the most expensive areas in the world. There is a lot of money spent simply keeping the fish alive through the summer. Most pen sites require large numbers of compressors to keep algae out of the pens and to increase the oxygen levels. Alot of feed days are missed due to low oxygen. These are natural conditions that exist in the inlets. Wild fish of course can swim away, but the penned fish cannot, so a lot of money is spent trying to manipulate the environment. It is possible that the higher cost net pen sites could be higher than a properly designed and properly managed recirculated site. I say properly because there are like anything good and bad designs and they have to be operated at 100% at all times. So your manager must be good or you will lose.
So if anyone is involved with the planning of any Recirc closed system pilot projects I would strongly suggest that you investigate designs from Denmark or the East Coast of Canada, especially those which utilise what is called a moving bed biofilter. Any other biofilter design is old tech and not energy efficient. You will also have to hire the best qualified people to run it, people who are capable of getting every ounce of production out of it. If you settle on poor designs or poor people then you will not be giving the systems their fair shake.

 

[chris73]

Moving bed reactors have been used successfully for many years in wastewater technologies. There is nothing new about this.

 

[sockeyefry]

Chris,

Yes they have been use for about 10 years in fish culture. Alot of the techniques used in hatcheries, especially effluent treatment have come from waste water system for obvious reasons. What I am referring to is not to use such systems which use fluidized sand beds or plastic or styrofoam beads.

 

[Little Hawk]

Hey Chris, I just noticed you busted 'a thousand' posts.

Congrats dude!

Now you can run with the big-guns!

"Some could care less if there's any fish left for our kids!"