2,745 farmed Pacific salmon escaped from facility of “leader in floating solid-wall containment”
Seafood Intelligence, April 2012
Canada's Department of Fisheries & Oceans (DFO) disclosed yesterday (April 18) that 2,745 farmed Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) escaped on March 12 from the Vancouver Island/British Columbia demonstration farm of the “leader in floating solid-wall containment technology and production for sustainable aquaculture”, AgriMarine Holdings Inc.
“An extreme storm event caused damage to the containment structure at their facility in Middle Bay, allowing some fish, averaging 2.1 kg, to escape...,” DFO wrote. This regrettable incident is noteworthy because closed-containment technologies have been hailed by many salmon farming critics and eNGOs as being 'the future' of marine finfish aquaculture, notably because they made fish escapes supposedly impossible... In noticeable contrast, no other fish escapes were reported from other 'conventional' salmon farms in BC. On March 14th, AgriMarine had reported “some storm related losses”. On March 21, Robert Walker, President of AgriMarine Industries, had told SeafoodIntelligence: “... Until we completely empty the tank we won’t know the final number, but at this time it appears that we did not lose any fish.” The Toronto, OTCQX & Frankfurt stock-listed firm did not, yet, communicate on the escapes. One (including investors) would be in a position to expect the same transparency from AgriMarine as from other (listed or not) salmon farmers. And since when did AgriMarine know? The firm said itself it had filed a report with the feds on March 14. Yesterday, a top salmon farmer (Cermaq) stated in its 2011 Report that “Closed-containment technology does not currently represent a viable alternative, especially related to energy usage but also [fish] escapes remain a risk in closed containment farming.”
PAA Note: Reference Links:
Public Reporting on Aquaculture in the Pacific Region - Escapes
http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/aquaculture/reporting-rapports/escape-evasion-eng.htm
Report Link: http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/aquaculture/reporting-rapports/docs/escape-evasion/2012-eng.htm
...Yesterday, a top salmon farmer (Cermaq) stated in its 2011 Report that “Closed-containment technology does not currently represent a viable alternative, especially related to energy usage but also [fish] escapes remain a risk in closed containment farming.”
ANNUAL REPORT SUSTAINABILITY REPORT: CERMAQ INTEGRATED REPORT 2011
http://www.report2011.cermaq.com/
