Expert Nanaimo businessman with two decades of experience says closed containment systems would be power hogs By Robert Barron, The Daily News, May 14, 2010
Land-based Atlantic salmon farms are technically possible, but it has yet to be proven that they can be commercially viable, according to Wayne Gorrie.
Gorrie is the owner of Nanaimo's PRAqua Supplies, which has been manufacturing equipment for the aquaculture industry (from research facilities to hatcheries and grow-out operations) for more than 20 years.
He said he agrees with many aspects of a report tabled last week by independent consultant Andrew Wright that concluded land-based closed containment systems for Atlantic salmon can be environmentally friendly and make money for their owners at the same time.
Wright's report states that for about $12 million, a closed-containment farm capable of producing 1,000 tonnes of full-sized, five-kilogram fish could be possible when coupled with hydroponics systems, which would allow the fish waste to be used as feedstock for an associated business.
But Gorrie said while the technology is in place to build economically viable land-based fish farms for many fish species (his company has been building them for decades), building commercially successful ones for Atlantic salmon, the main species in B.C.'s open-pen fish farms, is still a challenge the industry is trying to work through.
Atlantic salmon are fussy eaters, easy to stress and don't do well in overcrowded conditions and they need constant good-quality water being pumped through the systems, which makes large salmon operations difficult and expensive.
The issue of the controversial salmon farms was in the headlines this week after biologist and activist Alexandra Morton led a group to the steps of the legislature in downtown Victoria last weekend to protest open-pen fish farms, which they say are killing B.C.'s wild salmon.
"Of course the salmon farming industry is interested and involved in perfecting closed-containment systems for Atlantic salmon, and a few of the companies are undertaking their own experiments, but there are still many problems to overcome before they can be considered commercially," Gorrie said.
Gorrie said closed-containment systems for Atlantic salmon using existing technology would be huge "power hogs" whose pumps and other machinery would require extensive amounts of electricity to operate.
He said that the large amount of power to operate them would make it necessary that they be set up near urban areas to be closer to the province's main power grid, which would impact the jobs in rural areas that the farms presently provide.
"However, closed-containment systems have been successful for many species and I'm confident that we'll see viable systems in place for the Atlantic salmon as well," Gorrie said.
"Wright's heart is in the right place and I'm sure his report will stir up lots of interest to get more pilot projects up and running, but we're just not there yet."
