Tag Archives: open-net pens

Aquaculture conference overshadowed by fish die-off, bickering

An aquaculture conference in St. John’s is being overshadowed by a massive fish die-off on Newfoundland’s south coast, a war of words between industry leaders and the fisheries union,,, Dozens of delegates have gathered at the Delta Hotel this week for the annual Newfoundland Aquaculture Industry Association’s Cold Harvest 2019 conference. But a company’s attempts to clean up thousands of dead fish in the Coast of Bays-Fortune Bay area has reignited debate over the industry, which has been scrutinized for repeated infectious outbreaks, escapes, an outpouring of government money, and what some say is a threat to wild fish. >click to read< 15:50

Moving salmon farms on land vital

You may have heard that the federal government has a new minister of Fisheries, Oceans and Canadian Coast Guard. Unlike his predecessor from the east, Jonathan Wilkinson is a West Coast man. Also unlike his predecessor, he will understand what the wild salmon mean to all of us on the B.C. coast. From Indigenous communities to whom the salmon have given physical and spiritual sustenance for millennia, to tourist and commercial fishing, and all of us who want to eat wild salmon that is unadulterated from chemicals; to bears and marine animals who depend on the wild runs, and the forests who are fed by salmon carcasses, the wild salmon is part of who we all are. by Paula Foot >click to read<12:00

Is There a Better Way to Farm Fish?

Aquaculture is a huge industry. In 2014, for the first time, more than half of all seafood consumed by humans came from fish farms, with salmon among the most farmed species. But aquaculture is also contentious — in large part because of the problems with existing open-net pens. Yet Jeremy Dunn, executive director of the BC Salmon Farmers Association, says the industry is already starting to move away from open-net pens. While Dunn says 90 per cent of new investment globally is in variations on the technology, leading salmon-farming countries such as Norway are investing in hitherto unfeasible technologies, such as land-based tanks and recirculating aquaculture systems. click here to read the story 10:54