| The first group of salmon has now been successfully grown in a new state-of-the-art, land based aquaculture facility near Sayward, Campbell River-based Marine Harvest Canada says. The
facility was built with state-of-the-art recirculating aquaculture
systems (RAS) technology, which can re-use about 99 per cent of the
freshwater in the system through complex cleaning and re-oxygenation
technology.
Currently,
this system allows salmon farmers to grow smolts (young salmon ready
for saltwater) for about one year in a carefully controlled and
disease-free environment. The
salmon, which were grown to 80 grams in size, were the first to be
raised in the new facility, which represents a significant investment in
the Sayward area. The 60 tonne facility is owned by Marine Harvest
Canada (MHC) and is the first of a two phase investment that will cost
the company $6.3 million.
The salmon smolts have now been successfully transferred to Marine Harvest's marine sites for further growth to market size.
"These
smolts grew very well and are very healthy," stated Craig Schelter,
Manager at MHC's Sayward North freshwater facility. "This new technology
worked well for us and we're very happy with the product we've sent to
sea." Marine
Harvest technicians continue to learn about this new technology, but
early results suggest the recycling of freshwater is working well.
"To
be able to grow our land-based farming in a sustainable way, we have to
find ways of conserving freshwater usage," notes Dean Guest, Freshwater
Manager at MHC. "RAS systems will allow us to raise more smolts at our
existing facilities while actually utilizing less freshwater. This
technology has been developed by aquaculture producers around the world
and is an important part of our sustainability goals here in BC." The
RAS technology was purchased from Inter Aqua Advanced of Denmark and
was built with the help of numerous local contractors. Another facility
of similar size is now being built at the same location.
Marine Harvest is BC's leading salmon farming company with head offices in Campbell River and is northern Vancouver Island's largest private employer, with 550 direct staff employed at its freshwater hatcheries, saltwater farms and processing plants. 
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