Land-based salmon farms make economic sense, report finds

Mark Hume
May 6, 2010
The Globe and Mail

Canada’s controversial salmon farming industry, whose growth has stalled because of public concern about impacts on wild stocks, could make a dramatic shift to land-based facilities, according to a groundbreaking new report.

The study by Dr. Andrew Wright, an independent British Columbia consultant, states that land-based farms make sense environmentally, technically and economically.

The report, to be released Thursday, challenges the long-held industry view that closed containment facilities are too costly and technologically challenging to build. It is expected to add fuel to the debate in B.C., where there have been growing public demands to have fish farms moved out of the ocean, away from wild salmon migration routes.

“What I concluded is that closed containment is both technically and economically feasible, and extremely profitable when coupled with hydroponics, so you use the waste as the feedstock for an associated business beside it,” said Dr. Wright, whose research was partly funded by the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

He said the salmon farming industry, which on both coasts typically raises stock in open-net pens in the ocean, has not grown to meet market conditions because of fears it is causing environmental damage by spreading sea lice to wild fish, and is polluting the ocean floor with unused food and fish feces.

But Dr. Wright said those concerns could be swept aside by a move to land-based operations, where water would be constantly recirculated and waste would be used to fertilize associated agricultural crops.

“When you look at this fully integrated closed containment and crop notion, not only do you make more money … but you are actually building closed systems that make more environmental sense,” he said.

Read the full story in The Globe and Mail 

Read related stories:

• The Vancouver Sun; May 7th, 2010; "Fish farms should be on land: report"
• CBC Radio; May 12, 2010; Dr. Andrew Wright interviewed on BC Almanac. Listen to the full BC Almanac podcast (interview is in the last 10 minutes of the program). 
• North Island Gazette; May 13, 2010; "On-land fish farms practical, says report"
• The Green Majority (radio); May 14, 2010; "Save Our Salmon" 
• Nanaimo Daily News: May 14, 2010; "Land-based fish farms possible: Expert Nanaimo businessman with two decades of experience says closed containment systems would be power hogs" 
• Habour City Star; May 14, 2010; "Expert skeptical of Atlantic salmon farms - Report says land-based farms can be eco-friendly"