Company wants fish farm on land

Grant Warkentin
April 27, 2010
Campbell River Mirror

B.C.’s biggest fish farming company believes the time is right to see if salmon farms on land are commercially viable.

“We’ve heard the call for closed containment,” said Clare Backman, Marine Harvest Canada’s director of environmental compliance and community relations. “We’re going to be exploring the boundaries of what we can do with this kind of technology.”

Marine Harvest has tried closed-containment salmon farms before. In 2001, the company spent $1.3 million to raise farmed salmon in floating closed bags near Saltspring Island.

“Unfortunately, the results were disappointing; there were no environmental or biological advantages, but operational expense was greater,” according to the company’s website.

Data from the 2001 trial convinced the company it wasn’t practical or affordable to convert its operations to floating closed bag systems.

However, the company has continued to watch developments in closed containment technology and is going ahead with plans for a new land-based closed-containment farm.

Read the full story in the Campbell River Mirror