Energy use, emissions will increase with land-based fish farms, but….
Canada’s Fisheries Minister, Bernadette Jordan, hints at what’s in the soon-to-be released State of Salmon Aquaculture Technologies study
By Fabian Dawson
SeaWestNews
Growing salmon to full market size on land
will require a high amount of energy, increase greenhouse gas emissions and
adversely impact aquaculture-dependent coastal communities in British Columbia,
a soon-to-be released government study suggests.
Giving an indication of the study’s
findings, Canada’s newly-minted Fisheries Minister, Bernadette Jordan, told the
House of Commons yesterday: “while full grow-out to market size fish in
land-based closed containment inherently has the most strengths in
environmental performance with respect to reducing interactions with the marine
environment and wild fish, the study also indicated that a high amount of
energy is used in closed containment system construction and operation…”
Jordan went on to say the study noted that
increased energy requirements, as well as the corresponding greenhouse gas
emissions, “could be offset by locating systems closer to consumer markets and
feed sources, and by using low carbon energy alternatives where possible.”
“We expect that the state of salmon
aquaculture technologies study will be released soon,” Jordan said in a written
response when replying to questions by Mel Arnold, the Conservative MP for
North Okanagan—Shuswap in B.C.
Arnold wanted to know what kind of analyses
had been done in relation to the late-stage election campaign pledge by
Jordan’s Liberal Party which stated that “we will work with [British Columbia]
to develop a responsible plan to transition from open net pen salmon farming in
coastal waters to closed containment systems by 2025”.
Jordan had earlier this month told
SeaWestNews that the 2025 deadline in her mandate letter is the date to “come
up with a plan” and is not about getting all open-net salmon farms out of the
ocean in five years.
The State of Salmon Aquaculture Technologies
study, was announced in December of 2018 and was expected to be released last
summer.
It examined the risks and opportunities of
the most promising emerging technologies for salmon farming in B.C.; explored
the financial, environmental and social elements of emerging aquaculture
technologies and highlighted some of the ways to incent the adoption of these
new technologies, including how other countries have incented adoption.
The study explored four technology options:
land-based closed-containment; floating closed containment; offshore
technologies; and hybrid systems, which combine both land and marine-based
systems.
According to Jordan, the study indicated
that “land-based closed containment, though less financially proven, is the
most socially acceptable technology by opponents of open net pen aquaculture,
as long as it is developed and operated in B.C.
“On the other hand, the study also
indicated that the hybrid system is likely more profitable and the preferred
choice for the majority of industry, contingent on it also operating in the
B.C. coastal region, responding to some of the key economic and environmental
performance criteria.”
Jordan said the government has not studied the commercial viability of closed containment systems in Canada between now and 2025, nor the economic and social impact of requiring operators to convert to closed containment systems by 2025.
“The Minister’s response confirms the
Trudeau government made a campaign promise without first assessing the
viability of closed containment systems nor the economic and social impact of
requiring operators in British Columbia to transition to closed containment systems
by 2025,” Arnold told SeaWestNews in an email.
“The government needs to be honest with
Canadians. Clearly, the government must release its report assessing salmon
aquaculture technologies so that all Canadians, especially industry, may
understand the basis for the government’s decisions.”
Arnold urged the Trudeau government to
fully assess the viability of closed containment systems and potential
socio-economic impacts of the government-mandated transition and make these
assessments available rather than hiding their rationale for major decisions
impacting thousands of jobs.
The minister also referred to two earlier government studies on land-based fish farming in her written response to Arnold.
The first one in 2008, which sourced input
from 60 international experts via the Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat
(CSAS), found: “land-based closed containment, showed biological and
technological potential; however, at that time none were producing exclusively
adult Atlantic salmon, and numerous attempts to do so had resulted in failure
for various reasons.
“Further research on the effects of high
density culture on fish welfare and disease management was recommended. The
floating closed containment systems evaluated, especially rigid walled systems,
presented engineering challenges that might limit use in more exposed areas;
however, the potential for these to be addressed with engineering solutions was
identified.”
The second study in 2010, referred to by
Jordan, concluded “that while closed containment production of adult Atlantic
salmon has the potential for financial feasibility, it is very susceptible to a
range of commercial variables that could quickly make it uneconomical.”
In the wake of the Liberal election pledge,
global aquaculture experts, scientists and the industry have labelled the move
as unrealistic, reckless and destructive because growing the global supply of
salmon on land would require the same amount of energy per year needed to power
a city of 1.2 million people and contribute to higher CO2 emissions.
Raising land based Atlantic salmon also
costs 12 times more than ocean farming.
There will be ripple effects not only in
British Columbia — where almost 7,000 families rely on salmon farming for their
livelihoods, according to the B.C. Salmon Farmers Association — but also across
the world, said Andrew Mallison the CEO of the Global Aquaculture Alliance.
A few statistics about growing salmon on
land
ENERGY
2 billion kgs of salmon (world production) grown on land-based farms would produce 526 billion kgs greenhouse gas emissions
Growing the global supply of salmon on land
would require the same amount of energy per year needed to power a city of 1.2
million people
WATER AND LAND USE
Growing 75,000 MT of salmon (British Columbia’s average production) grown at 18kg/m3 in a 99% RAS system would require 4.16 billion litres of freshwater just to fill the tanks.
10 day required depuration period before
harvest would require an additional 998 billion litres of freshwater
The current production in Canada alone
would require 28,000 Canadian football fields, 33,719 acres, or 159 square
kilometers of land to grow fish in appropriate densities in land-based systems.
Freshwater is our most important resource – do we really want to move a sustainable sea based industry to land and increase demand on our freshwater resources?
Goal Six of the United Nations Sustainability Goals speaks to the conservation of freshwater and ensuring access to freshwater globally. When you can grow salmon sustainable at sea, moving to land and using more of our freshwater resources is irresponsible.
FISH WELFARE
Marine farms: density of 15 – 25kg of fish
per cubic metre at their peak size. Land based farms: density of 50 – 80kg of
fish per cubic metre at their peak size. That makes for really crowded
land-based tanks.
Marine based salmon farming allows salmon
to remain in their natural environment. This is where they belong for the end
of their grow out, not in land based artificial fish factories.
Land based facilities do not eliminate
environmental or disease concerns. Pathogens in land-based systems have caused
the loss of all fish in some facilities.
SOCIO ECONOMIC REALITIES
Some small-scale land-based farms are
producing fully-grown salmon for niche markets, and the reality is, the largest
of these produces only 300MT per year. By comparison, Canada produces on
average 108,000MT per year.
Land based indoor salmon farms are more
than three times as expensive to operate as traditional ocean salmon farms.
Increased use of land-based farms would
encourage the relocation of production closer to the main markets. This would
have a major socio-economic impact on coastal communities.
(RAS facility in
the US. Pix courtesy of Global Aquaculture Alliance)