NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020
VOLUME 11 ISSUE 6
FARMED SALMON REVIEW Photo: Grieg Seafood BC
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12-19
SABLEFISH
Staff holds Skuna Bay Salmon, a premium brand of Grieg Seafood BC that’s sold in North America. Throughout the pandemic, salmon farmers kept operations going
Salmon farmers poised to be part of post-COVID recovery
Sablefish is back at the center of Golden Eagle Aquaculture's operation after pricey coho salmon raised in RAS failed to compete profitably Photo: Liza Mayer
Crisis sharpens focus on industry as pillar of the community and economy
Done with coho, farm shifts focus back to sablefish
BY JENNIFER BROWN
BY MATT JONES
s salmon farmers in North America brace for what market demand will look like heading into 2021, they are also feeling optimistic they will be part of the global economic recovery in a postCOVID world. “I think that one of the positive outcomes of the pandemic for the industry is that we’ve proven how reliable we are as a contributor to the economy,” says Rocky Boschman, managing director of Grieg Seafood in Campbell River, British Columbia. “We’ve done five years of learning in six months.” “I think that many levels of government have learned a lot more about our industry in the last short while because they have become interested in terms of what industries can contribute to a postCOVID recovery.” continued on page 12
ritish Columbia fish farm Golden Eagle Aquaculture is done with coho salmon. After trying to prove over the past eight years that growing salmon to market size using recirculating salmon aquaculture (RAS) was economically viable, company president Terry Brooks conceded there would be little use in soldiering on. The company purchased the facility on Vancouver island in 2012 from Swift Aquaculture. At that time, Brooks thought RAS could be financially successful so long as production didn’t exceed demand. But “the market wouldn’t pay the price for salmon raised in RAS, even when competing in a niche market,” he now says. Brooks says the company exceeded the capacity of a niche market very quickly. Having outgrown the niche market, the farm was now competing with other farms and wild-caught product, and margins are low. In April 2020, he decided to close the growout site for coho and refocus on what had been the company’s bread and butter for the past 15 years: sablefish.
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FISH FEED
In pursuit of sustainability Innovation in the biggest contributor to aquaculture outlay and carbon footprint is crucial
continued on page 7 Publications Mail Agreement #PM40065710 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO 111 Gordon Baker Rd., Suite 400, Toronto, ON M2H 3R1
BY LYNN FANTOM
Photo: Cermaq
W
hen Cermaq CEO Geir Molvik recently warned against “greenwashing” novel aquafeed ingredients, he created a stir. But the blowback may have missed one of Molvik’s key points: these discussions need more nuance.
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