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Cohen report not an indictment of fish farms

November 4, 2012

Filed under: Letters to editor — Tags: aquaculture, BC, BC Salmon Farmers Association, BCSFA, british columbia, Bruce Cohen, Clare Backman, Cohen Report, correlation, database, DFO, Director, Discovery Islands, enhancement, farmed salmon, fish farms, fish Health, Fraser River, marine harvest canada, not at risk, research, salmon, salmon conservation, salmon farming, smoking gun, sockeye, spin, support, Victoria Times Colonist, warming oceans, water temperature, wild salmon policy — marineharvestcanada @ 4:12 pm

Published in the Victoria Times Colonist on November 4th;

On Oct. 31, with considerable fanfare, Justice Bruce Cohen released his long-awaited report into the causes of the poor 2009 Fraser River sockeye salmon return.

At nearly 1,200 pages and with 75 recommendations to government, the report covers a wide range of issues.

Principal among them are the negative impacts of warming oceans and the non-implementation of DFO’s wild-salmon policy.

Cohen was clear in stating that there was no single cause and no “smoking gun” to explain the 2009 run. It is an oversimplification of this complex issue to assume the report zeroed in on any one factor.

In contrast to Cohen’s cautious but clear message are the responses from those opposed to aquaculture, who spin the report as an indictment of salmon farming. In fact, the report commends B.C. salmon farmers for collecting and providing an impressive 10-year fish-health database that allowed commission-appointed experts to conclude that there was no correlation between the health of farmed salmon and the decline of the sockeye. In fairness, the reviewers called for even more data so that with more information; a firmer conclusion of “unlikely effect” can be applied to this issue.

Salmon farmers expected to be asked to voluntarily provide fish-health data and we embrace this recommendation, as well as those describing the Discovery Islands research project. The public wants to be assured that salmon farming does not put sockeye salmon at risk and we intend to meet that request.

Clare Backman, Director, British Columbia Salmon Farmers Association, Campbell River

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Production planning just like a “fish puzzle”

April 23, 2012

Filed under: What We Do — Tags: alevin, animals, Aqua Future, aquaculture, biology, Campbell River, career, company, customers, eggs, Excel, fish, fresh, freshwater planner, fry, Gina Forsyth, growth, harvest, Hatchery, JC, jigsaw, jobs, Juan Carlos Sanchez, life cycle, marine harvest canada, Ocean Falls, port hardyt, Processing Plant, puzzle, salmon farming, salt, smolts, Stephen Budgeon, technical manager, water temperature — marineharvestcanada @ 3:58 pm

By Gina Forsyth

For Stephen Budgeon, Technical Manager, and Juan Carlos Sanchez-Millar, Freshwater Planner, the end result of their jobs is ensuring that customers consistently have fresh fish at the correct size when they need it, no matter what time of year.

In its simplest form, a production plan is the timetable for when fish move and where they go, whether it’s from freshwater to salt water, from site to site, or from the sites to the processing plant. It’s the blueprint for the company and determines labour requirements, processing dates, harvest and transfer boat schedules as well as the need for equipment such as compressors, nets, and generators throughout the fish’s life cycle.

Production planning focuses on an 18 month window, although it can extend further. “It’s a lot like putting together a giant jigsaw puzzle and making sure all the pieces fit at the right time,” said Stephen.

“I put it in my order with Juan Carlos for the amount of fish I need throughout the year to meet demand and he does his planning based on that number,” said Stephen. If salt water planning is described as “forward planning,” freshwater planning is best described as “backward planning”. Stephen knows what his future needs are – the forward part of the equation – and for Juan Carlos, he ensures that a sufficient number of smolts of a specific size are ready for salt water introduction to eventually achieve the harvest size and time specified in Stephen’s plan.

Juan Carlos can regulate fish growth to match Stephen’s outcomes through careful control of water temperature. Where smolts are grown is also an important part of the puzzle. “Ocean Falls hatchery has cooler water because it’s further north than our other hatcheries so we have to make sure it’s stocked earlier in order to give the smolts sufficient time to reach the needed size,” said Juan Carlos.

“We’re working with live animals so there’s always the potential for change,” he explained. He always has to take into account the ‘what if’ question and ensure he considers the inevitable loss of a small percentage of eggs, fry, and smolts. This means you start with more eggs than you need to account for those who may not survive.

Such high level and complicated planning means Juan Carlos is in constant communication with Stephen and the hatchery managers. The detailed data is tracked using both Excel and, in Stephen’s case, Aqua Future, software that uses water temperature and other data to calculate and predict fish growth and survival.

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