Vancouver Island-based Agrimarine Industries designed the technology, which replaces conventional net fish enclosures with buoyant fiberglass tanks. It will be used at a trout hatchery in a hydro reservoir in the Liang province of China. Agrimarine president, Richard Buchanan, is there this week to open the first of a potential eleven tanks.
The Hook reports that the technology was initially designed for a salmon farm project in Middle Bay. The project was a partnership with the not-for-profit Middle Bay Sustainable Aquaculture Institute, which received funding from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and Sustainable Development Technology Canada.
Agrimarine faced difficulty securing further funding to build more tanks. That, plus a lengthy licensing process here, have prevented the project from moving forward, said Rob Walker, director of operations.
In China, Agrimarine found an investor willing to put up money for the first few tanks, lower labour costs and a government that "put out the red carpet."
"The Chinese government wanted to get a better production system for trout," Walker told The Tyee. "Right now it's mostly ma and pa operations. They wanted to expand in an environmentally responsible manner."
China Scoops BC Fish Farm Technology
GLOBAL - After seven years in the making, technology developed to replace open-net salmon farms in British Columbia, Canada, has found a home in China.
