'The Nature of Things' will feature Cooke Aquaculture
Published Friday November 6th, 2009
Business: Episode will highlight firm's integrated multi-trophic approach
SAINT-JOHN - Environmentalist David Suzuki's tour of Cooke Aquaculture will be part of a Nov. 22 episode of his show The Nature of Things.
Intrigued by integrated multi-trophic aquaculture, Suzuki wanted to travel to New Brunswick in a bid to learn more about the technique that uses a number of species to create an eco-system. Traditional fish farming only includes one species and the impact on the environment from such things as waste has been a sore point for environmentalists. By choosing such species as mussels, the waste created by the fish is consumed by the mussels. The deliberate choice of certain species mimics a balanced eco-system and reduces the impact on the environment.
Cooke Aquaculture now has six such farms and has pledged to have 16 operations in the near future.
Nell Halse is the company's vice-president of communications and said they welcomed the chance to show off the practice. He visited the operation in April.
"It was a pretty momentous occasion for the company and also for those of us who individually got to spend time with him and with his daughter," Halse said. "Everyone knows that Dr. David Suzuki has very clear opinions and his foundation has been very, very aggressive in their position about salmon farming, sort of the negative comments about salmon farming."
Sarika Cullis-Suzuki, his daughter, dived at the Crow Island site to see the technique from all angles.
"From that point of view, it was a huge success to even have the conversation and the time together," said Halse.
Suzuki supporting the practice, Halse said, would have a major impact on what future resources are directed at it.
Respect for the environment and community-based operations with the inclusion of local residents topped Suzuki's concerns, Halse said.
"We found a lot of common ground in those discussions."
What Suzuki's take will be when the episode airs only time will tell, she said, but he did let it be known that he'd like to see the aquaculture firm create more such farms in its stable of 100.
Waste created by the salmon has always been an issue. Called extractors, species such as mussels feed on the waste.
"We have been working with mussels and seaweed," she said.
But it's not just a matter of throwing a number of species into pens in the same bay. The quantity of the species used and even the number and distance the pens are away from each other is all part of the science behind the practice.
"There's a lot of experimentation there to maximize the farm to grow the most product," Halse said.
The company has been working with Thierry Chopin of UNBSJ and Shawn Robinson from the St. Andrews Biological Station. The pair are leaders in the field.
Integrated multi-trophic aquaculture is nothing new. The practice, she said, is centuries old.
There are added costs, but the additional species not only lessen the impact on the environment but create revenue. Last year, Cooke Aquaculture sent its first mussels from the farms to market and it was deemed a success.
"It will make money for the company, no question about it."
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Please oh please proof read. How can the Telegraph Journal donate newspapers for literacy projects and continue to make these glaring errors?