Land of the Lox
Published in Concrete Garden Magazine for the Spring—Summer 2014 issue
Can a high-tech First Nations fish farm save B.C.’s wild salmon?
British Columbia has become a salmon-farming power, but not everyone is proud of the aquaculture boom on the West Coast. Since the 1970’s, the development of fish farms to raise Atlantic Salmon in Pacific waters—now over 100 sites—has been accompanied by vigorous public and scientific debate about the environmental pros and cons.
A new development in Port McNeill, on northern Vancouver Island, may finally bridge the gap between economists and environmentalists. This spring, the ‘Namgis First Nation harvested their first “crop” at the Kuterra aquaculture facility. Thanks to a “recirculating aquaculture system” (RAS), salmon raised at Kuterra pose almost no risk to wild stocks—because the fish are raised on land.