Novel tanks show promise
Since AgriMarine purchased the assets of Westcoast Fishculture Ltd, it has installed some of its tanks in Lois Lake, near Powell River.
The lake, which is used to store water for a hydro-electric generating station, can have surface water temperatures high enough to be marginal for the production of salmonids, so the company deployed some of its floating tanks to grow trout.
This enables them to pump colder water from depth into the tanks during the warm summer months, allowing them to maintain high feeding and growth rates and an improved FCR.
The company stated that the preliminary results of a study of a group of fish raised in a net cage versus another group raised in the AgriMarine System™ tank reveals:
•Specific Growth Rate - increased by 8% in tanks, which means larger fish in a shorter period
•Survival rates (observed over the six month period) - 96% in tank vs 70% in cage, owing to the environmental controls that are integral to AgriMarine's tank technology
•Significantly lower Economic FCR ("eFCR" includes fish that did not make it to market), due to higher survival and growth rates
"The introduction of this advanced technology has brought a new level of sustainability to our farm and is a clear accelerator for our business," said Bill Vandevert, Farm Manager at West Coast Fishculture. "We have seen a substantial increase in harvest size and survival rates in the tanks, which will directly impact our bottom line."
Sean Wilton, President and CEO of AgriMarine, added: "We are pleased with the early results from our first harvest. On-site installation of two additional AgriMarine System™ tanks has now commenced. These tanks are scheduled for commissioning prior to the summer of 2015, in order to prepare for the high water temperature conditions that occur seasonally at this location."
