Virginia company to farm Atlantic salmon indoors
The company recently aquired West Virginia Aqua LLC, which had been started by three coal industry companies, producing and selling arctic char to Kroger and other supermarket chains since 2002. The company claims that it has a unique and pollutant-free water supply, running from an old coal mine. This will allow them to produce pure Atlantic salmon with minimal impact on the environment, according to Blue Ridge Aquaculture.
The char was produced in tanks that were set up indoors, which resulted in pollutants being kept out or away from the fish. Blue Ridge has been growing tilapia in a similar fashion since 1993, producing almost 4 milliion pounds (1.800 tonnes) per year. Most of the tilapia is sold live to restaurants in Boston, New York and other eastern cities. The company recently also expanded its production to include shrimp and cobia, which is also being grown indoors, and in low salinity water.
The Atlantic salmon will also be reared in saline water, with strict controls on all inputs in order to reduce chances of contamination, according to an article in the Charleston Gazette. The company states that it doesn't use any antibiotics, and that there are no contamination of mercury or PCB's to worry about. "Everything we've grown, we've done tests in the past- there's no detectable limits of pollutants", said vice president of Blue Ridge, Mr. Jim Franklin. "It's a much healthier product for the consumer".
