Lumpfish will be grown in a Newfoundland hatchery if it wins planning permission. Image: Wikipedia.

Lumpfish to be grown in Canadian hatchery

An application to develop Canada’s first lumpfish hatchery in Newfoundland and Labrador has been put into motion.

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The hatchery will produce three million lumpfish to be used as cleaner fish, which eat sea lice off farmed salmon.

The site will be located at the Marystown Shipyard in Newfoundland, according to VOCM an online news site.

Environmental assessment

Marystown is also where Grieg NL is building a hatchery and smolt plant to supply 11 farm sites which will produce 30,000 tonnes of Atlantic salmon per year in Placentia Bay.

The lumpfish hatchery project has officially been registered for an environmental assessment. A final decision will be made on January 24 by Derrick Bragg, NL’s minister of municipal affairs and environment.

The company behind the project is Marbase, owned by Canadian-based equity firm Pluto Investments and Bjorn Apeland, former owner of aquaculture services provider Steinsvik.