Senate CLOSED CONTAINMENT SALMON AQUACULTURE REPORT
Agent, Where are the trials and reports that indicate the profitability? I can't see an industry based on 100% CC production in BC surviving.
From:
http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublicat...94887&Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=41&Ses=1&File=72
FULL report:
http://www.parl.gc.ca/content/hoc/Committee/411/FOPO/Reports/RP5994887/foporp03/foporp03-e.pdf
THE ECONOMICS OF CLOSED CONTAINMENT AQUACULTURE
A. The Viability of Closed Containment Atlantic Salmon Aquaculture
Very early in the Committee's study, it became clear that closed containment technologies are well-developed and have been used for decades for a number of different species of fish. The debate is no longer centered on whether or not it is technically possible to raise Atlantic salmon in closed containment operations; it is, rather, whether or not this can be done at a cost that will allow closed containment Atlantic salmon producers to be competitive with open-net pen salmon producers. As stated by Colin Brauner from the University of British Columbia:
Land-based closed containment aquaculture is technically possible, but its economic feasibility is a topic of debate. What is clear is that profitability is dependent on optimizing water quality and the biological conditions for growth of salmon at high densities. Recirculating aquaculture systems, abbreviated RAS, are unique in aquaculture in that they provide an opportunity to completely control the environmental rearing conditions, such as salinity, temperature, ammonia, carbon dioxide, and density, all of which can greatly influence growth. Complete control over these conditions allows salmon to be reared under optimal conditions, promoting fish welfare and product quality, maximizing growth and economy of production.[64]
Compared to open-net pen Atlantic salmon farming, a land-based RAS is a relatively high-tech and high-cost endeavour. To offset these additional costs, however, RAS offer a number of potential advantages, including faster growth rates, and the potential to stock salmon at three to seven times the density possible in conventional net pens. For example, the Committee heard that whereas the density of biomass at open-net pen Atlantic salmon aquaculture sites tends to be approximately 15 kg/m3,[65] the density possible in RAS (due to increased control over water quality and oxygenation) ranges from 50 to 80 kg/m3,[66] though could be as high as 100 kg/m3.[67] Research is still ongoing at the University of British Columbia, research centres such as the Freshwater Institute in West Virginia, and through pilot projects such as the one currently being built by the ‘Namgis First Nation, in order to determine what these optimal growing conditions and maximum densities are.
As these parameters are refined, and economic uncertainties are reduced, closed containment could become increasingly competitive with open-net pen aquaculture. As it was explained to the Committee, competitiveness with the open-net pen aquaculture industry matters because Atlantic salmon is a global commodity product. As Daniel Stechey said:
I'd just like to make it really clear that in my opinion — and there are many examples of this — closed containment is economically viable today. We have coho farms that are producing coho and selling into a niche market. We've got tilapia farms that have been growing fish in closed containment systems and selling to live markets in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, and New York City for 15 to 20 years already. These are closed containment systems. They work.
The thing that sets them apart is that they're producing a premium priced product, so you can afford the technology… When you go to a commodity product like Atlantic salmon and you're competing with producers around the world who are using a lower-cost technology to produce it, that is, net pens, then you're going to have a hard time competing unless you become extremely large scale with very high capital costs.[68]
Coho salmon, the Committee was told, is produced at a cost of $1.97 per pound ($4.3 per kg) in the relatively small land-based RAS in Montana and Agassiz, BC. With a selling price of $3.50 to $4.00 per pound ($7.7 to $8.8 per kg), this provides a healthy profit margin.[69] Atlantic salmon, on the other hand, has experienced market lows, recently selling for $2.30 to $2.60 per pound ($5.1 to $5.7 per kg), which significantly reduces the potential profit margin if the costs of the production are the same as they are in the existing small-scale closed containment units for coho. Many believe, however, that at a larger scale, the cost of production can be significantly lower. But, without a commercial-scale closed containment Atlantic salmon aquaculture facility in operation, the debate surrounding the economic feasibility of these systems relies heavily on models, which in turn rely on a number of assumptions. Two of these economic feasibility studies (as well as the variables that produce the greatest discrepancies) are discussed below.