Grant: Industrial Research Chairs for Colleges Grants

Resource-based industries such as forestry and fishing that were historically key economic drivers in coastal communities have in recent years seen considerable contraction and consequent job loss. As a result, the development of new industries in affected regions has become paramount. Key among these has been the emergence of salmon aquaculture, which is now a critical economic driver in many coastal areas across Canada. However, the challenge for coastal communities to develop sustainable, productive, and efficient farming practices, is complicated by a changing climate. Future environmental challenges may also have consequences for the aquaculture industry. The impacts of climate change, and ocean warming in particular, on aquaculture are predicted to be variable. To address these challenges, it is extremely important for coastal communities to invest in environmental monitoring programs in order to understand precisely how these challenges will manifest and affect farming outcomes. We propose here to implement long-term monitoring of environmental conditions and their detailed assessment relative to total production and assess alternative farming site-restoration methods in three phases: 1) Improved environmental characterization to understand existing relationships between farming practices, environmental type and quality, trends in temperature and pH, and overall production; 2) Identify indicator organisms associated with weak vs. strong marine production of cultured salmon using zooplankton and benthic organisms to provide a rapid and reliable monitoring tool for local industry, and lastly, 3) pilot-test alternative farm site remediation methods such as kelp planting at fallowing marine fish grow-out sites to accelerate removal of excess nutrient loads in the aquatic environment expediting the availability to resume salmon cultivation at these sites and improving productivity. The outcomes of this research program are intended to improve the production efficiency of salmon farming practices in British Columbia, particularly across northern Vancouver Island, while also strengthening Canada's competitiveness in the international seafood market and capacity to supply rising global seafood demand.