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Archived – Interprovincial Partnership to foster sustainable freshwater aquaculture
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Experimental sites : LARSA laboratory - Ferme piscicole des Bobines - Pisciculture Marinard.
The Interprovincial Partnership for Sustainable Freshwater Aquaculture Development, formerly known as the Interprovincial Initiative for Sustainable Freshwater Aquaculture Development, has the mission to promote the sustainable development of freshwater aquaculture in Canada. It proposed an innovative approach by establishing R&D partnerships with Canadian experts in order carry out specific projects related to the issues voiced by the industry stakeholders. The objectives of this organization are then to:
- Create a concerted consensus on industry priorities
- Identify projects with R&D or pre-commercial development potential and gathering research and/or technology transfer expertise required to accomplish these projects
- Promote the creation of synergies between all groups involved, and thus, avoid duplicating R&D efforts and encouraging an optimal utilization of the resources.
- Search and channel research funding towards projects that originate directly from priorities established by the industry
The Partnership is mainly composed of a representative from each provincial or regional freshwater aquaculture association.
Feed Trials in Canada
In 2004-2005, the first of a series of projects under the name "Feed Trials in Canada" was carried out to compare the performance of salmonids fed with Danish feed against the performance of salmonids fed with commercial feed available in Canada.
The Danish trout feed industry has been regulated as to the composition of the grower feeds that are allowed to be used by the farmers. Their feed composition regulations relate to the maximum amount of phosphorus and nitrogen and ash, minimal level of energy and digestibility, and maximum feed conversion ratios permitted.
The Canadian study allowed researchers to test the practice of using "high energy" feed on a small scale under a laboratory controlled environment (brook trout of 60-200 g and rainbow trout of 400-1000 g) and on a large scale under normal commercial conditions (rainbow trout 200-500 g, brook trout and arctic charr of 60-200 g). The studies showed that the use of high performance feed, Danish feed or similar, complying with strict environmental regulations helped improving the growth performances (FCR, SGR) as well as environmental performances (reduction of phosphorus discharge in effluent). A greater accessibility to high performing feed will allow Canadian growers to achieve their environmental targets while keeping production costs competitive.
Research team: Grant Vandenberg, Éric Boucher, Richard Moccia, Pierre Dubé, Robert Vaillancourt, Sylvain Lareau, Karen Tracy, Guy Ouellet, Normand Roy, Yves Boulanger, François Roberge, Francis Dupuis and Jean Maheu. For information contact: Charley Cyr (Email: CyrCh@dfo-mpo.gc.ca) or Doug Geilling (Email: geilingd@dfo-mpo.gc.ca). Submitted by DFO (ACRDP).
Tests were conducted at an Alberta commercial recirculating farm, a Saskatchewan commercial cage system, and the Alma Aquaculture Research Station.
Subsequent Trials
In 2006, a second series of feed trials followed the first one. This time, the study was extended to include different systems and larger size fish and was carried out exclusively on rainbow trout. The performance of the Danish feed was assessed and compared to the performance of the currently used feeds in two Alberta commercial recirculating farms (trout of 60-200 g), on a Saskatchewan commercial cage system (trout of 650- 1000 g) and in a lab-scaled controlled environment at the Alma Aquaculture Research Station (trout of 750-1500 g). The results of this study are showing similar trends to those in the previously carried out feed trials where Danish feed helped improve the growth performances (FCR, SGR) as well as environmental performances (reduction of phosphorus discharge in effluent). On the other hand, the development of new formulations from Canadian feed manufacturers tends to reduce the gap between the performances of Danish feed and the performances of the traditional Canadian feed.
Research team: Grant Vandenberg, Éric Boucher and Richard Moccia, Lorne Louden. Dean Foss, and Max Ménard. For information contact Doug Geilling (Email: geilingd@dfo-mpo.gc.ca). Submitted by DFO(ACRDP).
Experimental work was done at Pisciculture Mont-Tremblant, Laboratoire LARSA, and Pisciculture des Alléhanys.
Another project (2006) to study the commercial, environmental and physiological performances of Brook trout fed with low phosphorus/high energy, newly formulated Canadian feed permitted researchers to investigate the effect of fishmeal replacement and fat content in commercial feed on brook trout performance. The lab study at LARSA was carried out to examine the effects of the experimental feed on growth performances, on the liver functions (cellular and physiological levels), on the body composition and on phosphorus waste. Subsequently, field trials were to be conducted on commercial farms to validate the differences in performance, body composition and phosphorus output. The results that will emerge from this study will allow a better understanding of the relationship between brook trout performance and fat content in feed. This may lead to development of new feeds which could be very important in the Quebec context taking into account the importance of the species and the environmental regulations associated with nutrient releases in receiving waters.
Research team: Grant Vandenberg, Éric Boucher, Keith Were, Pierre Dubé, Yves Boulanger and François Roberge. For information contact Charley Cyr (Email: CyrCh@dfo-mpo.gc.ca). Submitted by DFO (ACRDP).
