Transcript – Fostering Sustainability

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The Aquaculture Innovation and Market Access Program (AIMAP)

SCENE #1 - INTRODUCTION: 

NARR:  “…It may come as a surprise to some, but Aquaculture is the fastest growing food production activity in the world today. In 2008, for the first time in history, more aquaculture products were grown and farmed around the world than fish and seafood caught in the wild. 

“…In Canada, aquaculture production has increased more than four-fold in the past 20 years, but compared to world production rates, we are lagging in 22nd place.

“…Fisheries and Ocean Canada is working to improve that, in a sustainable way.  The head of the AIMAP program, Eric Gilbert, explains the challenge:

SCENE #2 (A) - ERIC GILBERT: 

Eric: “…Aquaculture is a technology-based sector. The industry was established at the beginning of the eighties in this country so it’s existed only for / 30 years now.  So it still is in its infancy. /

“…Aquaculture is perceived as the new kid in the block, so / it’s a sector that needs to make its place within the fishery sector. /

“…AIMAP was developed mostly / to help the industry / invest a lot more in innovation.

NARR: “…It’s important to note that AIMAP is a highly competitive program.

Eric: “…Over the last four years, by investing twenty millions in aquaculture innovation, we’ve attracted / requests for over 300 project and we decide to fund just about 130 projects. /

“…Within / the first four years of the program, / all of them / have been completed as expected with, in most of the cases, very good positive results.

SCENE #2 (B) - NARRATIVE BRIDGE: 

 “…In the Department’s continuum of Aquaculture studies… from pure science… through applied research… the AIMAP program is the third and very practical phase, directly involving the industry across Canada.

“…Between 2008 and 2013, $23.5 million is being made available through AIMAP. 

“…The objectives are to support innovative aquaculture projects that contribute to environmentally sustainable production; to generate greater product diversify-cation, green technologies, increased global competitiveness and to create new jobs in remote coastal and First Nations areas. 

“…A key factor is that this financial support from AIMAP - up to $4.7 million annually – is seed money, meant to leverage additional project investment from other public and private sources.

 “…In the next few minutes, we’ll take a quick look into a variety of projects across the country, which will give an idea of some of the innovations and green technology development that AIMAP is helping the Canadian aquaculture industry realize.    

(Music and visual change-over)

SCENE #3 (A) – HIGH-FLYIN’ MUSSELS: 

NARR: “…Blue mussels are Canada’s top cultured shellfish, produced in every province in Atlantic Canada, as well as in Quebec and British Columbia.

“…But it’s here in Prince Edward Island where most of Canada’s mussel farming takes place.

“…The mussel farming industry is worth $25 million to PEI and has created 1000 jobs in the province.   Today, PEI mussel growers produce nearly 19,000 tonnes of blue mussels,

“…And PEI mussels are a popular item on restaurant menus across North America.   

           
SCENE #3(B) – CONFEDERATION COVE MUSSELS: 

NARR: “…The small village of Bordon, PEI, is home to Confederation Cove Mussels, which purchases its products from 50 different mussel farms in the area.

“…In 2011-2012, Confederation Cove received $300,000 from AIMAP for a project to develop and improve the grading and quality-control process in their facility, which would serve as a model for other Canadian mussel plants.

DFO Minister Keith Ashfield: “…By investing in people and projects that encourage innovations and environmental advancements within the industry, we're hoping to create job opportunities in rural, coastal and First Nation communities, conserve wild fish stocks and improve the sustainability of the aquaculture industry.
 
(…B-roll of the plant…)
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Plant Manager Len Currie:  “…The advantages to this equipment will certainly enhance the quality of the product. It will improve our line speeds and inspection capacity, and allow us to identify many defects that would go unnoticed by human visual-inspection.

SCENE #4(A) - NARR. SETUP FOR “SUSTAINABILITY”:

NARR: “…A key factor in Aquaculture’s future success – and in the public’s acceptance - is the industry’s ability to grow in an environmentally sustainable manner.  That factor has lead to AIMAP’s support for companies proposing the best green technologies and best green practices.

“…Two of those stories are here in Atlantic Canada; both involve nets for Atlantic Salmon, but they go about it in quite different ways… 

SCENE #4(B) - NEWFOUNDLAND AQUA SERVICES:

NARR: “…In Newfoundland and Labrador, there has been significant growth in finfish aquaculture in recent years…. and dramatic growth is projected over the next decade. 
“…One of the criticisms of aquaculture has been the way that the fish-pen nets have been washed;

“…Traditionally, netwashing has been conducted on floating barges, located in the same marine environment in which the finfish aquaculture is conducted.

“…However, that process discharges bio-fouling materials like seaweeds and invertebrates which attach to the nets - back into that marine environment - not to mention the chemical anti-foulants.   

“…Newfoundland Aqua Services began searching for a more environmentally friendly way to clean nets. In 2010 and ’11, their proposal was allocated $400,000 in AIMAP funds… for the development and evaluation of a land-based net washing technology. 

“…That funding helped to leverage approximately $650,000 from other sources, including the Company.

“…The primary objectives have been to examine land-based netwashing technology alternatives. The project was successful and the company now washes nets on land.

SCENE # 5 – THE ICAGE PROJECT IN NEW BRUNSWICK:

NARR: “…In an entirely different approach, Admiral Fish Farms of Grand Manaan Island, New Brunswick, decided to experiment with a new fish containment system called “ICAGE”.

“…The ICAGE is a relatively simple but clever innovation. Nets in water will grow residue on them, and this can interfere with salmon health. So the nets need to be cleaned or replaced regularly. Cleaning nets typically involves spraying with copper-based anti-foulants. 

“…Instead, the ICAGE nets rotate… and the nets are cleaned “naturally” by exposure to the sun and wind, eliminating the need for the chemicals that are normally used.

“…AIMAP contributed $126,000 to this $400,000 project, which has been highly successful. It has reduced maintenance costs for net washing… and has significantly lowered the environmental impacts. 

NARR:  “…As well as focusing on green technologies, the Department is working to bring new and different species to the market.

SCENE # 6 – E. GILBERT, RE NEW AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS:

Eric: “…One thing that is interesting is that at the beginning of the program in 2008, we decide that we should a little bit more focus on the species that the industry, the province and ourselves agree that has the most potential to reach the commercialization stage in a very short period of time.

“…So before that, we were investing in many, many species. And through / kind of a prioritization process, we all agree that we should focus on few that has the most potential.

“…So, over the last few years we invest / in production like / halibut on the East coast, we put some money for the cod production, and we have other example for shellfish, both on the East and the West coast, and also in freshwater / so… all this to focus the effort towards the most promising species.  

SCENE # 7 – NARR. BRIDGE RE VARIETY OF NEW PRODUCTS:

NARR:  “…And some of the more promising new aquaculture species and approaches are being developed, as we move westward:

SCENE # 8 - MODEL FRESHWATER AQUACULTURE FARM:

NARR: “…Twenty kilometers north of Winnipeg, along Highway 6, is the town of Warren, Manitoba - home to Canada’s first model freshwater aquaculture farm.

“…In 2009, plans began for a $1.2 million rainbow trout farm project in a vacant barn of Riddell’s Roosters, a family chicken farm owned by Leslie and Rudy Reimer.   Today, it’s also known as Watersong Farms.

“…AIMAP contributed $300,000 to the project, an investment that leveraged a further $900,000. 

“…Up to 130 tonnes of freshwater rainbow trout fish will be produced here each year… a species that will only thrive under very clean conditions.

“…On this day in June 2011, the owners, friends and other interested parties are celebrating the opening of the model farm.

            (B-roll of ribbon cutting and other opening ceremony stuff)

“…This is the first model farm of its type in Canada. Using some of the most innovative technologies and best business practices learned through this particular initiative, the expectation is that future freshwater aquaculture farms will spread across Canada.

SCENE #9 – ABORIGINAL AQUACULTURE SPOKESMAN:

NARR:  “Across Canada, almost 50 First Nation and Aboriginal communities have developed businesses that raise fish and shellfish for consumption and sale. The result in these communities is much needed jobs… skills and leadership development… and wealth creation.  In Campbell River, Richard Harry:

Richard Harry:  “…Aquaculture is not new to coastal people. We started the association to find a structure to deal with the changes happening in wild fishery. What started out maybe with 6 or 8 First Nations in fish-farming is now, I think, up to 40 First Nations indirectly involved in what we would call the fish-farming sector. There's other First Nations that are involved in shellfish, or other species.

“…And after many years of trying, we got AIMAP funding to put together our APSA program - the Aboriginal Principles for Sustainable Aquaculture - and the word “sustainability” applies in many different ways. We look at sustainability as being a year-round, you know, opportunity… and that's what aquaculture does.

SCENE # 10 – IMTA in BRITISH COLUMBIA:

NARR: “…In British Columbia, the aquaculture industry provides an estimated 6,000 jobs, and more than $224 million in wages for people in the province.

“…One of the most interesting techniques being introduced from the East Coast is really a story about “interspecies togetherness”…and it’s called “IMTA”.

“…IMTA stands for Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture, which means growing a select variety of species in the same area…
                       (Underwater footage from St. Andrews)

“… IMTA is being applied on both coasts… supported through the Department’s scientific research in the East, and by AIMAP here in BC. 
                    (Back to the surface at Kyuquot site)

“… The people at this site on Vancouver Island have designed a way to grow a variety of shellfish species, including scallops, inside their finfish site area.

“…The extra feed and waste of the finfish is absorbed by the shellfish and the seaweed, in a process that mimics natural ecosystems, and also reduces the deposit of organic waste on the ocean floor below the farm site.

 “…AIMAP contributed $250,000 to this $375,000 project, which has the potential to significantly enhance the economic and environmental performance of British Columbia fish farms.

SCENE #11 – TARGET MARINE HATCHERIES – STURGEON:

NARR:  “…In terms of seafood, very little approaches the value and cachet of caviar… and the wonderfully ancient sturgeons that produce it. 

“…Here at Target Marine Hatcheries in Sechelt, BC, the successful development of Canada’s emerging white sturgeon aquaculture industry has enabled them to produce white sturgeon caviar. 

“…It’s appropriately called “Northern Divine”… a one-kilo tin of which retails for $2,860!

“…This AIMAP program “star” has received $309,000 over the last three years, which has been leveraged to $904,000.  

“…Among other things, Target Marine has used that funding to design modifica-tions of their recirculating aquaculture system, which now provides finer control of their sturgeon-rearing environment, while conserving water and energy.

“…Producing under the highest environmental standards, Canada is helping to alleviate pressure on endangered wild sturgeon stocks… and has become a worthy new competitor in the global farmed-caviar trade.

SCENE #12 – ERIC GILBERT’S CLOSING COMMENT:

Eric: “…If you ask anybody… within the industry and / within / government, / if you ask them: “How do you see the future for Aquaculture in this country?”,  / everybody would agree to say that it’s a bright future. /

“…The overall value of all the project is over a hundred million dollars, so it made a difference. It made a difference rapidly, and we’re pretty proud of the result of the program.

SCENE #13 -  NARRATIVE WRAPUP:

NARR:  “…As you have seen, the Aquaculture Innovation and Market Access Program has been designed to improve the environmental performance, sustainability and global competitiveness of the Canada’s aquaculture industry. 

“…AIMAP does this not just from its own investments, but by stimulating investment from the private and other sectors, in new technologies, especially green technologies.  For every dollar provided by AIMAP, four dollars are generated from other sources.

“…Fisheries and Oceans Canada is also creating jobs and wealth in rural, coastal and First Nation communities.  The Department is helping to conserve wild fish stocks…and improving the sustainability of the Canadian aquaculture industry… so that it will prosper for generations to come.

(Cross-fade to B-roll of projects and fish, plus the AIMAP name again)

ENDING CREDITS

Thanks to:
The Aboriginal Aquaculture Association
The Canadian Aquaculture Industry Association
The Mussel Industry Council of Canada

And to the Aquaculture Innovation and Market Access Program recipients
featured in this presentation.