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Integrated Aquaculture - An Old Recycling Concept for Renewed Sustainability – AquaNet
| Visual | Audio |
|---|---|
| Composite of images of salmon, mussel and seaweed aquaculture | The idea of growing different aquatic species together to improve crops and benefit the environment is an age old concept but new to modern aquaculture in North America and Europe. |
| Dr. Thierry Chopin University of New Brunswick Saint John Thierry: 05:26:44 - 27:05
|
I think At the present time being the only project that has the three species together, I think we are the cutting edge of modeling what modern integrated aquaculture really is.
If we can demonstrate that we can grow a safe, economically feasible product, I can see it as being part of the way we do business . |
| Integrated Aquaculture - An Old New Concept
An AquaNet research project at the University of New Brunswick AquaNet logo |
An AquaNet research project at the University of New Brunswick, co-led by Dr. Thierry Chopin and Dr. Shawn Robinson, and a team of scientists at the university and the Saint Andrews Biological Station, combines finfish, shellfish and seaweed to form an integrated, environmentally balanced system. It also involves aquaculture companies to explore how they can incorporate this new concept into their businesses, and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to monitor health and safety aspects. This innovative pilot project combines laboratory and field research to safely culture shellfish and kelp in close proximity to salmon farms. |
| Salmon feeding, under-water images | Highly sophisticated feeding systems for cultured salmon have helped to optimize feed consumption and reduce wasting pellets that fall to the bottom and dissolve. Fish also produce discharges, rich in the nutrients Nitrogen and Phosphorus. Tidal currents and other factors determine how quickly these nutrients are dispersed in the surrounding water. The approach in integrated aquaculture, however, is not dilution but conversion. |
| Thierry Chopin (05:15:14- 15:56 with field and laboratory images |
Integrated aquaculture it's when you combine several species. What is important is to combine what is called fed aquaculture, which is the salmon that you feed with pellets, with extractive aquaculture. Through the mussels we extract the organic matter, the particules that they absorb. And the other part which is inorganic extractive, where you have the seaweed that are absorbing the nutrients, especially nitrogen and phosphorus. So when you combine all three together you balance the system. |
| Map: Bay of Fundy, sites marked (Thierry to provide) Bay of Fundy - project site (01:13:50; 02:05:13; 02:17:59) |
In the Bay of Fundy seaweed and mussels are cultured at three different integrated research sites to examine the differences in growth patterns, environmental conditions, feed conversion, toxicity levels, and explore the economics of an integrated system. |
| Scott McKinley | For Dr. Scott McKinley, AquaNet's Executive Scientific Director, this innovative project demonstrates exactly what AquaNet is all about. |
| Dr. R. Scott McKinley
Executive Scientific Director, AquaNet Scott 01:04:14 - 04:37 |
AquaNet is what we call a Network of Centres of Excellence in Aquaculture. |
| Scott Mckinley - 01:01:56-02:08 | Our mission is to help foster sustainable aquaculture sector in Canada through research and education |
| Scott McKinley - 01:06:10 - 06:26 | Our long term goal, our legacy, will be essentially the eventual harmonization and the integration of both the culture fish and the capture fish into one sustainable aquaculture sector speaking for academia, First Nations, NGOs, and the industry. |
| Scott McKinley - 01:07:00 - 07:20 | This integrated aquaculture project speaks to the creative, innovative approach to help Canada sustain aquaculture. |
| Clips from
02:29:40 - 30:00 scenery 02:01:10 - salmon feeder 02:05:13 - panaroma view 02:06:40 - salmon jumping in pen 02:30:44- 31:18 mussel lines in water 02:30:15 - 30:40 mussel close-up |
Salmon farmers tend to see mussels as a nuisance. They settle on and foul the nets of salmon pens and have to be removed and discarded. Not so in this project. Because mussels feed on the dispersed particles in the water, they play an important role in the cleaning, or so called "bio-remediation" of the nutrient rich water near salmon farms. So why not turn a nuisance into an opportunity? |
| Clips from
02: 20:32 - 22:20 Shawn on raft, pulling up mussel line 02:25:13 - 26:15 TerraLynn with log book |
Studying the growth patterns and conditions of these mussels and the ecological balance of the system is the focus for Dr. Shawn Robinson at the Saint Andrews Biological Station and graduate student TerraLynn Lander. So far the results have been very encouraging. |
| Dr. Shawn Robinson Fisheries and Oceans Canada Saint Andrews Biological Station Shawn Robinson 03:02:28 |
They have about doubled their weight in that month |
| Shawn Robinson
03:03:26 - 03:35 |
The mussels do very well when they grow next to a salmon farm. Now that is not a big surprise. The mussels were growing almost twice as fast at the salmon sites than away from salmon sites.. |
| Clips from
02:22:20 - 24:00 Shawn measuring mussels or UNDERWATER CAMERA |
The researchers been working in conjunction with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to ensure that the mussels meet Canadian food safety standards |
| Shawn : 03:03:55
03: 04:30.. - 04:.40. 03:04:17 - 03:05:19 03:04:50 |
We have been checking things, like any toxins that have been produced by the natural phytoplankton that is in the water, any drug residuals that might be in there, therapeutants, and we have been looking for heavy metals in the water, any signs of the other pollutants that come in there, PCBs, that sort of thing .
The bottom line is that we don't really seem to see any problems. |
| 03:06:11
03:07:05 03:07:22 |
There will be quality control, there will be complete food safety tracking going on for the whole time.
All in all, the food safety is a good news story. |
| On a return visit , Dr. Shawn Robinson monitors the growth of the mussels | |
| So basically there is about 3 months of growth so far on this. I think they grow incredibly well. | |
| A blind taste test confirmed that the mussels grown close to salmon sites are just as tasty as those grown at regular sites and help meet the growing demand for shellfish products. | |
| 03:08:06
03:08:34 03:09:13 |
We had all sorts of interest, there is a lot of people peaking over our shoulders waiting to see what happens
What we'll see is a bit of gold rush for people trying to adapt because it's very a low cost add on to your system. This is an alternative, rather than costing them money . they can make money on the seed. |
| Insert:
Patrick Fitzgerald Heritage Salmon Company Inc. 06:11:28 or 11:43 or 12:13 |
The research has convinced Patrick Fitzgerald, supervisor for marine operations for Heritage Salmon in New Brunswick to explore this idea further. |
| Patrick Fitzgerald
05:08:20 |
We initially became involved more or less out of curiosity, working on the salmon farms we noticed that the mussels do grow fast |
| Patrick Fitzgerald 05:06:39-06:49
+ images from salmon site (tape 2) 02:10:20 feed boat 02:10:46 - 02:12:50 feeding, panorama |
So we knew they were onto something. |
| Patrick Fitzgerald 05:05:38 - 05:58
+ images |
As time went on, we became involved in some other issues. We see it is a possibility of bioremediation of the salmonid finfish sites. |
| Patrick Fitzgerald 05:07:59 | What we have to make sure is that what is driving this industry are the finfish |
| Patrick Fitzgerald 05:08:27 | As we move on, if we have a marketable product, and if we can demonstrate that we can do the polyculture, I think the industry will readily embrace it. |
| 2" background | |
| 01:05:57 "Seaweed Shuttle"
01:24:10 . kelp lines 02:02:00 - 02:45 seaweed line 02:04:19 - UNBSJ buoy |
Besides salmon and mussels, seaweed is the third component of this integrated aquaculture system and the focus of Dr. Thierry Chopin's research.
One of the challenges and key accomplishments of this project has been to successfully rear the seaweed species Laminaria from seed to harvest and to refine culture techniques. When the young kelp are approximately half a millimetre long, it is time to transfer them from the lab to the sea. |
| (Blend in):
Dr. Thierry Chopin University of New Brunswick Saint John |
|
| 05:17:43 - 18:04 Thierry
05:18:14 |
The seaweed are growing 46% faster when they are closer to an aquaculture site than when they are away, and the mussels are more than doubling their weight . So altogether it shows that two of the species, the seaweed and the mussels are taking advantage of the food that is there anyway..
So as a matter of fact, If we can use more of it for all three species, it's a win-win situation for everybody. |
| In early July, the seaweed is harvested for analysis | |
| 02: 20:20-20:28 Harvested Kelp in boat - Thierry | I think we have roughly half a ton of kelp by harvesting only three ropes - It's a pretty good production this year" |
| Kelp harvest - end on Raul Ugarte
(01:21:20 Approaching test site 01:24 . 02:01:15 kelp harvesting 02:06:16- 06:39 kelp harvesting 02:00:45 ).. |
Raul Ugarte is a research scientist for Acadian Seaplants, which harvests and processes marine algae and is also one of the companies participating in the project. |
| Raul Ugarte
Acadian Seaplants 04:15:20 - 15:45 04:15:51 - 16:20 04:16:39 |
We are always looking for alternative species, like Laminaria, which is the seaweed which we just harvested today on the ropes around the salmon cages. Those seaweeds are used at the present time for animal feed or fertilizers. . There is some potential use for these alternative species for nutraceuticals, for the beauty industry, and pharmaceuticals. So there is a potential there that need to be explored. . It is a very small market yet. But it has a good potential. .. |
| Raul Guarte
04:17:18:14 19:12- |
One challenge is to expand this cultivation to a much bigger scale. So the potential is there. |
| The next step is to measure and quantify conversion ratios and develop a model for a balanced system. | |
| 05:19:32 - 19:52 Thierry
|
So far we have done it at the experimental level, we were interested in how do we grow mussels, how do we grow seaweeds. |
| 05: 20:24 - 20:44
Thierry |
The 2nd phase will be to scale up, and then develop the economic model and the environmental model |
| 05:19:05 - 19:15 | And again as I have said many times. Don't put all your salmon eggs into the same basket. Diversify so that you can gain always something on one of the crops. |
| Before salmon farmers can become integrated aquaculturists, the rules governing aquaculture operations have to be changed to allow the culture of shellfish and aquatic plants in close proximity to salmon farms. This research is providing the scientific evidence to support this change.
Providing seed funding has been important in this early stage. |
|
| Dr. Thierry Chopin
University of New Brunswick Saint John Thierry 27:28 - 36 27:58 - 28:05 28:07 - 28:15 |
What has been very important is AquaNet funding has allowed us to leverage all sorts of money.
Altogether we have 31 people in the project and 9 graduate students - so it's quite a team. |
| 04:02-23 - 04:04:09 | For TerraLynn Lander, graduate student at the University of New Brunswick, involvement in this project has provided exciting education and training opportunities. |
| TerraLynn Lander
University of New Brunswick Saint John TerraLynn 03:21:40 03:22:24 03:23:04 03:23:22-23:27 03: 23:46 - 23:54 + images Shawn and TerraLynn |
This kind of science is brand new and there are a lot of industries beginning to become interested in it and it might open up some new doors career wise with the new science coming on board.
The AquaNet stipend has been increasingly important for living expenses and as well as to carry out research AquaNet has done a great job in providing students opportunities to meet other people as well as industry. |
| After three years researchers are finding that an old concept really is a new approach to modern aquaculture. | |
| 26:56 - 27:05 Thierry | We are the cutting edge of modeling what really modern integrated aquaculture is. |
| Shawn 03:19:25 -
19:38 |
What I like to see happen out of this project would be to provide a new vision for people to look at the way we produce food in a marine environment |
| Special Thanks to Dr. Thierry Chopin |
Professor of Marine Biology and Chair Department of Biology University of New Brunswick Saint John |
| Dr. Shawn Robinson | Adjunct Professor Senior Marine Scientist Saint Andrews Biological Station Fisheries and Oceans Canada |
| Dr. R. Scott McKinley | Executive Scientific Director, AquaNet Professor, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences The University of British Columbia |
| Patrick Fitzgerald | Supervisor, Marine Operations Heritage Salmon Company Inc. New Brunswick |
| Raul Ugarte | Research Scientist Acadian Seaplants Limited |
| Terralynn Lander | Graduate Student University of New Brunswick Saint John |
| An AquaNet Research Project at | University of New Brunswick Saint John Saint Andrews Biological Station Canadian Food Inspection Agency |
| Research has been funded by | AquaNet |
| In-kind contribution | University of New Brunswick Saint John, Saint Andrews Biological Station (DFO), Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Heritage Salmon Ltd., Acadian Seaplants Limited, Ocean Nutrition Canada, Atlantic Silver Inc.,
Dr. Uschi Koebberling |
Executive Producer |
Communications Manager, AquaNet |
| Produced by Innovative Videosolutions Saint John, New Brunswick |
Camera: Michael Burchill Editor: Darell Bainbridge |
| Underwater Footage | Dr. Shawn Robinson |
| Narrator | Jeff Banks |
| AquaNet is a Network of Centres Of Excellence, a program funded by the federal government |
