Sustainable Expansion of Freshwater Fish Farming In Lake Diefenbaker

Summary:
Three iCages were installed at Wild West Steelhead’s (WWS) farm site in Lake Diefenbaker in 2010 to test their effectiveness at addressing some of the unique environmental challenges faced by the Canadian freshwater cage culture industry. The three objectives of the project were: 1) to adapt and develop strategies, practices and tools related to the submergibility functions of the iCage; 2) to develop and implement strategies to adapt the iCage to the early stages of the Steelhead Trout growth cycle and; 3) to assess the applicability of iCage biomass management tools to freshwater fish production.

The iCage offers a viable strategy for avoiding risks associated with ice movement during spring break-up in freshwater lakes. However, the submergence process, at this point, is complicated and time consuming. Switching to a 2 point mooring system, from the current 3-point system, has the potential to significantly improve operational efficiencies by reducing the time required for submergence and offering finer control over cage operating height. Additionally, this adaptation has the potential to improve the installation process by reducing both number of required components and the time involved.

The rotational ability of the iCage offers a very successful strategy for net cleaning. No significant fouling was observed on the nets and often wind activity alone was enough to rotate the cages. Manual net cleaning requirements are essentially eliminated. The self-cleaning tendency of the iCage coupled with the individual ‘pod’ type mooring scheme (ie. all sides of the iCage are exposed to ambient lake environment, as opposed to square cages which have ‘neighbors’ on at least one adjoining side) offers superior growing conditions to traditional square cages for trout at any stage of the production cycle.

More operational challenges than anticipated were experienced throughout the project, however, practical solutions were developed to deal with most. The two most significant issues remain unresolved; that being improving the mooring system to simplify the installation and the submerging process and developing an efficient method for removing fish from the iCage. These challenges will be addressed in the coming months.

Project Lead: Wild West Steelhead

Total Project Cost: $559,080
           
DFO-AIMAP Contribution: $210,000

Other Financial Support:

• Recipient: Wild West Steelhead

For more information please contact the regional coordinator.

Central and Arctic Region: Adrienne.Paylor@dfo-mpo.gc.ca