Environmental Information System for Canadian Aquaculture

Summary:
This project description outlines commitments from both the British Columbia (BC) aquaculture industry and the Canadian aquaculture industry to invest in an innovation technology project designed to improve the environmental performance and global competitiveness of the Canadian aquaculture industry.

The BC Salmon Farmers Association implemented Part A of this project, which involves the development of a pilot, web-based Fish Health Information System (FHIS) to support their fish health database, to be tested and used by their member companies on the west coast of BC.  The FHIS Pilot Project addresses the  Aquaculture Innovation and Market Access Program (AIMAP) priorities by contributing to increased sustainable production, and also qualifies as a green technology with new components designed to improve upon current infrastructure. The FHIS Pilot Project will allow for more efficient data access, upload, download, reporting, and exchange which will improve health management tools, enable collaborative approaches to fish health management, enhance productivity and operating efficiency, reduce operating costs, and improve the environmental performance of BC's aquaculture industry.

The FHIS Pilot Project will serve as a model and lay the groundwork for longer­ term future initiatives to develop a common Information Technology infrastructure for housing and sharing aquaculture data at a national level. To address these longer term needs, the Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance implemented Part B of the project, in which they established a Canadian National Technical Steering Committee to facilitate the communication of shared user needs for a national - level, web-based EIS for aquaculture, as well as supporting the development of a collaborative funding structure to sustain these activities into the future.

Recipient: BC Salmon Farmers Association

Total Project Cost: $105,000
           
DFO-AIMAP Contribution: $59,000

Other Financial Support:

• Recipient: BC Salmon Farmers Association (BCSFA) - http://www.salmonfarmers.org/
• Industry: Hatfield Consultants - http://www.hatfieldgroup.com/

For more information please contact the AIMAP regional coordinator
Pacific Region: Sean.Irvine@dfo-mpo.gc.ca