Dfo aimap program

The following four DFO programs are currently funding Canadian aquaculture research and development:. The Program for Aquaculture Regulatory Research PARR is an internal research program for DFO scientists that has funded research projects focused on increasing the relevant science knowledge base that supports and advises informed DFO ecosystem-based environmental regulation and decision making for the aquaculture sector.

Since its inception in as part of the New Aquaculture Program initiative now the Sustainable Aquaculture Program , PARR has evolved to target research priorities in consultation with aquaculture regulators and managers that have specifically addressed their regulatory needs. The Aquaculture Collaborative Research and Development Program ACRDP is a DFO initiative to increase the level of collaborative research and development activity between the aquaculture industry and the department, and in some instances with other funding partners.

The program allocates ACRDP funds to collaborative research projects that are proposed and jointly funded by aquaculture producer partners. The key goals of the program are to improve the competitiveness and sustainability of the Canadian aquaculture industry; increase collaborative research between the department and industry; facilitate the process of technology transfer and knowledge mobilization; and increase scientific capacity of the Canadian aquaculture industry for essential aquaculture research and development.

The broad research and development objectives, under which National and Regional priorities are established, are twofold:. The goal of AIMAP is to catalyze aquaculture industry investment from the private sector, as well as other sectors, that will: 1 Improve the competitiveness of a sustainable Canadian aquaculture industry by encouraging an aquaculture sector that continuously develops and adopts innovative technologies and management techniques to enhance its global competitiveness and environmental performance; and 2 Position Canadian aquaculture products as having high value in the market place based on their environmental performance, traceability, and other considerations.

Since , projects have been funded through AIMAP under the following priorities: 1 Sustainable production; 2 Green technology; and 3 Species diversification.

AIMAP focuses on funding projects at the pre-commercialization stage of the research and development continuum. Fisheries and Oceans Canada DFO uses genomics for the aquaculture industry and in the management of the wild fishery. These tools lead to better disease identification and control, development of techniques to determine accurately the population structure of wild marine fish and to identify endangered species and minimize illegal or inadvertent harvesting.

As an enabling technology, genomics provides powerful tools and precise information to support operational mandates and upon which policy and regulatory decisions can be based. The GRDI was established for the purpose of building and maintaining capacity inside government departments to do genomics research. Through targeted investments the Initiative has enabled the establishment of critical mass in genomics research that supports innovation in key Canadian sectors, and ensures that federal departments can mobilize their support for the overall, national genomics effort e.

Programs funded under the GRDI are also used to augment human resources and help create partnerships with other government departments, universities, and industry where applicable through the sharing of technology platforms and by collaborating in research areas that cut across traditional departmental sectors. For information, contact: Mark Hovorka Mark. A related published paper is available online.

Members of the public who feel they may have found an Atlantic salmon should report their catch to or aswp pac. Marine finfish aquaculture operations have infrastructure both below and above the water surface. Facilities consist of containment structures net pens typically comprised of between ten and fourteen square or circular cages which may be surrounded by metal walkways.

Square cages are generally 30m X 30m and the diameter of circle cages is generally 90m or m. Containment structure arrays are held in place by a series of anchors and lines which radiate out from the infrastructure. Containment nets must be regularly inspected, repaired and tested to ensure they are in good repair and strong enough to prevent fish escapes, with mesh sizes that vary depending on the size of fish being reared at a facility.

Predator netting is often attached around the containment nets to discourage marine mammals and other predatory fish e. Most facilities are located in remote areas around northern and western Vancouver Island and, to a lesser degree, the central coast of British Columbia and Sechelt Inlet.

In addition to typical marine-based finfish facilities, there is one multi-trophic aquaculture facility in British Columbia which cultures seaweeds, shellfish and finfish at the same facility. Pacific salmon have been cultivated at freshwater hatcheries in British Columbia since the early s.

The original goal of these enhancement facilities was to augment the number of wild salmon and support commercial and later recreational fishing opportunities. In the mids the aquaculture industry began farming Atlantic salmon in British Columbia, importing eggs from domesticated stock in Europe.

Today, most aquaculture companies harvest eggs from their own fish which have been reared in British Columbia over several generations and are bred for traits that allow them to thrive in the local marine environment. In some cases DFO provides limited access to wild or enhanced local fish stocks for broodstock development.

Licensees may apply for an introductions and transfers licence to import eggs from outside of Canada. Imported eggs must meet stringent requirements as set out by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, the federal regulatory authority on disease risk management of fish imports. With respect to Atlantic salmon, there have been no eggs imported for commercial aquaculture purposes since There have been imports of sablefish eggs and fry within recent years, as this new industry works to establish an effective, self-sustaining broodstock program.

Information relating to the process of applying for an introductions and transfers licence is available. The life cycle of a cultivated salmon begins in a freshwater hatchery. As fry emerge from their eggs, they are transferred into troughs or tanks, where they are provided with a continuous flow of water and a diet appropriate to their size. As the fish grow, they are moved into different tanks to maintain the desired stock densities.

Cultivation of species such as sablefish may also use hatcheries and tanks to breed and rear young fish. Juvenile fish are generally kept in a controlled setting to provide optimal growing conditions and protection from disease and predation. There are several different types of marine sites.

Broodstock sites usually hold a relatively small number of adult fish for breeding; typically 5, to 50, fish. Smolt-entry sites may hold up to 1. These fish are then moved to grow-out sites. The most common type of site is one where fish enter as smolts and remain until they are ready to be harvested.

The number of salmon grown at a marine finfish aquaculture facility of this kind during a typical production cycle ranges from around , to , with a peak biomass of several thousand tonnes.

Good husbandry practices discourage frequent handling of fish as this increases stress on the animals and can have a negative impact on their health. At harvest fish are removed from the facility and transported either alive or dead to processing plants. A production cycle, including broodstock selection, hatchery production, grow-out schedules and other factors, can take up to five years.

A typical Atlantic salmon grow-out cycle from stocking of smolts to harvesting of adults is approximately 20 — 24 months. For Pacific salmon, the grow-out cycle is typically shorter, approximately 18 months for chinook and 15 months for coho.

The map below provides an overview of the locations of marine finfish aquaculture sites licensed in May Canada is the 26th largest producer of aquaculture products in the world and the fourth largest producer of salmon after Norway, Chile and the United Kingdom.

Footnote 2 Aquaculture production occurs across Canada, with the bulk of production occurring in the Atlantic provinces and British Columbia. Gross Domestic Product GDP measures the value added to the economy by an activity and includes wages, owner profits, returns to invested capital, changes in inventories and depreciation.

The aquaculture sector can affect the economy through direct, indirect and induced impacts. British Columbia accounts for a larger share of direct impacts than total impacts as there are substantial indirect and induced impacts in Ontario and Quebec, both of which have limited aquaculture production.

There are a number of ways to measure aquaculture production, including: quantity produced tonnes , farm-gate value, Footnote 5 final product value, Footnote 6 and wholesale value. Footnote 7 Since finfish aquaculture producers may be highly integrated, the final product value, which is the value of final products sold into the wholesale market by Canada's aquaculture companies, may more completely capture the value of the product that leaves the aquaculture operation.

However, data on final product values are not updated on a regular basis. Wholesale value net of the farm-gate value is a measure of increase in output value from processing. Salmon is the primary finfish cultivated in Canada. Footnote 9 Sablefish, also known as black cod is grown on a relatively small scale; other cultivated finfish are in freshwater e.

Footnote The economic contribution of cultivated salmon to the GDP of British Columbia has exceeded the contribution of all the salmon capture fisheries since , as the percentage of the market occupied by capture fisheries declined and the salmon aquaculture market share grew. Footnote 12 On average between , the total wholesale values for Atlantic salmon were slightly more than double that for all capture salmon combined, while farm-gate value has been more than ten times that of landed value.

Most salmon farming jobs in British Columbia are full-time, year-round, and located between Comox and Port Hardy, along the corridor created by Vancouver Island and the mainland. There are also a number of fish processing plants in the area to handle aquaculture products, although the employment impacts from processing aquaculture products are relatively low. This appears to be due to the fact that aquaculture producers often harvest and do significant cleaning and gutting of the fish, so some of the production impacts are a result of this in-house processing activity.

Additionally, much of British Columbia cultivated salmon is sold in a product form with relatively low value-added e.

The aquaculture labour force is young in comparison to capture fisheries. Footnote 13 As with GDP, job impacts from aquaculture may be direct, indirect and induced. Statistics Canada estimated that the aquaculture sector in British Columbia employed an average of 1, people in both and , although given the small size of the industry these numbers should be viewed with caution.

Jobs are measured in number of employees, and income is measured in thousands of dollars nominal. A recent report commissioned for the Mt. Global demand for all salmon has grown steadily, in part due the development of new markets by Norway and Chile, the major farmed salmon producers. Footnote 17 Chile remains Canada's main competitor in the US market for farmed salmon. Canada primarily supplies the US with whole salmon lower value-added , while Chile is the main supplier of value-added products such as fillets where the cost of transportation represents a lower share of the overall market price.

DFO is the lead federal agency responsible for developing and implementing legislation, regulations, policies and programs in support of Canada's scientific, ecological, social and economic fisheries interests in oceans and fresh waters.

For the purposes of aquaculture in British Columbia, the most relevant pieces of legislation are:. DFO's Mission: Through sound science, forward-looking policy, and operational and service excellence, Fisheries and Oceans Canada employees work collaboratively toward the following strategic outcomes:.

DFO's Vision: To advance sustainable aquatic ecosystems and support safe and secure Canadian waters while fostering economic prosperity across maritime sectors and fisheries. In British Columbia, provincial legislation relates to business and labour aspects, processing of fish, as well as the tenuring of Crown land.

Local government jurisdiction includes issues related to zoning. Under these regulations DFO has established a licensing regime which is consistent with other fisheries managed by the Department, yet tailored to address the unique characteristics of the aquaculture sector.

Licence conditions are developed to provide a management approach for aspects of aquaculture managed federally that relate to facility operations e. The AAR, enacted in July , governs the deposition of substances required to treat pests and disease and the deposition of organic matter.

PAR Conditions of Licence previously in place since dealing with these aspects of aquaculture have now been removed and are now outlined within the AAR. The overall management of the deposition of deleterious substances and of benthic impacts has remained very similar through this transition, as mitigation, monitoring, performance thresholds and reporting requirements have all remained in place.

Legislation and regulation provide a legal framework for the management of aquaculture, while Departmental policies and operational approaches provide more specific context and detail in terms of how that authority is translated into management. This was a very exciting development as this approach allows us to approach disease resistance from a genetic and phenotypic standpoint.

The development of a strain that is resistant to Coldwater disease leads to a reduced dependence on antibiotics, which creates a product that is healthier for the consumer, and also allows the producer to reduce medication costs. Family creation will continue and progeny will be transferred out of the AIMAP system upon reaching their final grading period.

Upon reaching this stage they will be integrated into Lyndon's traditional facilities for future selection and integration into the Lyndon broodstock.

Genetic research efforts will continue in the development of Quantitative Trait Loci QTL -specific multiplex groupings for future use in marker-assisted selection programs and pedigree analysis. There are also efforts being devoted to the development of Polymerase Chain Reaction PCR testing methodology for disease resistance. With the foundation of superior progeny generated by this system, there are significant economic and research possibilities which are now able to be pursued with greater knowledge and experience.

There were some operational difficulties which were encountered. The original design of using screens to separate lots of fish needed to be altered as some small fish were able to slip through gaps between the screen and the wall of the tank, with some of the fish being under 0. At the moment there are no other commercial rainbow trout breeding facilities in Canada that have a breeding program such as the one that Lyndon has been able to establish with the assistance of this project.

This will put us on the road to competing on an international level with Troutlodge and other European egg suppliers. With a breeding program in place, our credibility as a hatchery will improve and this will add value to our broodstock and could lead to further investment from other firms. It is also important to note that presently Canadians rely heavily on eggs from outside of Canada.

Borders have been known to be shut down due to disease issues. If this were to happen tomorrow, many Canadian businesses would be in peril. Having a domestic supply of disease free eggs is very good insurance against these situations. Report a problem or mistake on this page. Please select all that apply: A link, button or video is not working. Two pellets at a time were presented to the fish, waiting till the pellets reach the bottom of the tank before dropping the next two pellets for a total of 20 pellets, then left for minutes before siphoning off the uneaten pellets.

This feed preference and behaviour trials were completed over two days from Dec 13 to Dec 14, and all trials were recorded on HD PVR video recorder.

To make sure that the cunners showed no interest in the feed pellet because they were not hungry, we substituted pellets on the fourth trial with mussel meat and in every substitution with mussels; all the cunners attacked and consumed all the mussels vigorously. The original plan was to have the project started in June or July while sea lice levels were relatively low and water temperatures were rising.

This would likely give the cunners an opportunity to keep ahead of the increasing sea lice levels. However, by the time the project commenced, sea lice numbers on fish at the site had reached a very high level resulting in the need to treat the salmon with Salmosan azamethiphos and Interox Paramove 50 hydrogen peroxide prior to cunner stocking. The first treatment was done on Sept 19, with Salmosan. This was followed approximately one month later by another treatment with Interox and then a third treatment on Dec 11, also with Interox.

Smolt nets measuring 12 m x 12 m x 7 m deep were installed in a two-row steel cage system. Salmon were initially fed 5 mm Signature Salmon feed with size increases to 6.

Evergreen Fisheries Inc. Evergreen Fisheries , a commercial fishing company from Digby, Nova Scotia was contracted for the collection of wild cunners and samples of cunners were taken for health testing in Sept Data on catch and by-catch, GPS locations, haul times, etc.

Mort dives were conducted weekly with two divers taking approximately one hour to complete the work. Salmon weights were usually projected by computer program but were occasionally sampled using Vicass to more accurately revise projections. Weights were also obtained during lice treatments. Sea lice counts on the salmon began prior to introduction of the cunners in order to establish baseline levels and this counting was continued on a weekly basis through the late summer and fall seasons.

Salmon and cunners were monitored with respect to mortalities on a weekly basis and entered into KCS database software called Farm Control now known as Fish Talk. All data would be compiled and reported in the final project report Oct Counts were usually done by two counters and one data transcriber with each session taking about two hours.

A total of ten fish from each cage was randomly sampled. Approximately cunners the replacement cunners were kept in a spare cage to be used to replace any mortality suffered by any cunners in the trial cages and were fed crushed mussels on a weekly basis.

They were also observed to feed on biofoulants on the net. Given the late start in , cunners in the trial cages were held over through the winter in order to continue the trial through the summer of , extending the AIMAP project to Sept 30, This would provide a more complete data set and permit making a more realistic assessment of the efficacy of the cunners at removing sea lice from salmon.

There was no interruption of activities associated with this extended phase of the trials from the original start date till fish were harvested.

For the period from Apr 1, to Sept 20, when fish were harvested, lice counts were done by one technician from the KCS Fish Health team which took about three hours, although counters from AVC continued to do pre and post treatment counts. Prior to treatments with Salmosan and Interox during this field trial, the potential impacts of these treatments on cunners were tested in the laboratory by DFO senior scientist, Dr. Les Burridge. Burridge's results showed no negative impact of Salmosan and Interox at commercial treatment concentrations on the cunners.

Daily activities, other than the twice daily feedings, consisted of general site maintenance, observing biosecurity protocols and data collection temperature, dissolved oxygen level, etc. Nets had to be kept free of biofoulants to make sure that cunners do not feed on them instead of sea lice.

This was achieved by divers washing the nets with pressure washers and by changing nets when necessary. The late start date in did not allow for a full assessment of cunner effectiveness as sea lice levels were very high at project start and the decreasing late fall water temperatures likely impacted cunner activity.