Salmon Farming On The BC Coast

Alot of people on the coast of B.C are against farming Atlantic Salmon. I think that alot of people are not considering the main word, "farming" and also not considering that North America would not have chicken nor cattle if not for "farming". Most people dont go to their local market or restaurant and ask if that chicken or steak is farmed. So why does it happen with Salmon?

I have been working on the fish farms for the last 15 years, directly and indirectly. I started in the industry packing farm fish from the farms to processing plants. Contract work created for ex seineboats stripped of fishing gear and revamped with harvesting gear. I helped harvest Chinook, Atlantic and Coho Salmon. 70,000 pounds per harvest roughly 5 days per week, year round. Think of how well off the wild stock would be to supply that kind of demand.

I've been a proud fish farmer for the last 10 years and have seen how the industry has grown. Experience and technology have made farming salmon easier and better for the environment and people. We use cameras hanging at 20 feet in an 80 foot deep pen to watch the fish eat. We have a feed conversion rate of 1.2 (eg. an fcr of 1 equals 1 pound of flesh for 1 pound of food.) This fcr is by far superior to any other type of farming out there.

Lots of recreational fishermen and kayakers and people out on sailboats stop in to see the farms for themselves. Every single person that has come to tour a site that I have been at had some issues with farming that they learned about through the media. By the time they leave the site, they are informed and surprised at how much their own opinions had changed.

If you would like to hear more about salmon farming or have any questions feel free to post a comment and I will do my best to answer back as soon as possible. I have loads and loads of pictures and can tell you first hand how things are done out on a fish farm.