Conversations That Matter

Ep 457 - Can Fish be Farmed on Land? Guest: Tony Pantages By Stuart McNish   In February 2023, federal Fisheries Minister Joyce Murray announced that licenses for 15 open-net Atlantic salmon farms around British Columbia's Discovery Island will not be renewed – a planned cancellation that has now been delayed in large part due to concerns raised by indigenous leaders, who point to problems associated with moving fish farms on shore.   Norway has generated a depth of knowledge and experience in the field of land-based salmon farming in state-of-the-art recirculating aquaculture systems and is leading the way, including identifying challenges. According to Norwegian SciTech News, “ land-based fish farming is not free of challenges. The sector suffers from mass mortalities and fish meat tainted with an earthy flavour because the biological conditions in land-based facilities are difficult to control and very young fish are sensitive to poor water quality. In the worst cases, many thousands of smolt can die relat