Farmers splash out on data buoys
The Atlantic Canada Fish Farmers Association (ACFFA) has begun accepting proposals from contractors who are interested in building two new buoys with sensor technology.
Once the project is completed free, real-time ocean data will be available to fish farmers in the Passamaquoddy Bay area in the Lower Bay of Fundy. The technology will give farmers access to real-time environmental data on waves, currents, temperatures, salinity, and nutrients, combined with information on storm frequency, harmful algal blooms, wave temperature, air temperature, temperature fluctuations, all of which help predict fish health.
ACFFA executive director Susan Farquharson said: "Sensors that are placed on buoys will help with sustainable aquaculture. It helps our farmers make more informed decisions for growing healthy fish."
The data will be available to everyone: fish farmers, tourists, tourism companies, universities and to the public. The information will be shared online every 30 minutes via the "Integrated Ocean Observing System" which will be monitored by Dalhousie University.
$460,000 grant
ACFFA is using a $460,000 CAD Atlantic Fisheries Fund grant announced in August to purchase the two sensor buoys.
The Lower Bay of Fundy has 30-40 sites stocked with fish at any one time. Cooke Aquaculture and Marine Harvest are the biggest companies operating in the region.
In 2018, nine farms located in the Bay of Fundy operated by Northern Harvest were sold to Marine Harvest. Historically, the area has been dominated by Cooke Aquaculture.
In the summer of 2016, more than half-a-million salmon died or were culled as a result of a fast-growing outbreak of sea lice at two farm sites in Passamaquoddy Bay.
