Tank-raised salmon for sale
There have been many attempts over the years to produce harvest-sized salmon in tanks on land in the Pacific Northwest region of North America, but few - if any - have provided financial statements that show a profitable enterprise. On the contrary, many have succumbed to the high cost of pumping and recirculating water, not to mention the capital costs of setting up such an operation.
One such operation, developed years ago by a former professor of the Vancouver-based Simon Fraser University, Larry Albright, has now expanded to offer products to a group of grocery stores in Western Canada (not in BC).
A recent release by EPR Retail News describes this project, along with the regular claims of superior sustainability factors supposedly associated with the use of this technology, suggesting that “West Creek Aquaculture and Federated Co-operatives Limited (FCL) are partnering to bring more sustainably raised seafood to Western Canadian shoppers”:
West Creek Pacific Coho Salmon, recommended by Ocean Wise and SeaChoice as a best choice for sustainability, is now available in all 170 Co-op Food Stores. West Creek is also distributing its Coho Salmon through The Grocery People, a wholly owned subsidiary of FCL that supplies independent grocery stores across Western Canada.
“We’re the only company in Canada producing Coho salmon on land for customers,” said Don Read, president of Willowfield Enterprises.
West Creek Aquaculture, a division of Willowfield Enterprises Ltd, farms its Pacific Coho in closed containment facilities in Vancouver’s lower mainland. The salmon are raised in fresh water without the use of antibiotics, chemicals or growth hormones. Without the risk of escapement, they pose no risk to wild populations of fish, while a recirculating aquaculture system reduces the demand on ground water. West Creek already delivered the world’s first sockeye salmon grown on land in 2013. “
