Closed Containment Aquaculture

System

Importance of Aquaculture

• Never before have our oceans have been harvested to the levels that we are witnessing today. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations reports that wild fish stocks are depleting at an alarming rate. 84% of global fish stocks are either fully exploited, overexploited or depleted. More than half of all tuna species are facing extinction; at least 82 species of North American fish and 43 species of fish in the Mediterranean Sea also face the same risk – and overfishing is the main contributing factor. With global population and seafood consumption rising (global seafood consumption has risen 10kg per person per year in the 60s to 17kg today), aquaculture is the only alternative to sustain global demands.

Total Aquaculture Production

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2008

Years

To

nn

es M

illi

on

s

Series1

Aquaculture vs. Wild Supply

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

120%

1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2008

Years

To

tal

Pro

du

cti

on

Wild

Aquaculture

Since almost half of global seafood is now supplied by aquaculture, it is no longer a

question of whether to embrace aquaculture but how to do it in an environmentally

responsible manner. Also, fish escapes, lice infestations and sea-floor pollution from fish

farm waste are some of the problems of aquaculture. One solution to these issues is to

move the industry into close containment.

Current problems facing the industry worldwide: - Pollution by concentrated fish waste (feces, uneaten feed, dead fish, pesticides)

- No solid barrier to prevent escapes, entire crops at risk

- Escapes of farmed fish raising costs

- Escapes causing conflicts with wild habitat

- Predation and marine mammal conflicts

- Disease, sea lice transfer and parasite infestation

- Poor water quality and algae impacts

- Inefficient feed system

- Continuous replacements of the nets; nets are treated with copper-based antifoulants

which can be toxic

Closed Containment Aquaculture

The solution to the problems

The Design

• We have assembled a team of experts in all aspects of design, implementation, maintenance and husbandry of salmon in closed rearing environments. Some of the features of our Floating Solid-wall Containment System include:

• Scalable floating system – tanks range from 3,000 m3 in operation, 5,500 m3 under construction and 10,000 m3 currently in design phase

• Neutral buoyancy able to withstand tidal and current loads

• Variable depth intake draws water from below level of harmful algae blooms

• No re-recirculation of water in the rearing system, therefore eliminating the need for ammonia removal technologies

• Electric powered, lessens the dependence on fossil fuel

• Fecal material and waste feed are removed through a waste separator, screening and filtration process

• Solid waste has the potential for sale as a plant nutrient

• Real-time monitoring system analyzes water quality

• Automated controls adjust oxygen inputs and pumping rates and provides notification alarms for ranges outside normal operations

• All systems have backup systems in place as part of operational protocols:

• An oxygen generating system will be used to supplement dissolved oxygen in the tank environment and liquid oxygen tanks will be used as backup

• Diesel generators will be used in the event of primary power failure

Continuous Waste Recovery

Technology Benefits of our Technology Our solid-wall containment systems are uniquely designed to float in inter-tidal

regions or fresh water bodies, removing organic waste and using pristine rearing waters supplemented with oxygen to provide control of the fish culture environment. It operates in fresh or salt water.

Key benefits include:

• Maximizing fish health – system monitors and adjusts water intakes in order to regulate and optimize rearing water temperatures

• Preventing fish escapes that lead to the contamination of wild species and gives protection from predators

• Implementing waste removal processes that eliminate undesirable pollution to local marine eco-cultures thus preventing eutrophication of the reservoir due to nutrient overloading

• Utilizing energy more efficiently than land-based projects due to greater harvest sizes from equivalent footprints and an optimized rearing environment

• Lowering operating costs versus land-based tanks and approaching par with traditional net cage farms

• Eliminating or reducing the need for antibiotics, pesticides, and the ammonia used in land-based systems

• Increasing fish feed efficiency as no feed is lost to “drift” (when current carries it out of the pen) and any uneaten feed is captured in the waste trap and monitored in real time, so the farmer knows when to stop feeding.

Photos of the assembly

Salmon Farm • Project Highlights Year-round operation

• 5 tanks installed of a planned 6 tank farm

• Capable of year round operation

• 100%-owned farm and fish hatchery with capacity of 2.4 million ova

• High demand for salmon: largest growth market in the world

• Salmon not produced commercially in China giving our company the competitive advantage of a local, environmentally-sound production, reduced transportation, duties and import taxes

• Cash flow from fish harvests

• Eliminating or reducing the need for antibiotics or pesticides

Fish health is optimized by proper husbandry from the egg selection through to harvest. Salmon thrive in the controlled environment within the system. The constant flow of new water at a comfortable temperature, with constant supplementation of oxygen combined with the lack of external stressors such as poor quality water and predators ensures that the rearing environment is excellent for our stocks. This in turn reduces or eliminates the need for antibiotic treatments.

Pesticides would typically be used to reduce the prevalence of sea lice populations in the captive salmon population. Some studies have shown that sea lice that affect salmon do not occur, or have very low populations in deep water. There is also evidence that moving oxygenated water repels sea lice. Our system draws water from depth, thus avoiding the upper trophic regions in which sea lice thrive. The in-tank water is oxygenated and constantly refreshed.

• Feed

Fish diets are formulated to provide the nutrition that fish need for growth. We are committed to responsible production of healthy food. We currently source fish feed from food-fisheries by-product sources, and we are actively exploring new vegetable proteins such as concentrates from soy, canola, flax, and peas. Our close relationship with our feed suppliers enables us to ensure that the feed ingredients we use are of the highest quality.

• Implementing waste removal processes

Current open net cage farming systems allow waste to collect at the bottom of the sea bed, fouling the ocean and attracting a series of flora and fauna that culminates in larger animals such as seals and sea lions being attracted to the sea farm tenure. Our system removes fecal material and unconsumed feed through a waste separator, screening and filtration process. This waste may be used as fertilizer to grow other food crops and provide secondary economic benefits such as jobs and a tributary revenue stream.

• Increasing fish feed efficiency

Our system encourages increased metabolism and efficient use of fish feed, through its optimization of the rearing environment. The constant gentle movement of water allows the fish to swim as they would in nature – this results in flesh quality similar to wild fish – and the fish feed is carried around the tank until eaten, simulating natural feeding patterns.

• Lowering operating costs

Our system has lower operating costs versus land-based tanks and operating cost models indicate that we are on par with current net cage practices. This is due to a number of factors, among them:

Feed use efficiency – no loss to drift, better control over feed consumption

Optimum rearing environment, with supplemental oxygen - best temperature profiles, water velocity control, potential for day-length manipulation

No stock losses due to escapes, toxic algae blooms or incursion of dead zones into the sea farm tenure

• Maximizing fish health

Our system guarantee protection from dangerous ocean conditions such as algal blooms, jellyfish and from entanglement with predators such as marine mammals.

• Preventing fish escapes

Fish escapes are problematic from both ecological and farm management perspectives. When fish, particularly non-indigenous species, escape they compete for food and potentially for spawning grounds with indigenous species. As well, due to habituation, farmed fish tend to stay close to the cages where they’re used to being fed and this in turn attracts predators which then leads to attacks on the remaining contained fish.The solid-wall containment system eliminates the risk of escapes and predator attacks, thus allowing the farmer to concentrate on rearing the fish

Bluefin Tuna Project

• We and a reputable University in Japan, are collaborating in a trial project to rear Bluefin tuna on a commercial scale, using our proprietary solid-wall containment systems.

• University is a recognized leader in tuna husbandry studies and its research has led to patents related to Bluefin tuna juvenile feeding and husbandry. We will use its alternative sustainable technology for rearing salmon to scale up University’s research in order to establish the husbandry and design parameters for rearing Bluefin tuna in solid-wall containment to commercial production levels.

• Current Rearing Methods

In addition to wild capture commercial fishing, Bluefin tuna is reared in captivity using nets. This method of rearing has proved to be limited due to challenges associated with breeding, feeding, and maintaining a suitable marine environment. Because Bluefin tuna is one of the most prized fish worldwide, the species is being driven to the brink of collapse due to intensive overfishing.