Closed Containment - Marine Harvest, Norway - $100 Million - Updated, Aug 30, 2016

While Canada lags behind with introducing closed containment for farmed fish, Norway steams ahead, leaving us in the dust.

"Norway has introduced a "polluter pays" approach and green licenses to stimulate the use of environmentally-friendly technology. Marine Harvest and Hauge Aqua, confronted by rising production costs mainly due to sea lice and escapes, signed a contract in February to invest $100 million in development of closed containment systems in the ocean."

[The technology, created by Hauge Aqua, is based on the "egg" concept -- a construction shaped thereof, which has a height of 44 meters, and is 33 meters in width.]

Yes, that's the recalcitrant Marine Harvest, that in BC still goes by in-ocean fish farms as 'our business model' and that along with Cermaq and Grieg Seafood are responsible for almost all of the $10.4 Billion in sewage damage in BC, is investing big time in closed containment in its own country.

Now that I pick myself up from falling off my chair, as throat gagging as it is, I say bravo, but don't sing it too loud. That's because in Norway, CEO Aarskogg recently was quoted as saying they had some tricks up their sleeves. One of these is licenses for open ocean, free sewage drop licenses, where it is difficult to keep an eye on them (although in these days of drones, they aren't far away).

And, to pick myself off the ground again, the doubly recalcitrant DFO, has long been identified as having a conflict of interest in supporting fish farms and wild fish, has actually identified in-ocean fish farms as a huge problem:

'DFO's recovery potential assessments for all of these wild populations [Atlantics] consistently identify sea cage salmon farming as being of a high level of concern to their recovery and survival.'

You may know that on-land fish farming has already begun in Nova Scotia, with Sustainable Blue and CanAqua growing salmon in closed-containment facilities for market.

Atlantic Salmon Federation's Bill Taylor says about Grieg Seafood and the boom/bust Placentia Bay development in NL: "It is time that Canada invest in supporting closed-containment facilities, rather than sea cage operations like the one proposed by Norway-based Grieg Newfoundland to establish eleven marine farm sites in Placentia Bay in southern Newfoundland, using European strain salmon."

Taylor summed up the issue of getting fish farms out of our oceans this way: "The responsible action for Canada is to deal with all the impacts on wild populations of sea cage salmon aquaculture -- sea lice infestation, disease and weakening of the wild gene pool through interbreeding -- by requiring future expansion in the salmon farming industry to be in closed containment facilities".

And now that Marine Harvest has ponied up a mere $100mil in its own country, Norway, it's time, in Canada for DFO to require the same in this country. Or they can go home, taking their few jobs with them, and all their sewage damage.

See: https://www.undercurrentnews.com/2016/06/21/canadian-ngo-calls-for-transition-to-closed-containment-salmon-farms/?utm_source=Undercurrent+News+Alerts&utm_campaign=b5e7973b59-Americas_briefing_Jun_21_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_feb55e2e23-b5e7973b59-92426209.

And set up on land as the Norwegian government is tired of their polluting Norwegian ocean.

Here is an update on the issue: "Norway has introduced a Polluter Pays approach and Green Licenses to stimulate the use of environmentally-friendly technology. Industry in Norway are taking advantage of the development concessions established by the Norwegian Government to fuel investment into major technology shifts. Marine Harvest and Hauge Aqua, confronted by rising production costs mainly due to sea lice and escapes, signed a contract in February, 2016, to invest $100 million in development of closed containment systems in the ocean."

See:  http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/international-confirmation-of-threats-of-salmon-farming-to-wild-salmon-2135605.htm.